Discover Germany | Special Theme | Design of Switzerland
ITO team members are discussing technical features on a prototype part.
The Fern task chair for Haworth offers new levels of back comfort and flexibility. Photo: © HAWORTH, INC
Industrial design with purpose The offices of industrial design studio ITO Design are filled with prototypes and models exploring everything from ergonomics to material flexibility, proportions and form. “We always start a project by identifying an original purpose for our design - a unique function or a useful feature - that will drive the project in later stages of the development process,” says Mugi Yamamoto, industrial designer at ITO. “Models are a way for us to test these new ideas quickly.”
ITO Design will celebrate its 30th anniversary this autumn. To date, they have registered over 100 patents for design and technical innovation. The studio’s long-lasting existence and impressive portfolio is a testament to the hard work and innovative thinking of its designers.
TEXT: SILKE HENKELE | PHOTOS: ITO DESIGN GMBH
www.ito-design.com/en When ITO Design was founded by Armin Sander nearly three decades ago, he wanted to create a holistic product design service. For him, this meant working across marketing, design and engineering to provide a complete understanding of the product development process to his clients. ITO Design retains this purpose today, with a tight-knit, multinational team and offices in Nuremberg in Germany and Cham in Switzerland.“We have assembled a diverse team of designers where experience and skills complement each other and ideas are questioned critically,” explains Yamamoto about the company’s approach. “This way, we are able to present our customers with concepts that not only look good, but are convincing in their feasibility. We can also provide expert support in engineering questions right up to toolmaking.” 12 | Issue 50 | May 2017
This practical approach is what holds particular appeal for many of ITO Design’s clients. The studio has worked internationally with a wide range of companies including ITOKI (Japan), Forma 5 (Spain), Profim (Poland) and König + Neurath (Germany). Since the late ‘90s, ITO Design has maintained an ongoing collaboration with Haworth (USA) on high-profile projects such as the Zody Task Chair, the first chair to be endorsed by the American Physical Therapy Association.“Our core competency is the design and technical development of furniture products; however, we also make good use of this knowledge in other sectors,” says Yamamoto. This is the case with Treo, a camping chair designed for Thermarest that becomes its own packaging by being folded into its own tripod base.
The Treo camping chair packs into its own base for portability and convenience.
The TeamUP design study for BASF introduces new ideas for individual and collaborative work.