Interviews with Andrea Sosinski

When I was a child I loved to paint and draw. I did it every day and always wanted to get better. Especially with drawing people and nature. I always did creative stuff. So it was quite obvious to study design and to go on with it.

First I design everything in my head. I need to have an idea of what to create before I do it. Than I usually use pencil and paper to draw the first ideas before I use digital versions. Before I send my designs to companies I want to be sure of sizes. That's why I do a prototype first out of plaster, paper, dough or something different.

The most exciting moment is getting an idea in my mind. Than I can't wait to bring it alive. It feels like surfing on a big wave with a lot of energy and happiness. And when I am back on the beach (means when I finished my design) I am proud of what I've done.

Perfectionism, patience and a strong will and believe took me where I am today.

At the beginning it is very hard to survive in design business. I can advice to first use what you already have, probably made during your studies. Try to sell it to companies, produce it by your own, get promotion by applying to awards. Just throw as many stones in a sea and you can be sure that some waves are reaching you...

I don't go with trends. Trends are like a snowflake. It vanish one day. I believe in my own design language and my own style. Only this way I can be trustable and can't dissapoint the ones who love what I do.

It is just a feeling. There is a point where I know that every step I do further wont make it better.

My biggest design work is the oven for cooking in open fire called FIRO. I developed it during my studies for my diploma. I never had that time to do something big like that again. It took me over one year.

I wanted to combine the fascination of fire with a modern way of cocking which is safe, multifunctional, flexible and communicative.

I want to find a company that will produce and market this product on license worldwide. I already have a book full of people that want to buy it when it is produced. I collected the contacts during fairs (like the Ambiente in Frankfurt) and exhibitions.

It took me over 1 year.

It is the work of my diploma that I did at the end of my studies.

It is still a well working prototype. I want to find a company that will produce and market this product on license.

20-65 years old, love outdoor, adventure, fire.
Catering Companies
Outdoor experience companies
Event-Cooking at Fairs and company events

Safe:
- safe distance to the fire through length of the oven (lies half in, half outside the fire); operation in fire free area (not above the fire like many other)
- the oven case protects the food in the pots from the irregular hot fire
- no spilling of food because of revolving balanced pots
- quick, safe, stress free food controlling through a drawer-like opening & closing
- heat regulation through piecemeal opening or closing of the oven or/and through dislocation of the pots on the rail (behind hotter than ahead)
- gloves and heatproof jackets
- safe removal of the hot pots by cutlery

Flexible:
- portably, therewith place independent
- usage in every open fire (fireplace, fire bowl, campfire), therewith seasons and weather independent
- preparation variety
- expandable assortment enables meal for up to 12 persons
- fast leaving of the fire place: quickly cooling off material
- multifunctionality saves material and therewith weight, place, expense:
cutlery = fork, spoon and removal tool
porcelain vessels = cooking and eating pots
oven = preparation and carriage cover for pots
accessories bag = seat pad and storage
- heatproof jacket enable to hold the hot pot in the hand; no table is required

Economic:
- wise usage of energy: multi-purpose utilization of an ambiance creating fireplace/firebowl as an additional energy source for cooking
- use of wood as a renewable natural source
- long-living product; reusable

Interpersonal:
- creation of communication and conviviality by shared preparing, cooking and eating
- creation of individuality in the group: everyone can assemble and prepare its meal after own taste and creativity

Healthy:
- gentle preparation without supplement of shortening
- no cancer-causing benzopyrene development
- clean, hygienic eating out of well to clean porcelain
- impervious, nonporous oven material protects the meal against dirt and smoke
- equal warming of the meal: the pots float on the rail midway of the oven and are equal heated up by surrounding air
- varied menu consisting of several courses

FIRO is a combination of the englisch word "fire" and the german word for tube: "Rohr".

plaster, porcelain, technical ceramics, a lot of paper and pencil

multifunctional modern cooking with real open fire

I worked with Saint Gobain Industrial Ceramic in Rödental to produce the tube and to make tests in fire with different technical ceramics.

Find a material that resists the irregular and high temperature of fire, that keeps its shape and function while hot, that can be used for eating purposes and that has the right thermal conductivity.
Another challenge was to find the right size of the tube and the bowls. They should not be to big to not be to heavy in the end. They should not be to small because it would not do justice to the effort. The tube should not be to short. That would be not safe enough while handling. And not to long because this makes it more heavy. I decided to do 4x 250ml bowls in one half a meter tube, all in all in a 5kg package.

I was invited to do so. I hope it will enlarge the chance to find a licensee.

I was hard working and didn't give up finding solutions even while other people told me that it is impossible and I should choose another project. But I kept on going and in the end I surprised and convinced everybody. That made me proud and strong.

Since I can remember I love to draw and create.

I did choose to become a designer.

Mostly I do corporate design for companies and start ups. Product design is my second feet but since quite a while only a little toe. I wish to have more time to do more products again. Nevertheless I love graphic design and what I do for living.

I don't feel like a design legend. I just do what I love. That's all.

That's a difficult question. Good design can be also great...

It is always a combination of shape, function, material and everthing behind. It is always good to go a step further and show a deep thought that make sense for society and environment.

Once I would like to design a car. I love the old shapes and can't understand the nowadays company policy of producing millions of cars that look all the same. I would combine the inspiration of old shapes with modern technology and create a car that is good for environment, society and that is in 50 years still up to date.

Maybe musician. I love to sing and making music as well.

I think the speed of creating new products is not good at all. So many products are produced each year, so many senseless items as well. Just look at the large graveyards of new cars that no one will ever drive. That's just a waste of resources. We all should be aware of what we do here. Better creating less and let only the great, usefull or necessary things bring to life.

It was obvious that I will do a creative job. That could have been also playing music and writing and singing songs.

My company NIMTSCHKE DESIGN got its name from my maiden name Andrea Nimtschke, before I married. NIMTSCHKE is sorbian and translated it means "german". I do all kind of design: graphic design, corporate design, illustrations, product design, book design, room design and also photography.

Design is for me the combination of a great look and best function. It should be surprising, usefull and has to make sense. It doesn't have to be "loud". Good design is timeless and can also convince at a second look.

I like doing Corporate Design and create products out of porcelain

Redesign of a logo. I started with improving and enhancing things that did not look good before.

My favorite material is porcelain. But also lether and fabrics because I like sewing as well. And I like the Adobe Suite for graphic design. I do a lot of creative stuff every day with it.

When I go to bed. If I need to find a solution for a problem I just have to sleep one night and get the answer in the morning.

I feel happy and excited. Can't wait to see my ideas getting alive.

I am proud, of course.

In my eyes it is not all about shape. The function is important as well. A good looking product that doesn't work will not survive. Successful design is like a good friend you always want to be surrounded by.

First it has to convince my eyes with its shape and second my hands or body with its function.

Clear and reduced to the essentials. Surprising, functional, with wit and a wink.

I live in Germany and think it affects my design a lot. Germans are mostly perfect in what they do. They are reliable, functional, tidy and always in time. In fact very rational but with deep hidden emotions. I love to evoke them with my designs. They should produce happiness.

I create products that they produce on license. But most of the time I do graphic design and marketing for companies and start-ups. I am working as a freelancer.

The Adobe Suite: Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator. For products out of porcelain I still use pencil and paper and make often a plaster prototype.

I develop my designs by myself.

www.nimtschke.de or www.facebook.com/pg/Nimtschke-Design-Andrea-Sosinski-156281574429991/posts/

To ensure even heating of the food in the Gratino containers, it was essential to keep the bowls floating so that they do not come into contact with the oven material. The way a Ferris wheel works gave me the inspiration I needed to maintain the food level. The idea of operating the oven outside the fire while the oven itself can remain in the fire came from using an ordinary drawer, the contents of which can be accessed by simply pulling it out. The final appearance of the implemented solution is the result of a lengthy development process. The porcelain bowls are now in the most compact and stable form to ensure technical functionality. Its design, both shape and size, is the result of an ideal combination of capacity, size, weight, manageability, cleanability and functionality, which was constantly adapted in the simultaneous development of the oven. Mathematics and physics as well as design and creativity helped me to find the balance and the right balance between all components and requirements.

That wasn't easy. The obvious choice was to have the oven forged from cast iron. But this would have been to the detriment of mobility and portability. I found an alternative in technical ceramics that allows the oven mold to be made in one cast and is also significantly lighter and yet heat-stable and has a good ratio between heat conduction and heat storage. The material thickness can also be regulated during production and I found a good ratio between stability and weight here too. I designed all components to be multi-purpose for portability and only used as much material as necessary. So even every screw has a dual function that it has to perform, right down to the obvious functionalities of the individual components.

Multifunctionality allows material to be saved, which in turn reduces the overall weight. From the beginning it was important to me to ensure portability so that the oven could also be used in nature. Such as at a campfire site in the forest or on the beach.

The oven allows for the fascination of an open fire and safe, modern food preparation at the same time. It is deliberately designed to be reduced and simple in order to provide a contrast to the high-tech and increasingly complicated world. People long for roots and simplicity to re-ground themselves and connect with nature. As a side effect, this deprives our everyday lives of the speed that makes us all so restless.

In my research into existing open fire cooking options, I realized that the issue of safety was the biggest one. On the one hand, the safety of the food being cooked and grilled, as well as the safety of people during operation. For this reason, most preparation variants are those that tame the open, irregularly flaming fire in the form of glowing coals, as in grilling, or lock up and confine it, such as in rocket stoves. In cases where the fire is actually allowed to burn, the preparation takes place over the fire, as with the tripod with a boiler, and therefore represents a safety risk. For this reason, I had to find a solution to ensure an operation outside of the fire, because this area seemed safer to me than over the fire. That was the birth of the idea of drawer operation.

The search for a suitable oven material took some time. Cast iron was the obvious choice, but portability would no longer have been guaranteed. Technical ceramic, on the other hand, is significantly lighter and yet dimensionally stable, fireproof, heat-conducting and heat-storing. The material chosen for the Gratino bowls was porcelain because it is not only used for cooking but also for eating. Glazed white porcelain is hygienic, easy to clean and also provides an aesthetic contrast to the black technical ceramic of the oven.

Firo is a cooking set that is primarily used in communities. Although it only offers space for 4 bowls inside, one Firo can easily serve up to 12 people. The food preparation is dynamic and resembles a social raclette round, which consists of putting the food together, preparing the food in the oven and eating it. Since the latter can be done while standing without a table or chair due to the handy shape of the bowls, a flexible, dynamic social gathering is encouraged. Due to the flexible option of eating while standing, the Gratino bowls are also an advantage wherever there is a lack of seating and table space. Also at trade fairs, exhibition openings, etc.

I believe that the award alone will not have any impact on future development. If Firo finds a producer, then people's demand will determine which direction the development of future outdoor cooking equipment will take.

I would like the Firo oven to help people, beyond the digital world, come into more real, tangible contact with one another. This is the real potential of Firo. Back to the roots and yet flexible, modern and safe. Firo will certainly always be a niche product and function as an additional cooking practice. It won't replace anything, but rather complement it.