Vianova Story

Besides technical developments with many mechanical functions, such as office chairs, pure sculptural objects made of china were challenging the designer.

After having met with the CEO of the oldest China manufacturer in the western part of Germany, Fuerstenberg, Deisig created the VIANOVA series. Traditional coffee pots feature a handle on the side, outside of the inner liquid volume, whereby the offset centre of gravity made it difficult to move the pot with hot liquid and pour the coffee out.

The goal was to bring the centre of gravity of the coffee pot as close as possible to the wrist joint, making it easy to handle the coffee pot and pour the coffee out. The lid was held in position by the thumb to prevent it from dropping. The VIANOVA coffee pot was one of the first ergonomically designed coffee pots and underlined the attempt to design objects for daily use as serving objects. A complete china set was designed using the same visual language.

Sensor Story

In the beginning of the 1980s, Steelcase/Strafor, the European subsidiary of Steelcase/USA contacted Deisig to find out if new concepts had been developed at the studio.

In the Vitramat design, single parts, such as seat, lumbar support and backrest were hinged together. The goal for SENSOR was to develop a single-piece plastic shell that flexes and moves in areas where the human body moves and supports in areas where the body needs to be supported. Polypropylene is an adequate, inexpensive plastic material, which can easily be recycled and could be ‘programmed’ to the ergonomic performance. The Steelcase engineers were very sceptical at first and pointed out that polypropylene would not have a built-in stop to prevent it from bending over and breaking.
It was very difficult to simulate the later polypropylene material with other prototyping materials in the model shop. At this time, Steelcase intoduced CATIA, an engineering and construction software.

This computer software allows for an FEA, “finite element analysis” in which critical areas can be identified and calculated. After a year of prototype work and travelling back and forth over the Atlantic ocean, Deisig received the liberating call from the Steelcase engineers:

“The computer says it works!”

This was the breakthrough for the development. From now on, every single part, from the base to the mechanism and the armrests, was newly designed and developed. The entire development phase, including tooling, took almost 5 years. Sensor was introduced at the Neocon fair in Chicego in 1986 and became one of the most successful office chairs worldwide, with more than 8 million units sold.

Kimera Story

After finishing the Sensor chair development, from 1987 on, Deisig decided to work on ceramic objects for the bathroom, such as lavatories, toilet and bidet bowls and accessories. Based on ergonomic studies about the human interaction with those ceramic objects, the first models were made out of styrofoam to prove these ergonomic theories. Bathroom objects need to be functional, soft in areas where the human body is in direct contact with them, easy to use and appealing to the human senses, creating a healthy bathroom spa feeling.

As the next step, hard shape models of the lavatories and toilet bowl were built from painted polyester. The top management of Ideal Standard Europe showed interest in the first design studies and decided to follow up on this development. Models were built using the real ceramic material.

On the lavatories, the fittings are located more forward, closer to the centre of the water bowl, which is designed ‘around’ it, simulating the motion of the outflowing water. The seat area of the toilet bowl was ergonomically shaped to fit the shape of the human body and created for the first time in the history of bathroom products an innovative anthropomorphic design language.

The Kimera bathroom line was introduced in 1991 for Ideal Standard Europe, and became a best-selling product for the company that was frequently imitated by competitors. In close cooperation with Ideal Standard, Deisig developed theTENDENCE fitting line and the AVANCDE bathroom line, which were introduced in 2000.

Comprimo Story

The development of the Comprimo chair is based on innovative string-wood technology, invented by the German plywood supplier Buddenberg. Layers of veneers were cut into thin Spaghetti-like strings.

A bunch of strings with added glue were compressed in a steel tool, which, for the first time, made it possible to create a frame for a wood chair in one go.
Deisig went deeper into this new wood technology and created a side frame with 3 force lines:

1^st from the centre of the back rest over the front part of the seat to the floor ,

2^nd from the centre of the back to the seat and to the rear on the floor,

3^rd from the rear leg to the front leg

Thonet, the German manufacturer of the classical Vienna coffee-house chairs employing bentwood technology, was interested in this new string-wood chair design and brought it to the market in limited quantities.

Ultimately, this product was too expensive for mass production and was taken off the market. The essence here was to die in beauty, as is the case with some other inovative concepts. Nevertheless, the Comprimo chair won some awards and was shown at the Technogerma exhibition in Seoul/Korea as an outstanding product.

Uno Story

The UNO lounge chair was designed as a working lounge with an integrated tablet for a laptop, which
allowed for the user to work in a relaxed sitting position.

Similar to the Colonial chairs, the lower part of the armrest could be rotated to the front to support the
legs.

Metrix Storx

Lordosis in the lumbar region creates a kyphosis in the upper back/shoulder area.

The at-rest, upright sitting position is considered to be the working position for writing
and working on the computer.

The reclined, backward sitting position is more or less a relaxed sitting position for taking
phone calls or talking to people.

When people work at a computer all day long, the reclined sitting position very often
becomes a working position.

It creates enormous stress in the shoulder/neck area when trying to keep the eyes on the level of the computer screen. On the METRIX chair, the upper section moves forward automatically and supports the shoulder/neck area to relieve stress when working in a reclined sitting position.

The METRIX chair for Teknion received the 2007 GOOD DESIGN AWARD, one of the most prestigious design awards in the US.

Luggie Story

The Taiwanese company Freerider, a manufacturer of scooters, asked DEISIG-DESIGN to develop an electric scooter with greater mobility. LUGGIE was designed as a mobility scooter that can be folded to the size of a piece of luggage and be carried in the boot of a car or taken into a train or an aeroplane.

Unfolded, LUGGIE is ready to roll and with its limited dimensions can be driven indoors and outdoors. LUGGIE was the first mobility scooter on the market that could be folded to luggage size and weighed less than 25 kg. It was frequently copied by competitors. Freerider created an own brand and distribution channel for Luggie.

Further models are currently under development, chiefly under the responsibility of Nils Koehn

Agitus Story

The story of the Agitus development is that it consists of an individual lumbar and thorax pad, which can be adjusted in height and depth. It allows for individual adjustment to suit every user. Anthropometric studies show that the thorax area varies significantly more in height than the lumbar region in comparison to body height.

A backrest bar carries the individual pads and the backrest frame. The seat became a perforated plastic membrane for good distribution of the weight of the user. All visual components are coverted by a semi-transparent fabric sheet from the back side.