3.4 | Jakob Wagner: Homo Sapien 2.0

The Design Podcast

Jakob Wagner is a multi-award-winning Product Designer who has been creating iconic work from his Copenhagen-based studio for the last 30 years.

His minimalist yet sophisticated style has seen him reach international acclaim, with his work winning numerous awards from IF and Red Dot. He’s been awarded Designer of the Year, and you can find his work displayed in MoMA's permanent collection next time you're in NYC.

In 2020, his studio made a pivotal change to work exclusively with brands that align with his personal commitment to "improve our shared future". Along with this new direction, Jakob set out to develop an entirely new product company – Rejoyn, which strives to create products with a deeper meaning, helping us to reconnect with our ancestral past and discover the next "human operating system".

We look at his studio's three decades of invention and innovation, touching upon some of his most famous collaborations with technology and furniture brands. But, where it gets really good, is where we get deep into the 'unseen, but felt' aspect of design – the intangible energy and meaning that objects have provided the human race throughout millennia and how Jakob's new focus is a commitment to taking a look at the past, to inform the future. In other words, how design can help us unlock a better version of ourselves, moving from the distraction of modern life to a new 'human OS’.

If that didn't intrigue you enough, Jakob wraps up our interview with his personal design values – over thirty years of experience boiled down in a few short minutes (which gives Dieter Rams a run for his money).

This might be the most profoundly philosophical conversation yet on The Design Podcast.

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