Interview with Nils Fischer

My Studio is my laboratory. Next to my work for customers it leaves space for experimental work - which then also becomes a benefit for the customers. Besides my studio I founded a company – Studio ASF GmbH – with two colleagues wich is running the production processes of products of our own brands (woof, Aero Postale. etc) and our white label products.

Design is when you don’t even think about how to use an object and yet it is a pleasure to live with it when it is not being used. And design is something that fulfills a need. Design is always content, never just styling.

I enjoy working on heavy machinery, it is a very nice mixture of engineering and designing – the interaction between machine and user is very clear and it is a good opportunity to design something, that is actually helping the user to do their daily work.

It was an educational machine for mechatronic and engineering students.

Thats hard so define. In my career I worked a lot with metal, especially alloy but I’m also very intrigued by the abilities and haptics of wood and stone. As for a technology, I’m very much interested in 3d-printing - it will be the next big revolution in the history of mankind.

When I’m on holidays with spare time on my hands, on the border to absolute boredom.

I explore how an object can be used most intuitively. That usually leads me to a logic shape that is also very clean and simple and nice to look at.

I like to think that I can improve a little something for other people. That gives me a feeling of being fulfilled.

Happy and a little bit proud. But to be honest, the time span between designing and finished production is mostly very long. So a realized product is mostly a look back in time and I find it more attractive to look into the future.

that is very hard to tell because there are a lot of factors in a successful product.
Design has to be „non-designy“ – if you don’t immediately recognize it, it does its job as an interface between content and recipient well.

I appreciate it when a design is self explaining. The other primaries are the quality of the details and the quality of the chosen material.

even though design can be luxurious in making known things even nicer I still very much think that we should not pollute our lives and our planet with useless stuff and unnecessary waste.

My last exhibition was in Zurich with a group of designer which I’m part of. „moralisch schön“ is a group of author-designers with their own brands focused on fair and ecologically correct products in the field of living and furniture.

I see my work as an interface design in objects.

I live in Germany. The heritage of precise craftsmanship and long-lasting quality products are pros I can rely on. Business partners are concerned to keep their promises, but on the other hand, it can be challenging to convince people to try something different.

I work with various producing companies. I like the fact that craftsmen are always willing to expand their skills to get the job done.

It appears that many small and medium sized companies don’t even consider working with a designer, mostly because they have no idea where to find one and also because they don’t know how much a good design can boost their product.

I usually have an idea straight away and I scibble and make little models to test shapes and functions. Then I might consult craftsmen for a prototype that can change the concept again.

Designing changes how you see the world. It is a pleasure to create for others and to create your own environment. The obvious disadvantage is that the word designer is not precise and the public thinks of fashion and graphic design and doesn’t really fathom that each and every object in their environment is designed.

keep it simple

You should be able to understand complex systems, filter the important parts and explain it simple and elegant.

I split my day into office, creative design and hands on workshop sections, so I have some kind of progress on each level.

weeks and months and sometimes years – it really depends on the complexity of the task.

People usually doubt whether you can make a living as a designer. And for sure, to become the business person you need to be is something you don’t learn in university.

the design draft with pen and paper where you can play with your imagination… and the engineering part where you need your intellect.

I would like to grow as a studio. And I planned some interesting workshops in Universities.

I like both, designing as a team or alone. It depends on the amount of work a job offers.

yes, but I`m not allowed talk about it.

My website www.StudioNilsFischer.com provides all contact information.