Cuno Frommherz

For Cuno, design is closely linked to three fundamental elements: art, society and nature. What links these concepts is Beauty, in its deepest vision.

Art touches me and brings the unknown, the hidden, to the surface. A poem by Rilke or Erich Fried can create a mood that lays the spirit for a new product. The same also applies to paintings.

Traveling to foreign cultures is also a very important source of inspiration for me. Traveling to India or Mongolia, for example, helps me to become aware of personal and social patterns. To scrutinize patterns of behavior is one of the basic tasks for me as a designer.

The “epistolary” exchange with the well-known designer Cuno Frommherz becomes a moment to dwell on some details of everyday life that, very often, escape us. Fascinating is the example he gives to express the fundamental concepts of Design:

Let us look for example at a bird’s feather. Here, a number of varying criteria determine the totality of effect and function: it warms and it is very light; it allows water to pearl off; it facilitates flight ( mankind’s dream); it uses few materials and is extremely efficient, it is made up of a series of identical parts; it is aesthetically perfect; it has a highly emotional expression and value; it grows back and is renewable. Finally, it is 100% recyclable.

Such astonishing criteria may be observed in a number of natural objects. These are the ideal for me as a designer even though I can only dream of such a list when developing and designing a product. Fortunately we are surrounded daily by such beautiful and fascinating”products” of nature. They provide us with a wealth of ideas and tricky solutions. On the other hand, they shed a different light on our achievements and teach us to take ourselves a little less serious.

It is not so necessary to make an object, but to imagine the atmosphere that you want to express, through form and matter. It is a continuous hermeneutic research, that gives sense to every creation. To give vitality to it, to make it capable of distancing itself from the banality that is increasingly present in our days.

We do have more than enough physical objects. In this way the need for meaning grows more than the need for objects. In designing therefore, I am concentrating on content and atmosphere. Setting clear priorities and leave away the rest.

Imaginative thinking allows me to clearly define the function of an object. Every functional object, however, is a mixture of purpose and aesthetics. It must therefore not be produced solely to fulfil it is functional purpose nor, on the other hand, to only be displayed for aesthetic reasons.

To achieve this, his studies focus on the balance between function and aesthetics, because as nature teaches, everything, in its complexity, is revealed to our eyes as simple and beautiful.

The function of an object should be minimalized, it should simplify our life. The success of a product lies in simplicity and clarity. Our main question should not be “what can this product do?” but rather “what do I want to achieve with it?” Omitting and setting of clear priorities are important conditions when developing a product.

Just like a feather, Cuno’s goal is to imagine and create something that has a clear shape, emphasizing that the essence of Design is not extravagance, but simplicity.

Our daily life is determined by an enormous influx of information and fast changing trends. Modern man is faced daily with a hundred times more pieces of information than in 1960. It is therefore very important to consciously filter information in order to avoid over-information.

As a designer I therefore want to place clear and restricted impulses. This motto should be expressed in my aesthetics. I want to mark my work with simplicity, not with exaggeration. The materials used should be appropriate and committed to quality rather than quantity. I am focusing on the individuality of man. My work should open up free room for the costumer rather than force a predetermined view on them.