The one product you haven't worked on

What is that one product or area that you would really love to design something for, that you haven’t yet worked on?

This morning I was reading a Qantas article about offering a direct Sydney to New York flight if Boeing or Airbus can make a plane that can fly the distance. I would love to work on the interior of a commercial jetliner, given that the longer the flight (think 18 or so hours) the more comfortable and accessible the interior design and lighting needs to be.

Interesting topic.
Considering how much time I spend in airplanes, I am not sure I would want to also design for them when I am not in one :wink:

I have always wanted to develop a really close relationship with a top visionary chef and design all the hardware around their dishes and presentations. Maybe even interior design and get fully involved in the whole experience.
Ferran Adria of El Bulli fame had an ID on staff, I think.

Right now, I think I’d like to design toys. I feel that 60% of the toys out there aren’t just bad, but really poorly made. I can’t believe the land fill that is being made in that industry tight now… In particular, I’d love to do a toy car. I’ve been thinking about designing one just for kicks and get 1000 made. I’m sure there are a thousand factories on Alibaba that could do it.

All time, I think I’d like to work on a sportscar. I don’t think I have the skills to do the overall styling, but I’d love to just work on an instrument cluster or some trim. Kind of like Ditullo’s work with Icon. That would be a dream!

Interior space. Restaurant or bar would be on top, but any old retail space would be fine too. And I mean design everything down to the light plates, everything a one-off custom. I even have a problem with the flatness of walls/ceilings.

I’ve always wanted to do shoes…in particular shoes designed for me specifically. Shoes are either too sporty or to dressy or too vanilla. I still need to find time to do it as a personal project.

I’ve also thought about doing a toy. Preferably a ride-on toy not made of plastic and without any annoying lights and sounds. My kids’ rooms and living room are full of those so it might be nice to have a simple yet well made toy. It’s also on my list.

Designing airplane interiors is both rewarding and challenging. If you really want to take comfort and user experience into consideration then 1st class and business class give you the most freedom and exciting projects. Sadly, coach flying is more about density than comfort. Often people complain about the seats when in reality the backrest angle and pitch of seats are what makes them so uncomfortable, specially in long flights.

a production furniture piece is one of the last hanging items on the bucket list.

Patrick Jouin came to speak to our studio when I was at Steelcase. He definitely made designing for culinary experiences seem very appealing!

A way to listen to music and take photos while snowboarding (or skiing). Products would probably involve headphones, some type of remote control, and a jacket. Somehow to this day no one has done it right. Cold, big gloves, stress, fear of dropping device, putting away device… All design reviews would be held at -20C wearing full attire, while riding ski lifts.


Some sort of travel line inspired by camping stoves - functional, robust, compact, light weight, modular. Products would probably include cabin suitcase, organisation (notes, reservations, passport, visas etc), bathroom stuff (shaving, teeth etc), electronics stuff (chargers, cords, adapters etc). Ideally this would be for MUJI.

I would love to bring a product to market that translates digital actions to tangible controls.
Something that makes interacting with a complex realm manageable through a sophisticated set of embodied skills in an intuitive, smart and enjoyable way. We can see a need for these products in things like Loupedesk that simply makes digital sliders physical. A novel combination of form, function and interaction.

Its all part of the challenge of making a dense cabin comfortable I guess, however first or business would naturally be more ‘open’ to real changes. I would also accept working on the interior of a private jet.

I also think a toy would be good fun, is nerf or super-soaker too obvious? :laughing:

My list is really long (still early in my career) but these are my two big ones:

  • A chair. Maybe a table to go with it. But I just love chairs.
  • Guitar. I plan on taking a guitar making course sometime in the next year, but I want to actually get a guitar into production.

I second the super soaker or any other hall-of-fame quality toy originating from NASA ideas.
I am also fond of innovative bottles. An electric scooter is another one on the list.

Ralph: I would love to design a motorcycle. I love the Motocysz bikes. Especially the electric ones. It would be satisfying to try and develop what an electric motorcycle should look like.