In our latest series "Contemporary Design," we look at the creators who shape the space we live in. Today we're talking to Michał Łoj - Head of R&D and Design Manager at Deante, a leading European manufacturer of bathroom and kitchen equipment. Initially associated with the automotive industry, he worked at OBR Daewoo Motor Poland and Mercedes Technology Center in Sindelfingen. He also worked with Polish bus and special vehicle companies, as well as the defense sector in vehicle design. Over time, he discovered interiors and interior products. He served as Product Manager at Ceramika Paradyż for several years before joining Deante, first as Product Manager and later becoming involved in creating the company's Research and Development Department. His activities are fueled by his unrelenting enthusiasm and belief that something new can still be invented in every field.
Sketches of a sink faucet
© Deante
1 From the armaments and automotive industry you ended up in interior design. How did that come about?
Cooperation with the armaments sector was an interesting adventure, but it was difficult to build a stable professional reality on it. Automotive is a bit of a love affair - passion with reality, unfortunately without a happy ending, because in Poland the automotive industry is more technical than stylistic. The next step was to work with a product with the widest possible audience - designing products related to high-volume production technology.
Examples of realizations
© Deante
2 High-tech and futurism run through your projects. Where do you get your inspiration for such futuristic solutions?
"High-tech" is such a catchy term, but de facto everything that brings change and reaches for the latest available technologies is "high-tech". "Futurism" is more a term of perspective. An attempt to see the future in the product being created today.
3. What does your day at work at Deante look like - between managing the R&D department and designing new products?
Coffee, conversations, meetings and more... coffee. Seriously speaking, it's hard to close the work of the R&D department in hard boundaries and one sentence. We are a team of visionaries and enthusiasts. We look after every group of products - and there are many of them at Deante - from the necessary, albeit uninspiring, tests to the creation of new forms, innovations, patents and solutions that can pay off in the future.
Sketches by Michal Loja
© Deante
4 When designing everyday products, what is most important to you: functionality, form, or technological innovation?
All of these are important. We will not fit one theory to all products. The product sets its own limits. A brick doesn't have to be beautiful, a porcelain cup doesn't have to be super durable, yet it would be nice to have a super durable cup, but not necessarily a beautiful brick.
5 Which of your projects gave you the most satisfaction and why?
There have been really many. I like it when a project can surprise me. I like products that are simultaneously cool and brilliantly simple. My best recommendation is when I say, "I'd like to have this at home."
Deante washbasin
© Deante
6. does there happen to be a "wow" moment at work when an idea instantly becomes a viable product?
It doesn't work that way. Perfection is the sum of a process - or the sum of many revisions. I don't believe in a perfect product, one that is accurate from the first shot. Even if we think we've created one, the potential risk is too great to skip the pre-implementation process.
7. What interior and product design trends have been inspiring you lately?
It's worth being aware of the mainstream, but don't necessarily draw from it in buckets. It's worth remembering that what we have today was invented yesterday. We want to focus on what will be tomorrow .
8. Are there any unusual sources of inspiration - a movie, a book, a trip - that have influenced your designs?
Inspiration can be seen everywhere. It is impossible to plan that "today I will be inspired by something". Ideas are prompted by the surrounding world, and sometimes the source is right at your fingertips - you just need to notice it and properly understand or interpret it.
Examples of realizations
© Deante
9. if you could introduce one of your designs/products into every home, which one would it be and why?
I'm not sure this is a noble ambition. A product present in every home must combine mass availability with functionality. The most resistant to fashion and the passage of time are products that are maximally reduced in form and function - like a canister, a matchbox or a toilet brush.
10. What advice would you give to young designers who want to combine futuristic ideas with practical products?
It's an ambitious combination, but innovative caution should be exercised. Unless they are creators of niche, micro-series products, they should remember that they are designing for other people - not for themselves.
