Founded in Amsterdam in 2003, UXUS is an international multidisciplinary and award winning design agency specializing in strategic design solutions.

It all starts with a collaboration to bring out the best in your brand, their name reflects that idea: UXUS is shorthand for ‘You Times Us’.

 

INTERVIEW

 What does design mean for you? What is design in your life?

Narrative has replaced the rational. Everyone expects design to produce functional objects, what is important now, is how designers create work that engages with the audience on an emotional level.

Storytelling is the new design frontier. As brands seek a deeper connection with an endlessly distracted consumer, storytelling in design becomes ever more crucial. Great stories disrupt the expected: make the ordinary, extraordinary and result in an irresistible brand halo. They create everyday wonder, challenging expectations to surprise and delight customers.

Delivering a powerful narrative is about “feeling, not reading”, future design tells stories beyond words. At my agency UXUS we call that “Brand Poetry”.

We define Brand Poetry as artistic solutions for commercial needs.

Please describe the changes in design over the last 20 years.

Design is moving from the rational function based approach of the 20th century, to the emotional involving approach of the 21st century. We see this being captured in brands like Apple and Facebook.

Which designers/architects have influenced your work the most?

Artists are the biggest influence in our work. Art is about expressing the essence of an idea, we like that way of approaching design, what is the physical expression of an idea, brand or story?

What item have you envied because of its design?

I don’t envy, I admire.

Do you believe that design assists in the creation of a “better” world?

Everything that we live with today, cities, buildings, objects, are all design. Could you imagine a world without all our stuff? Even tribal people design tools; it’s a human function.

Should design be more inexpensive or does it deserve to be paid for at a high price?

I don’t separate the design of an inexpensive object with a luxury product, good design all has the same value. It’s the object and the design objective that create the price.

What led you to become involved in design?

I trained as a fashion designer at Parson’s School of Design. I was inspired to become a designer after working as a part-time Visual Merchandiser at department stores during the Christmas season when I was a teenager. From there I worked in the fashion industry for many years after opening UXUS with my partner Oliver Michell.

If you were not a designer, what other profession would you have chosen?

I can’t imagine not being involved in the world of art and design; it is an integral part of who I am.