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We caught up with Co-founders Freek and Daan from Dutch Design brand PUIK Art to find out what goes on day to day in their Amsterdam office and where their favourite Design shop is.
Everything we do at PUIK Art originates from a strong ambition to challenge the status quo. This is our way of working, we collaborate with the best emerging Dutch designers who provide a new perspective on Design. We always strive to exceed expectations and to be bold.
In Dutch, PUIK may be loosely translated as ´very good´ or ´excellent´. The word is old fashioned and isn´t used that often any more. It sounds funny and unusual, that is exactly what we want to express. Our designs are functional and minimalist yet there is always a surprising twist to our items whether it is the form like creating our geometric shaped Radiant Glasses or material used like cork in the Clork.
Well typical days are not so common here as we have a network of manufacturers and retailers across the world, so we are often abroad. When we are back in our office, we like to sit down with the team and discuss what we will be doing during the week. What follows is a full day of sending mails and communicating with people in order to get our designs moving forwards.
What really inspires us is that we see a design on a computer and then a year later we bring the product to hundreds of stores and design lovers. There is a long process involved, but the final product is so rewarding. It feels amazing when people love our designs and when bloggers and magazines want to write about us. It means people appreciate what we do and makes it all worth while.
The most rewarding part is finding a good process. When everything from the first contact with the designer, to the production and the eventual sales work well together it means that we really achieved something with the team. We achieved something that we never could have achieved alone. There are also many challenging sides to running a business like this. Having a small team makes us very flexible and lean but on the other hand, it also means that you have to learn to do many different things at once, getting good processes in place helps us do this.
It all starts with a good design. We are always on the look out for new graduates with inspiring designs. Once we have found the design, the difficult part starts. We have to search for the right manufacturer with the most efficient production process which can take a while if you want the perfect product! After that comes the fine tuning, photo’s and products are sent back and forth until you have the final and approved product in your hands. A product how the designer intended it. The process was especially hard with the Lloyd Light as we wanted to stick to the original production process as closely as possible.
In February 2017, we want to launch a range of small furniture products that radiate a sense of boldness and robustness, we love the whole new range. We saw the success of our current products like Maple and Bokk and thought we should expand this. We are still working hard to get everything ready in time but we are already looking forward to presenting the full range to the public.
We can only choose one? There are countless of shops where we wander around for ages but the MOMA Museum shop in New York is the best. After visiting the museum, the store is the perfect place for every design fanatic. You will fall in love with everything you see there. They have a great selection of contemporary design products from all over the world, including PUIK Art products!
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