OOOMS Design

Featured in No.6
www.oooms.nl



Please introduce yourselves, brief personal/professional history, brief history of OOOMS, and briefly describe what you do for OOOMS.
Guido Ooms (󈨎) graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2000. After working as a freelance designer at different companies he started his own studio. Next to running the studio he also teaches design at the School of Arts in Utrecht.
Karin van Lieshout (󈨎) graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2001. She has a degree in teaching (BIK, professional artist in class) and worked in various design collectives before she joined forces with Guido. As a team, they fuel one another’s creativity with wit and humor. Both designers have their own qualities, each contributing to a part of studio OOOMS. Guido’s enthusiasm and playful approach towards almost everything makes sure the that studio has enough new ideas coming in. Karin’s down-to-earth attitude makes sure that the good ideas become reality.

When and how did you first become interested in design?
During my education at the Design Academy. Before that, I almost didn’t even know of the existence of design. I knew some art and liked inventing things, so I thought at first I was going to some kind of inventor’s school. So during my school period, I really learned a lot...

What was your first design job?
Already during my study I had several jobs at designers, like Piet Hein Eek. At that time I was only allowed to finish cabinets and other odd jobs, but it was very interesting to see the company from the inside. My first real job was at Creneau, a crazy retail interior design company in Belgium. A bit too crazy apparently, because after a few months working there, it went bankrupt. Not because of me, by the way...I had a short but great time there and still have some friends from that period.

Dutch design (Moooi, Droog, and OOOMS) seems to be a reaction against modern mass blandness; what accounts for this reaction? Why go against sleek modern design?
I cannot tell you exactly, but basically I think it just the environment we live in. We get influenced by school, parents, cultural & political climate, funding, friends etc. I don’t think our work is a reaction to other work. Its just what we like to do.



Does your geography/environment influence your design/creative process? If so, in what ways?
Yes, definitely, like I said before. I think we are lucky growing up in The Netherlands for a lot of reasons, but let me tell you one of them: After our studies, we can use funding [from the government] to help set up your own design business. This way, you get a little bit more time to get things going without having to worry too much about money. Otherwise, I would have gotten a full time job after my study and maybe never have started my own business.

Why do you think America is so fascinated with Dutch design?
I have no idea. Maybe because of the roots (New York used to be Dutch, and was called New Amsterdam) and their relatively short cultural history. This question might be better answered by somebody outside.

Please describe your creative process.
The start varies. Sometimes we get an assignment for a show or exhibition, sometimes we just come up with a nice idea. We just start sketching after that, and pick the best ideas. Then we look at costs etcetera, and see if other people like it, too, and what they would be willing to pay for it. After this we design packaging and figure out the production. There are also products we made just for fun, like the anti-gravity machine and the rollator.

In your designs, there seems to be a dialectical process going on.
Attraction vs. repulsion (Road Kill Carpet), natural vs. artificial, high tech vs. low or no tech, (wooden USB stick, solar birdhouse, Hair hats), expected vs. unexpected (cabinet, Hair hats), functionality vs. non-functionality (wooden USB stick, Rebellious Cabinet), serious vs. funny, and so on.

Why is this important to you? Why is this important for design? For the modern world? (How is this important for the creative process? How and why is this important for the consumer?)
I think its good to have some "contrast" within a design. If this is in balance its makes the product more alive. Something unexpected put together will need your attention to be understood. I did some research about expectations for the Expect cabinet, and it is fascinating how we tend to ignore all the stuff in our environment that we have experienced before. We become sort of blind, and stop experiencing the differences between the things we see and the model we expected, made up by earlier experiences.

Art and design. Is there a difference?
Yes there is. But there’s definitely a big overlap. This area does get a lot of attention nowadays.



Who / what are some of your biggest influences? Almost anything and everybody. Of course parents, brother and sister, teachers and my girlfriend have a big influence. But also our travels to other countries are always making big impressions.

What current designers do you admire?
None. We’re not really like that. Looking at other designers too much will cause the inbreeding of design. I’d rather look at some farmer and how he fixed his house with some windows from an old car.

What websites/blogs do you regularly visit for inspiration and information?
Nothing special about design, except for core77. I look more often at the ones that talk about news items. I really love to read peoples comments on news items.

Any new cool projects you can talk about?
We are leaving for Madagascar for a month in 2 days. There is a lot of handicraft going on there, so we will look if we can find some way to cooperate with these people. That would be very cool I’d say!

You are both teachers. What is the most important lesson to learn about design?
I’ve got 2: I’d like to quote Nike; Just do it!!!!! I see and hear so many lousy excuses from people that just need to stop hesitating and start doing! Another one is: Trust your gut feeling. I’ve read some books about it, your gut feeling is a lot more than just a thought.


Interviewed by Derrick Taruc
December 2009