Steffen Schmelling

www.schmelling.com

Interview with Steffen Schmelling

Designer profile

Steffen Schmelling, designer, born in Denmark in 1965.
He graduated from Denmark’s School of Design in 1990 and has had his own design studio in Copenhagen since 1991.

Steffen Schmelling has worked in a broad spectrum of design disciplines from interior products and industrial designs to decorations and sculptures.

Schmelling works for a long list of international companies, e.g. Oticon, Velux, Danfoss, Nestlé among others, and has designed Bang & Olufsen’s new MP 3 player and Samsung’s new Blue Tooth headset, which just recently won the iF design award.

Schmelling also designs products in the EGO universe, which awarded the most impressive recognition last year in the ‘red dot’ design competition with two design awards, and one iF Design Award has already been won in 2008.

Schmelling was also in charge of the interior decoration of The Danish Industrial Art Museum’s design studio and its ceramics studio selection, which resulted in the museum winning the Museum of the Year award in 2005. Steffen Schmelling also designed the exhibition concept for the Nordic Council’s “Scandinavian Design Behind the Myth.”

Schmelling has received a great number of design awards and is part of the permanent collection at The Danish Industrial Art Museum.

Steffen Schmelling’s lines are carried by two elements: The strong idea and the sculptural process.

He calls his designs Beautiful Ideas ®.

-“I start like Columbus. Believe in a direction and trust my intuition. As you know, you may find something completely different. But I always find something. And then I make a caricature of it, exaggerate it in order to find its soul.”

This process has created new classics like the EGO soup spoon, the first in the world which can pour soup from all sides. The rubber bowl with the unique folding principle and the salad bowl which balances its servers. With these designs you get more than form and function. You get something extra. A feeling of finally being presented with an excellent solution to an old problem.

Even though his design is often tight and simple and when it is at its best and stands as a pictogram of its function, it is never pompous or reduced to mere function. In the simplest and in the most complex solutions, you find humour and lines that smile. This is clearly visible in the EGO water sculpture, which is formed like a cactus and can be placed on the table. Most people will be familiar as well with his opener Spirit, which has sold over 100.000 copies and has become an icon.

Schmelling’s industrial works range from fibre optical lighting and refrigerators to production equipment weighing tons. With the motto “Insight creates outlook”, he challenges his customers’ materials and technology to the fullest. A process that has gained him access to some of the largest companies.

Schmelling’s works range from design visions, jewellery, cartons, sculptures and much more. On the island of Vardø in the north eastern corner of Norway, there is a 5 meter tall and 400 kilo heavy bronze sculpture in front of the Danish Consulate created for celebration of the 400 year anniversary of King Christian IV’s journey to Norway! For the World Wildlife Foundation he has designed and constructed a full size rhinoceros which functions as a collection box.

Schmelling challenges our conventions and insists on beauty as function. He has created his own particular design signature full of essence and edge.