COMMON Magazine Europe - SPRING 2017

COMMON//SPRING 2017//
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THE WIZARD OF ART
CARLA ECKHARD IS THE BRAINS BEHIND ARTWIZZ'S MINIMALIST DESIGNS
By Azhar Ahmad
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I studied Industrial Design at the University
of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt and at the
Northumbria School of Design in
Newcastle upon Tyne. After graduation I
moved to Vienna and started my career in
the area of smart textiles. In 2008 I moved
back to Berlin, the hotbed of creativity, and
joined Artwizz where I began to design
their products.
How did you get into this industry and
why?
I dived into the world of smart fashion and
wearables for a while when Apple
showcased its first iPhone. There was a lot
of enthusiasm for the device and with the
experience I made with wearables I saw a
strong potential in hardware like the
iPhone.
What would you say is your main
influence in design?
I’m fascinated by materials that surprise
with "invisible“ features. It’s extremely
inspiring when you touch something that
looks familiar at the first sight but offers a
completely new characteristic that you
didn’t expect when holding it in your hand.
This fact has a strong influence on the
handling of an object and how it is
integrated in one’s own surrounding. I’m
still at a young stage in my design career
and find myself in a time in which e.g.
sustainability is highly discussed. It has
influenced my method of working and the
work of the team. As a result my work is
concerned with what I can do as a designer
in our changing world. There’s a big
uncertainty of the present and the
question on how we can effectively design
for the future.
What is the process of designing the
products? Where do you start and when
do you know it’s finished?
While the product range "mobile
accessories“ is clearly defined at Artwizz, I
can still work very independently
regarding my tasks. I start with a material
first and then try to create a shape or a
design. Our new Leather Skin for MacBook
12“ for example - our first “Made in
Germany” product - was supposed to be an
elegant sleek protection. I was sure I
wanted to work with leather. So during the
development stage we were looking at the
entire manufacturing process of leather, on
all its pros and cons. From there on we
have searched for possibilities to gain
another, a better quality for the entire
design process rather than just for the final
object. That’s how we came about the topic
of saving resources through reduction.
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