How would describe your approach to design and your design sensibilities?

We’re interested in finding new and alternative ways to describe the ordinary and mundane through objects. It starts with research into different incarnations of a certain idea or object throughout history. It’s then edited to make a new work, one that proposes a new possibility for the things we thought we knew.

What materials do you like to work with and what do they contribute to your aesthetic?

The materials tend to be dependent on the idea we are working around. For us it’s important to choose the right material that adds to the proposition we’re making with the work while providing a visual aspect that invites the viewer to consider the work.

What is your relationship to technology and how do you use it to make future design solutions tangible?

We’ve always been interested in technology, both new and old, and the kind of relationships we have with it. We’re interested in the idea of technology and its developments through time. It tells us a lot about our society and culture, and that’s a useful thing to know when we think about the future.

How valuable has your time been with the Swarovski experts?  What have you learnt and how has it inspired you? 

It’s always enlightening to hear from and work with people who are experts in their field and who love what they do. It gave us the opportunity to get to know the material and possibilities in more depth, widening the range of possibilities for the project. Having spent time with the team changed our perspective on the products we thought we knew, and in a sense, is what we try to do with our work as well.

What brief were you given by Swarovski and how are you responding to it?

We were given a brief to consider the future of smart living and the role that Swarovski crystal might play in it. Our approach here was like how we normally work, except this time we’re starting with the material. We considered the different aspects of what Swarovski does in terms of material technologies and precision cutting processes and what could be a relevant and interesting theme to work on.

This award celebrates forward-looking designers - what excites you about working as a designer at this moment in time, and what challenges and opportunities lie ahead?

We’re always interested in how we’ve been interacting with the designed environment throughout history; one of the most exciting things right now is the development of technologies that help us understand the past. In a way we know more about the past 1000 years now than we did 50 years ago, and it’s an exciting idea that the past is now bigger than ever before.

The access to a wider range of information is what drives our work; it allows us to form new connections between different fragments of information that previously might have not been so easily accessible.