Meet the founders of Hat-trick Design: Jim Sutherland (left) and Gareth Howat (right). (Photo courtesy of Hat-trick.)

In spring 2011, designers Jim Sutherland and Gareth Howat gaped at the city of Cape Town from a helicopter tens of thousands of feet above South Africa’s mountainous coastline. The Hat-trick Design duo was in town for the annual Design Indaba Conference, and traveled from their UK studio to participate as speakers. During that helo ride, they met a fellow Indaba conference speaker and attendee—our head honcho, Jen Bilik—and like propellers, the creative sparks flew.

We teamed up with the award-winning design firm for our new book, Phobophobia, a grownup picture book that invites readers into a visual guessing game with clever images and typography. And since this is the first time we’ve ever partnered outside the US, our cup doubly runneth over with excitement!

Though we can imagine how very long their to-do lists are, the Hat-trick guys carved out some time to let us pick their mind.

A day at the Hat-trick studio. Jim and Gareth founded Hat-trick in 2001, and since then, the design firm has grown into a staff of thirteen.

1. Did you always want to be a designer? How did you get started?

Jim: I studied math and physics at school, but always liked drawing. I went to art school to do illustration, but when I got there, everyone was better at drawing than me. I looked around and saw people doing design, and it looked easier.

Gareth: Originally, I wanted to be an architect. I got a place at university to do the course, but changed my mind at the last minute. It’s a seven-year course and the big thing is it takes so long to actually see any real work appearing, so I decided to do a foundation course, which led me to graphics in the end.

2. How did your collaboration come about? And where does the name “Hat-trick” come from?

Jim: Originally, three of us set it up, hence the name. We had all worked together at another London company after leaving college.

Gareth: Choosing a name was one of the hardest things we’ve done. It took us longer to come up with the name than anything else.

3. This question is a two-parter. Your work spans such an array of sectors—from designing Olympic-themed stamps for the Royal Mail to crafting the ad campaign for Action on Hearing Loss, so:

a. Where does your design inspiration come from and how do you apply it to all the different stuff you work on?

The silver cupboards of discussion. The Hat-trick team stick their designs on these cabinets every six months to spurr their creative process and talk through any problems that arise. (Photo courtesy of Hat-trick.)

Jim: We are really keen to work on all different types of projects across all sectors. It keeps us fresh and is much more interesting. I get inspired by so many things around me—books, films, exhibitions, anything really. From Jacques Tati and Tom Waits to Bruno Munari and Alan Fletcher, etc.

Gareth:  Like fashion designer Paul Smith says, “Inspiration can come from anywhere.” There is so much work out there now and it’s so easily available. One idea is to have your own “filter” to pick out the work you like and use it to spark new ideas.

b. Do you have any special organizational routines to keep the creativity flowing—or simply to help retain sanity?

Jim: We work a lot together. We put all the ideas on a big metal wall and discuss them, since the best ideas come from talking the problem over. We also put aside an afternoon every week to do research and experimentation. This is where “Phobophobia” came from originally. I constantly scribble notes and lists of ideas in notebooks.

Gareth: No, that’s why we are actually insane. In reality, we are quite an organised company so that we work pretty quickly. But we don’t follow any really rigid ways of doing things, it just comes from experience.

Phobias get the design treatment in Phobophobia.

3. What sparked the idea for Phobophobia?

Jim and Gareth: We had been working on several projects that were word and language based. Once we started finding out these amazing words for phobias we started visualising  them and bringing them to life.

 4. Do you have any fears or phobias you’d like to share with us?

 Jim: As the introduction of Phobophobia states, I’m scared of lots of things. Mainly spiders, but also cows and dancing. I think it’s fascinating what fears we hold inside.

Gareth: Being bored, and spiders, I really hate spiders. There is something inherently evil about them.

5. What are your hobbies outside of designing?

Random objects we've fallen in love with inside the Hat-trick Studio: 1. This should be the standard caution sign.; 2. Your typical mannequin torso and legs.; 3. Hat-trick's array of projects.

Jim: I love designing and don’t really treat it as a job. I spend a lot of my spare time thinking of new projects I could be doing. It’s not a proper job.

Gareth: Tennis, running, and outdoor stuff. We spend so much time at work, so it’s good to be active and not indoors.

6. As you know, there are numerous phrases in the US language that mean something completely different in Britain. What’s your favorite American slang word or phrase, and what’s the equivalent in British vernacular? Or, if you don’t have a favorite, what American phrase irks you the most and why?

 Jim: I want to find out more about the difference between American and English spellings. For instance, why does ‘color’ have no ‘u’? Who decided to do that?

Gareth: It has to be “pants”—that really makes me laugh every time I hear it in the States.

Hat-trick's view from their studio in London Bridge. We are jealous. Seethingly jealous. (Photo courtesy of Hat-trick.)

7. What’s your favorite Knock Knock product and why?

 Jim: I love the Clump-o-Lumps. It’s a genius idea and I am very happy we have some.

Gareth: The Complete Manual of Things that Might Kill You: A Guide to Self-Diagnosis for Hypochondriacs. It really resonates with me, as I am one! It’s very dark but very funny.

8. You started Hat-trick nearly 12 years ago. What do you see yourself doing 12 years from now?

 Jim: I hope I’m still doing this. I feel like I’m running out of time so I’m speeding up.

Gareth: I can’t believe it’s gone by so quickly—that’s a good sign. Probably more of the same, if we can keep up the energy. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

We’re psyched to introduce you to a handful of remarkable designers whose items will be featured during our tenth-anniversary party and “Fun & Functional” event with the American Design Club on November 10. We laud their work and can’t wait to see their stuff on display.

Meet Wyatt Little, an industrial designer based in Houston, Texas. With a last name that certainly contradicts his innovative creativity, Little’s projects are nothing short of clever. Just check out his work at wyattlittle.com and behance.net/wyattlittle (be sure to read his design inspirations!), and you’ll understand exactly what we’re talking about.

Meet designer Wyatt Little . . . with cockatoo.

1. How did you get started as a product designer? Did you always want to be in this field?

Ever since I can remember, I have always been tinkering around in the garage and watching my dad design and build sculptures, toys, houses, etc. I guess it was only natural that I follow in his footsteps.

Wyatt Little's Urban Shoe Pots.

2. Name of Fun & Functional product featured: Urban Shoe Pots

3. What’s the story behind your idea? What really inspired you to create it?

I was walking home one day and saw two city workers on a cherry picker removing a couple of pairs of shoes from a power line. I have always found a certain beauty in a pair of old sneakers dangling from a line. I looked at one of the shoes and noticed there were a couple of plants growing inside—probably from a bird that had made a nest and pooped inside of it. It was right about there that I came up with the idea for “Urban Shoe Pots.”

I was really excited at that point and decided to ask the workers if I could take a pair. They gave me a weird look and I got the go-ahead. From there, I made a plaster mold of the shoes and slip casted them.

4. What was the hardest or most challenging part of designing this product? Any creative bumps in the road you dealt with?

I honestly did not have any bumps. Making the mold was super simple. Casting into the mold is a breeze and the firing and glazing is super fun.

The inspiration.

Creating a mold from the original hanging shoes.

Greenware.

Terracotta.

Planting the Pots.

5. How do you organize your work process to balance fun and functionality in your own daily grind? Any tips you’d like to relay to FOKKers?

I always make lists of all the random ideas that pop into my head. I try to develop at least one idea per week. This allows me to be super productive and never let any idea—good or bad—slip away. The key for me is acting and developing the ideas into some sort of physical form. Without that, it’s just all talk.

We’re psyched to introduce you to a handful of remarkable designers whose items will be featured during our tenth-anniversary party and “Fun & Functional” event with the American Design Club on November 10. We laud their work and can’t wait to see their stuff on display.

As a senior designer at Johnson & Johnson and a founding member of the American Design Club, it’s safe to say Henry Julier’s creative talent in the industrial design field is a force to be reckoned with. Check out this New York City designer’s work at henryjulier.com.

Meet Henry Julier, industrial designer and a founding member of the American Design Club.

1. How did you get started as a product designer? Did you always want to be in this field?

I knew from an early age, maybe when I was 12 or 13 years old, that design interested me, but did not know how it would manifest itself. At first, I was drawn to architecture, but a chance to participate in a summer design program at Carnegie Mellon introduced me to industrial design formally. I feel lucky that I figured out what I wanted to do from a young age.

2. Name of Fun & Functional product featured: Half Pots and Shroom Shakers

3. What’s the story behind your idea? What really inspired you to create it?

Half Pots bookends—helping you plant more than just literary seeds.

Half Pots:

A while ago, in an old apartment, I was using flowerpots as bookends and thought they would work better with a flat side to them. I must have mulled the idea over for about two years before I even sketched it out and made some prototypes. It turns out the flat side works well, but also allows for a few other uses, such as mounting each pot to the wall. I would say it’s a typical process of mine to have an idea, but then think it over for at least a year. I try to poke holes in the design. If I’m still thinking about it twelve months later, it’s usually a good indication to me that I should pursue it.

Shroom Shakers:

The Shroom Shakers came from thinking about how to combine ceramic and cork in a simple way. This exercise yielded a few ideas, but the shakers came out on top. They are relatively simple, which is important to me, but the metaphor is strong and I am enjoying how friendly they are.

4. What was the hardest or most challenging part of designing this product? Any creative bumps in the road you dealt with?

Shroom Shakers.

The most challenging part of designing both of these pieces was learning to trust my judgment. Since these are objects with clear, functional roles, part of the challenge designing them was not thinking about what elements should be included, but rather what shouldn’t. So there was nothing there that didn’t need to be. The final designs are pretty close to my original sketches, which makes sense, considering I had been drawing them in my head for quite some time.

5. How do you organize your work process to balance fun and functionality in your own daily grind? Any tips you’d like to relay to FOKKers?

I am lucky that my daily grind consists of designing products and packaging that will affect and hopefully help thousands of people each day. When I work on my own projects, I really have to set aside time in advance and create specific goals for myself in order to be productive. I find that planning is key and the busier my calendar, the more productive I am! The fun part is seeing my thoughts in the physical world, and then responding to those models, prototypes, etc., and making improvements.

We’re psyched to introduce you to a handful of remarkable designers whose items will be featured during our tenth-anniversary party and “Fun & Functional” event with the American Design Club on November 10. We laud their work and can’t wait to see their stuff on display.

With a name like “fruitsuper,” it’s no wonder this design duo’s pieces are bright, bold, and likely to start a conversation. The Seattle-based business’s founders, Sallyann and Joe, admit they “take pride in obsessing over every detail” when working on a project. It’s good to know we’re in good company. Check out more of their work at fruitsuperdesign.com.

Sallyann and Joe of fruitsuper design.

1. How did you get started as a product designer? Did you always want to be in this field?

We came from various backgrounds, but both were skirting around creative fields. I (Sallyann) originally started in fashion design and visual merchandising, but fell in love when I took my first three-dimensional design class and [studied] the ability to create forms. Joe was starting along a path of graphic design when he discovered industrial design. We both immediately fell in love with the entirety of the design process and the emotional roller coaster that is product design. The rush is incomparable. Some people run marathons, we design products!

Top: Early sketches of Hairballs. Bottom: Final design!

2. Name of Fun & Functional product featured: Hairballs.

3. What’s the story behind your idea? What really inspired you to create it?

It’s the combination of three sparks that created the idea for Hairballs. The first spark came during the process of bringing our first fruitsuper design product to market, which was silicone jewelry. I noticed that every time I wore one of the silicone rings, it tended to pick up lint and dust. The second was the annoyance of constantly dealing with pet hair. The current solutions for dealing with lint and pet hair are the irritating to use, wasteful, and fairly ineffective “sticky” rollers. The third spark is the love of our own pet, Sunnycat (who we, of course, think is the most adorable cat EVER). With Hairballs, we wanted a way to deal with pet hair that would not only be way more effective, but could also be fun!

fruitsuper design's inspiration for Hairballs: lint rollers, silicone rings, and the utterly-cute, Sunnycat.

4. What was the hardest or most challenging part of designing this product? Any creative bumps in the road you dealt with?

The most challenging part was determining the right size, so that it would be comfortable in your hand, along with getting the “character” of the cat and dog just right. We really wanted to take the anonymity of the lint roller and create an object that would be totally functional and super adorable.

With Hairballs and in all of our work, we follow a philosophy we call “serious humor,” a balance of functionality and whimsy. We believe products should make our lives a little simpler, a little easier, and a little more fun.

5. How do you organize your work process to balance fun and functionality in your own daily grind? Any tips you’d like to relay to FOKKers?

A piece of the process. Couldn't make the Hairballs without molds and silicone.

The short answer; food, books, travel. The long answer: we’re still striving for the ideal live/work balance. As designers, there really is no “off” time. Our brains are always working through whatever current project we’re in the middle of—whether we want them to be or not! So it’s important that we are constantly inspiring ourselves. We’re able to feed this need the most by cooking and eating amazing meals, getting lost in great picture books and old bookstores, and of course traveling. Nothing fills us with more inspiration, comparisons, and contrasts than the joy of traveling.

Having these inspirations to draw from when the time comes is crucial to not only our organization, but for the balance of fun and functionality in our daily grind.

We’re psyched to introduce you to a handful of remarkable designers whose items will be featured during our tenth-anniversary party and “Fun & Functional” event with the American Design Club on November 10. We laud their work and can’t wait to see their stuff on display.

Colleen and Eric Whiteley are a duo based in Bushwick, Brooklyn in New York City. Their design principles include creating items that “strive to provoke thought, or at least make you smile.” Also, do note that an image of one of Colleen and Eric’s designs was aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor’s last mission, making the pair’s work literally out of this world (or at least, out of our Troposphere). But, you know, no big deal. Check out their projects at colleenanderic.com.

Meet Eric and Colleen Whiteley. Photo by Matthew Keegan.

1. How did you get started as a product designer? Did you always want to be in this field?

Eric and I met while studying industrial design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. After leaving school, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and had a myriad of jobs in all different fields, following lots of different interests. Eric has been building custom furniture since leaving Pratt. During this time, we were always sketching, building, and making projects for ourselves. In 2010, we finally decided that maybe we could make a living doing these kinds of projects, and officially launched our studio.

Colleen and Eric's "Taper" candleholders.

2. Name of Fun & Functional product featured:

“Taper”—a candle sharpener that forms your candle for the perfect fit.

3. What’s the story behind your idea? What really inspired you to create it?

We get pretty into the functionality of objects—a lot of the best design solves a problem, even if it’s a small one. We realized we had a bone to pick with candleholders. Taper candles never seem to fit. The base is always too big or too small! You can spend half of a dinner party trying to get the candle to stay in place. Why fuss?

4. What was the hardest or most challenging part of designing this product? Any creative bumps in the road you dealt with?

Early 3-D sketches of the candleholders.

Once we decided on a concept the both of us liked—a candleholder with the ability to shape the base of a candle to fit perfectly—we realized that each of us had a very different idea of what the product was; what it looked like, how the “sharpening” function was going to work, material, size, etc. Eric’s first thought was to make the candleholder in wood, but we switched to metal pretty quickly when we realized we didn’t want anyone’s product turning into little charred embers. After debating the details, we arrived at a sleek, minimal form, with its function inspired by a pencil sharpener. Who doesn’t love a nod to the good ole days of grade school?

5. How do you organize your work process to balance fun and functionality in your own daily grind? Any tips you’d like to relay to FOKKers?

How to use the "Taper" candleholder. Sharpen that candle!

We live where we design. It’s one large open space, which allows us to spread work out everywhere. Having no walls lets us work on different scale projects just by rearranging furniture in the loft. We like having the comforts of home in our workspace and it’s helpful to have the projects we’re working on be all around. Living with our prototypes encourages us to think about projects even when we aren’t working.

We’re psyched to introduce you to a handful of remarkable designers whose items will be featured during our tenth-anniversary party and “Fun & Functional” event with the American Design Club on November 10. We laud their work and can’t wait to see their stuff on display.

Thomas Im founded Mimot Studio in 2010, aiming to create items for consumers that “highlight good design, quality and affordability.” Hear hear! Also, Im’s studio is based in Los Angeles, which means they receive extra cool points for being our semi-neighbors.

Meet Thomas Im of Mimot Studio!

1. How did you get started as a product designer? Did you always want to be in this field?

It really happened by accident. After graduating with a degree in Psychology, I needed a job and was offered a position as a graphic designer. This was my first taste of design as a career. While working as a graphic designer, I was introduced to industrial design (product design). I immediately knew that I must pursue this field. So, I went back to school for industrial design. I’ve been designing product ever since.

2. Name of Fun & Functional product featured: Suspenders Tote

3. What’s the story behind your idea? What really inspired you to create it?

I wanted to create a leather and canvas tote. The idea was to create a visually fun product. In this case, the leather straps we designed seemed similar to suspender straps. The suspenders became the inspiration for this tote. We completed the look by designing simple shirt graphics to complement the “suspender” straps. Functionally, the tote can be tied and looped like all bags produced by Mimot Studio.

4. What was the hardest or most challenging part of designing this product? Any creative bumps in the road you dealt with?

A taste of Mimot Studio's Suspender Tote.

The challenge of this product was creating graphics that would balance with the functional nature of the product. I did not want the visual component of this product to overpower the utility of the bag. In the end, we kept the graphics simple and this allows for all visual interpretations of the product.

5. How do you organize your work process to balance fun and functionality in your own daily grind? Any tips you’d like to relay to FOKKers?

When I am not working, I like to go on small field trips. They can be to flea markets, fabric districts, factories, museums, etc. In general, I’m not looking for anything in particular. I am just looking to clear my head and gain fresh perspective.

Tip to FOKKers: Give yourself ample opportunities to think outside the box, which I’m sure most of you do already. Keep on doing what you do.

Some of you may have heard and/or gathered that this year, 2012, marks Knock Knock’s ten-year anniversary. During September, October, and November, we are going to be doing OH-SO-MANY things to commemorate this all-my-fingers milestone. Many of them will involve giving free stuff to FOKKers.

One of them, however, involves FOKKers giving free stuff to us. Okay, that kind of came out wrong, but it was a witty segue. Knock Knock has partnered with an amazing organization, the American Design Club, which “exists to encourage and promote the efforts of young designers in the United States . . . by holding juried exhibitions, showing the work of its members at industry events, promoting designers and new work on our website, and by hosting events where designers can congregate and build relationships.” They’re primarily product designers, and they’re a whole lot cooler than I just made them sound. Note that a lot of their best product pictures are on their Facebook page rather than on their website.

I met one of their principles, Henry Julier, at the New York International Gift Fair last January, through Max Knecht, designer of our Clump-o-Lumps. They’re coworkers in on the industrial design team at Johnson & Johnson. They’re both young and smart and talented and tall. We talked, we schemed, we concocted. The upshot? We’re collaborating on a juried show!

So if you’re a product designer or think you could be, check out the submission guidelines in this PDF and get right on it with the AmDC. We’d love nothing more than for your designs to be part of the celebratory show!

Check it out! It's a gif!

Meet Kate! (Photo courtesy of Kate Bingaman Burt.)

With a swish of a pen to paper, illustrator Kate Bingaman Burt creates bite-sized, black and white masterpieces on a daily basis. Her muse? Any item she purchases on that specific day. Her seven-year archive of drawings includes bargain Walgreens sunglasses, a copy of Steve Martin’s Let’s Get Small album, and most recently, a Hulu Plus subscription for $7.99 a month. Her daily purchase drawings, which fall under the umbrella of her Obsessive Consumption project, puts a refreshing twist on our society’s consumerist habitude—reinterpreted and documented with a whimsical and personable touch. And even before her Obsessive Consumption project came to fruition, Kate hand-drew her own credit card statements each month. (See how she easily stole our hearts?)

As fans of her work and multitasking skills (see question number four below), you can probably imagine how completely psyched we were to have Kate on board for our new Hand-Lettered line, available right now, FOKKErs! Excited is an understatement.

Our new Hand-Lettered line, featuring some of our favorite Paper Mousepads, Knock Knock Pads, and sticky notes—all illustrated by the wonderful Kate Bingaman Burt.

To get to know the master behind the beautified squiggles, we asked Kate six questions. She kindly answered them in her signature style—completely by hand!

More to show and tell:

Kate's pup Maybelle. Such a curious cutie. (Photo courtesy of Kate Bingaman Burt.)

Hooray for art and office supplies! A print from Kate's Daily Purchase Drawings. (Photo courtesy of Kate Bingaman Burt.)

. . . And succulents! Another print from Kate's Daily Purchase Drawings. (Photo courtesy of Kate Bingaman Burt.)

Want to check out more of Kate’s projects? Visit her site to read the latest!

Lastly, we can’t really choose our favorite product from the new line, so tell us yours in a comment!

Vintage typewriter tins I found on a design board. Love!

My name is Alexis, and I’m an addict.

Every day I enter the Knock Knock office through the business side (because their door is always unlocked in the mornings), stroll through the kitchen where I drop off my lunch, then head upstairs to get settled. I log in, open my fonts folder, launch my browser, and type in Pinterest.com. And the daily obsession begins.

Anyone that’s used Pinterest knows it’s incredibly easy to get lost in looking at images your friends and complete strangers have pinned. I first started pinning out of curiosity, but I’ve been doing it for months now. In addition to finding heaps of crockpot recipes (ideal for a chick living in a studio apartment at the beach with only a kitchenette), I also find daily design inspiration.

I currently have several boards going, with themes such as “I like type” (exquisite type treatments I wish were my own), “For future reference” (miscellaneous images and color palettes for future projects), “Yum” (treats I’d like to make), “Pretty skin” (beautiful tattoos), and of course, “Things I’ve made” (products I’ve designed and other people have pinned. What can I say? I’m proud of what I’ve done at Knock Knock!).

More tins, only you can grow things in them. It would make a lovely vintage pot for sure!

Recently, I was working on a new product (which shall not be named) for Fall 2012, and our creative director Craig suggested I look at art from tins and pill containers along the lines of Sucrets. Those with a sane mind would probably begin a search on Google, but not this designer. Instead, I headed right to Pinterest, pulled a folder of images onto my desktop and immediately began sketches for my second round of covers.

I refined my designs and presented them at our weekly Work In Progress (WIP) meeting in front of the creative directors, sales and editorial teams, and of course, our head honcho. The result of WIP meetings can go many ways—from “back to the drawing board” to “not quite right, but almost there” to my favorite, which happened other day, silence. If you read our blog (and clearly you do), then you know that the Knock Knock team is rarely at a lack for words.

Loving these makeup tins I found as well.

I can honestly say I’ve only presented a handful of designs that have had such an effect on them. Everyone leaned in around the conference room table, examining the design. I looked from face to face, waiting for some kind of reaction—raised eyebrows, scowls or furrowed brows, chuckling, rolling eyes—anything! I’d take what I could get.

When the quietness finally broke, it was clear the silence was a very good thing. The team couldn’t decide which among the bunch they liked best! A win for this designer (wipes invisible dirt off shoulder). Thanks to Pinterest, finding inspiration for this project was a cinch. I think this product is going to be a beautiful addition to the Fall 2012 line. But you can be the judge.

All of you obsessed with Pinterest, much like Alexis, should check out Knock Knock’s boards! (Yup, we jumped on it.) Happy pinning!

We know, we know. The news of Tangerine Tango being named 2012 Pantone Color of the Year is as ubiquitous among the online design community as PMS swatches are in our office. However, because it’s the onset of the New Year and our company color logo is orange, we couldn’t help but still treat this news as a good omen of things to come.

We also realize that the Knock Knock orange isn’t as reddish as the former and is actually much yellower (with a PMS color of 0 C; 50 M; 100 Y; 0 K, to be exact). Also, word to a fraction of the color-blind (who can empathize with us treating the two shades as equals).

An orange comparison.

Additionally, it’s almost as if our hue is Tangerine Tango’s sage, vintage-styled cousin, no?

And in case you didn’t know: ten years ago, our head honcho, Jen, chose this specific shade because her front door, which had “Knock Knock” written on it, was painted the same color. She was also “in love with orange at the time.”

So, let’s all say it at once: “Hooray for orange!”