Paul Sandip: Designs to Improve Life

The Shapeways Blog features an interview today with designer Paul Sandip, whose work combines eco-sensitivity with a refined simplicity and a passion for making everyday objects special.

Recent designs include a disposable paper mug for personal hygiene (a finalist at the INDEX Awards 2009), bathroom slippers that allow water to flow beneath them so users wont slip, and a beautifully minimalist pencil sharpener which won the reddot design award in 2007.

His latest creation is the Yellow Clip, a re-design of the clothespin which is molded out of single piece of material and can used be top and bottom

Paul reveals some of the thinking behind his work:

Everyday products form the material framework of our existence, enabling it to function, not only in practical or utilitarian terms, but also in ways that give pleasure, meaning and significance to our lives. But why don’t we notice them? Most of us travel by the same route everyday, do similar tasks everyday, go to same places and although we are awake and seeing things around us we are not actually looking at them consciously. Hence, such products are frequently taken for granted. Design, to my understanding, is much about having an eye for such details and bringing back life to mundane objects. Just like a cartoonist brings humorous insights from day-to-day activities/incidents of life. I would like to emphasize on the act of “Observation” as a necessary tool to design useful products. Look…don’t see!

Shapeways Blog: “Interview with Paul Sandip of Differential Design”