Envisions collective, breaking down the boundaries of design

Envisions is a collective of design graduates from the Design Academy Eindhoven with an aim to “showcase everything but the end product.” In doing so the group provides an insight into the design process rarely seen by the public eye. Its work is culminated into an exhibition, Products in Process featuring their designers which has already been showcased in New York and Milan and will join Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven from 22-30 October.

The show, also called Envisions, reveals that “the designer increasingly takes on the role of both inventor and maker”, and in recognising this important and natural factor to the design process it is aiming to “shake up the status quo by exploring previously undiscovered paths.” This exhibit is honest and inviting, breaking down the boundaries that surround designers and allowing their work to be more understandable and approachable. Therefore the collective is fulfilling its aim to create “a climate for interaction and exchange… triggering a dialogue between designers, clients and manufacturers who are encouraged to approach each process as a collaborator”.

Pieces within the exhibit regularly explore regular and abnormal materials that designers use. Transsaddles by Adrianus Kundert investigates the idea of age within design, believing that there is a “richness that comes with age and it’s a phenomenon that can add to a design’s value”. This is an intriguing idea undiscussed within product design, which often has a quick turnaround.

Another, Happy Concrete by Iwan Pol identifies that being the most widely used and man-made material, the application of concrete artistically “often lacks inspiration”. He explains that “concrete can take any shape of form, so why not aim for a softer look and feel?” Recognising that concrete is ultimately one of the most versatile materials, Iwan has made interrupted the “making process and intervenes in the different stages of creating concrete structures.”