Punkt. @Ecal

Punkt. is pleased to announce a recent collaborative project with the leading Swiss university for art and design, Ecal.

The semester-long programme kicked-off with the academic year and sees fifteen 2nd year Product Design Master Programme students working on designing product prototypes for Punkt..

Punkt.’s founder, Petter Neby, travelled to Lausanne to illustrate the history of Punkt., from his personal account of growing up in Norway, to his quest for simplicity, to the idea of establishing his own consumer electronic start-up, to appointing  Jasper Morrison as the company's art director. Neby briefed students on the brand’s philosophy of ‘Technology. Tamed.’ and explained to the students how important it is for Punkt. to consider technology as a servant and not a master. He pointed out that although technology is a powerful tool it shouldn’t replace the subtle nuances of human communication and interaction.
During question time students expressed their interest in understanding the relationship between designing and production, and how the cross-cultural relationships are managed from the drawing board to the factories.

Punkt.’s visit was followed by an interim session with John Tree, chief designer at the Jasper Morrison Office of Design, where the students shared the secondary phase of their design concepts developed under the guidance of Thilo Alex Brunner, Head of Master Product Design, Prof. Augustin Scott de Martinville, Professor Master Product Design, and assistant tutor, Dominic Schlögel.

John Tree, who has been product designer at Jasper Morrison’s Office for 15 years and also has a background in consumer electronics (Design Centres of Sony Electronics, FM Design Ltd.), was impressed to see how the student’s are tackling the design process, and the function of technology, from a brand philosophy viewpoint. In his words:“The profound effect that an alternative philosophy and reasoning can have on the design of technological objects is super exciting”. 

So far design concepts cover a wide-range of product categories which span from charging devices to sound systems and data storage to cameras.  

The Ecal design programme is part of the company’s belief in combining education and industry to create opportunities for talent and creativity and bring mindful technology products to the global marketplace.

We are eager to discover what the students will create for Punkt.
Watch this space to discover the final projects which will be consigned in January 2016.

IMAGE CREDITS: Younès Klouche