Attention gamers and skateboarders, if you've ever wondered who designed the XBOX 360, and the FlowBoard for Flowlab, look no further, we found your man- his name is Mike Simonian and his clients include: Belkin, Coalesse, Fritz Hansen, XBOX and Google, to name a few. In October of 2008, Mike and Maaike, the industrial design studio, headed by Simonion and his creative partner, Maaike Evers, collaborated with Google to design the G1 phone, which is the first phone to run off of Google's android system. Simonian's designs have received numerous patents and recognition including ID magazine's best of category and inclusion in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Aside from practical gadgets and devices, Simonian focuses on creating works of art to dazzle the mind and evoke inquisitive curiosity amongst casual viewers, art enthusiast and critics alike.
I caught up with Mike to ask a few questions and this is what was said:
SBF: What gadgets or inventions did you create when you were a kid?
Mike: I liked anything with wheels or wings, experimenting with whatever materials I could find around the house. I made a lot of "cause and effect" contraptions, random things- a small boat for the harbor, RC cars, and planes. It's a blur… honestly, I don't recall what I made. I never had the resources, materials, or patience to do things the "right" way so I made things out of materials that weren't meant to be used for the particular purpose. I enjoyed subverting the directions and taking my own detours.
This translated into a desire to push materials, physics, and design into unexpected areas.
SBF: What is an average day like at Flowlab, is there nap time?
Mike: We sold Flowlab (the company) back in 2003 so I will describe an average day at Mike and Maaike (Mike's new company). It depends on the day. If it's a day of inspiration, there will be an off-site lunch picnic, maybe at our secret spot overlooking the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean, it's a great place to come up with new ideas but sometimes is too windy. You have to catch it at the right time. There will be lots of paper, pens, sand, dirt, sun and it will feel sort of forced until we eat lunch and are laying back in the sun talking about whatever. Then maybe an idea will show up. We will discuss an idea and start doodling. There may be a shared vision of how to express the idea or a disagreement. . .
The day following our day of inspiration, we'll use a computer or two and perhaps a hot glue gun but mostly emails and distractions.
SBF: Briefly, could you describe for us what, 24110, Nuclear Waste Repository and Monument is about and what inspired you to create it? Does it have anything to do with the current U.S political landscape?
Mike: 24110 is the number of years it takes nuclear waste to reach its half-life. Nuclear waste is a by-product of a nuclear power generation. The United States has been planning to bury 70,000 tons of nuclear waste from this "clean" energy source at a remote site in Nevada called Yucca Mountain. 24110 is an alternative proposal for a combined nuclear waste dump and memorial that would be located in Washington DC. Political? Yes.
SBF: How does your bedroom look?
Mike: Sheets, blankets and clothes thrown all around. Everything in my bedroom is very low- the bed is quite low- even the pictures are hung at knee-height. When you walk in, you feel you should be laying down.
SBF: The XBOX 360, concept-wise, what were you going for?
Mike: The idea was to appeal to a broader range of people beyond male, teenage video gamers. Simplicity was important but also a distinct and recognizable statement. We were interested in the idea of gravitational pull and liked how this worked in the sense of attracting and inviting people into the experience as well as the physical expression of gravity, caused by something so dense and so powerful that all the surfaces are pulled inward toward the core.
SBF: Physics aside, if you could create anything, what would it be?
Mike: Besides an economic system that redistributes wealth more evenly, I would like to create a really great building.
SBF: You and Pieter Schouten, are responsible for the Flow Lab Skateboard, describe your connection to skateboarding?
Mike: When I was 15, I used to skateboard with my friends down this long hill. At the bottom of the hill was a 7-11. He and I use to buy beef jerky and Slurpees. The beef jerky was not packaged, but the kind that is just loose on the counter in this clear plastic jar with really big pieces.
SBF: What were you thinking when you came up with the idea for Stolen Jewelry? What was the idea behind its name?
Mike: We were thinking about what to do for an upcoming exhibit at Velvet Da Vinci, entitled Virtual/ Tangible. The show was about computer-generated jewelry. Although we had done a lot of computer generated form development and 3D printing, we were interested in a more abstract interpretation of "computer-generated". We looked at famous jewelry pieces on Google Image Search and decided to steal them, or at least to virtually steal them. The low-res (resolution) preview images we found were stolen, doctored and then transferred to leather, creating a tangible new incarnation. With the expense and intricacy of the jewels stripped away, their essence and visual intensity are extracted.
SBF: There is a distinct difference between concept and execution, have you ever had an idea for a design that you weren't able to execute because of limitations having to do with physics?
Mike: The Veer Hanging Mobile is an example of this. We were being very optimistic about physics and wanted to show that anything is possible. We worked with extremely light and heavy materials to achieve an object that balances almost impossibly. The design incorporates a double-cantilever. We have always wanted to do a version with a triple cantilever but this has proven elusive.
SBF: What kind of music do you listen to?
Mike: This week, I've been listening to a lot of old music- Motown, Brigitte Bardot, comfort music I guess. A couple weeks ago we were playing a lot of 80's stuff on Pandora. I've been really into The Simple Noose (who just broke up I hear).
SBF: Has there ever been a time when you saw an invention or design and thought to yourself "Damn, I wish I had thought of that!"?
Mike: You can't open a good magazine without having a few of those moments.
SBF: This question is obviously intended to be a joke, but I'm half serious. We have the airboard, which sucks, when can we expect a functional hoverboard?
Mike: Realistically, I think we can expect a commercially available "Back to the Future" size hoverboard sometime around 2030. End of Interview.
