3D printing will end existing modernism
Wim Segers, a renowned product designer from Belgium, and graphic designer Rita Westhovens founded their creative family corporation Studio Segers in 1989. Twenty years later their son Bob (product designer) and Marjan Brants (graphic designer) joined the design team. These two generations form a powerful symbiosis of experience and young creative talent. Studio Segers symbolises a no-nonsense approach where only sensible and down-to-earth concepts find their realisation. “It is our mission to transform ideas into characteristic entities”, says Wim in this special interview.
Who or what has inspired you to become a designer?
“My son Bob and I have always been inspired by beautiful and at the same time functional products, buildings or implements. It is our passion to improve things or find new solutions for all that surrounds us: tools to live.”
How would you describe the signature of your products and designs, what makes them special and what are the latest innovative developments you have made?
“Our identity is not a formal signature, but originates from the way a new design evolves. Design is a means, not an end. It is our intention to design products that are esthetically, ecologically, ergonomically, ethically and economically right, functional and priced accordingly.”
Which bonding tools or materials do you use (or would you consider to use), e.g. nuts, screws, rivets, bolts, spot welds, self-adhesive tape or glue?
“Each product requires its own specific materials and production techniques. We could not realise our products without them, but the choices we make regarding materials and construction are always purely rational.”
In case you have used self-adhesive tape, what have been your experiences so far?
If you did not, please point out what the tape industry could and should do to convince you, or tell me why you prefer using other materials or tools or none at all? “We use self-adhesive tape whenever we can. A weather-resistant tape, powerful enough to produce outdoor furniture with, would be ideal. We can’t wait for this material to be developed.”
How do you envisage the future of design?“Design should be at our service. The gap between arts and design will grow in the future. Art will increasingly be regarded as being society-critical and seen as a new religion. Design will play a more serving role, which has to be relevant in an ecological, ethical and economic sense.”
What will be THE trends or innovations and what role could tape play in that picture?
3D printing: that’s the future. This means that designing becomes inexhaustible and will, as a technique, end the modernism we are familiar with. Design, material use and production processes shall announce a new era or style period. Innovative tape could play an important role in this, if we can use it to bond printed components.”
More information: http://www.studiosegers.be/en
Collage: Bob en Wim (right) Segers