2_1_DiscoverGermany_Feb2014_Issue11:Scan Magazine 1
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Discover Germany | Special Theme | Architecture and Design Guide
Passion for a better product Frankfurt-based daniels + erdwiens are constantly striving to develop new concepts and relentlessly seeking out potential areas for improvement. Asking themselves the question: Is there the possibility for potential improvement through design? TEXT: EMMIE COLLINGE | PHOTOS: DANIELS + ERDWIENS
The driving force behind the industrial design consultancy comes from Micha Daniels and Alex Erdwiens, both wellversed in a strikingly wide range of areas.To the company’s advantage, they draw on a tight-knit team of specialists from multiple fields, including, but not limited to, industrial design and development, graphical user interfaces and mechanical engineering. “We absolutely love our work and knew we didn’t want to limit ourselves,” begins Daniels,“we’re constantly inspired by each new project that we work on. We love the diversity and this in turn leads us to question other fields, comparing and contrasting areas of work.” The consultancy prides itself on its devotion to progress and its ambitions for brand new concepts – whether its existing appliances such as a lemon presser or the interior of a fridge, they aim to simplify the over-complicated. This hunger for continual improvement prompts the team to ask: what can be improved? How can we set this product apart from its competition? Answering these questions requires the team
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to intensively brainstorm, says Daniels:“After locking ourselves in for several days in our Usability Innovation Workshops, we always manage to come up with something that goes far beyond just designing something attractive.” The firm’s back catalogue of previous and current clients, including a long-running collaboration with Bosch and Siemens household appliances, is testament to their ability to produce the highest quality products. The firm is currently in cohorts with Chinese company Haier Group but Daniels remains tight-lipped about this project. “The over-arching objective for us,”explains Daniels,“is to create something that meets the needs of the world in which we live.” Taking a philosophical stance on life, he continues:“There is an exorbitant amount of things out there. We’re literally flooded by these items. We aim to develop select but nevertheless affordable products. Products that are reliable and long lasting, intelligently manufactured with sophisticated technology yet even simpler and more intuitive in usage. Delivering enduring joy in
usage and aesthetical appearance, something that creates identity.” www.daniels-erdwiens.de
Top, left: Styline - Breakfast set for Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte Top, right: Callista - Citrus Squeezer for Blomus Nutcracker - First Class Giveaway for Deutsche Lufthansa Below: Automatic Coffee Centers - 10 years of milestone designs for Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte by daniels + erdwiens (left) and Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (right).