Introducing Makers Cabinet
March 16, 2023
Introducing artist Yasmin Smith. Learn more about her, her inspiration and her work.
How did the makers cabinet team meet?
In 2017, Odin Ardagh, Benjamin Weininger and Noah Bier met at Central Saint Martin’s whilst studying BA Product Design. We were somewhat dissatisfied with designing products and never taking them further than the group crit. From this experience we decided to come up with a design for a product that we could launch on crowdfunding to really test our abilities as designers.
After throwing round ideas we realised that the answer to what to create was right in front of us. We were often sketching with high quality pencils and specifically a blue Caran D’Ache pencil which doesn’t show up when scanned into a computer. Pencil sharpeners would often snap the graphite and leave us more frustrated ruining our most prized and expensive pencils in our most creative moments .
In this moment we set out to create the world’s best pencil sharpener. After college hours, we secretly used the university’s 3D printers to create prototypes for what became the Høvel. After iterating and coming up with a design inspired by wood planes, we went about setting up a company and finding manufacturers. Once we had secured a prototype we created a marketing video and posted the product on crowdfunding pre-order platform Kickstarter. We initially took pre-orders for the Høvel to seed production on its first batch and managed to pre-sell 750 sharpeners. We ran into countless issues on our first batch but eventually the products were delivered to our student flats where we packed them into envelopes and sent them out just in time for Christmas.
Supporters of Høvel loved the design and wanted us to create more designs that followed the same design philosophy. We decided to take a year out of university between second and third year and created the Iris. The Iris went viral and really spurred the business on. The success of Iris demonstrated a business case to us and we maintained the business through our final year at university in 2020. We have now built a range of high quality drawing and writing tools, no longer from our bedrooms, but form a design studio in Bethnal green including the Hovel pencil plane, Iris drawing compass, Stria folding ruler, Ferrule pencil extender and Lazlo ballpoint pen.
Are there any brands or creators that inspire you?
We have been inspired by several different brands. Most notably is Patagonia, Anglepoise and Zippo. Each of these brands create products with longevity built in, designed to last for years of use and to be the best in their field for professionals and consumers.
Additionally, during our degree we took a trip to Milan where we visited design studios and factories. Whilst on the trip we visited a White Goods manufacturer near Milan where we visited the factory floor and met with their design team who we quizzed them on their sustainable practices. With very little to say, and the only innovation they could point to was internet connected fridges allowing you to watch Netflix whilst in the kitchen. This lack of understanding the environmental emergency we found ourselves left the Makers Cabinet team inspired to design products that do away with planned obsolescence and consider the environmental and social impact through their lives. We believe this is where we can make the biggest impact as designers.
Do you have any favourite products?
Yes, one of my favourite products is the Zippo lighter. It is a good representation of utilitarian design that has stood the test of time due to its repairability and durability without the use of unnecessary plastics. I also love the click it makes when its opened and the cultural representation of it. I love the idea of it sitting in a GIs top pocket and it blocking a bullet and saving their life.
Do you have a dream collaboration or a brand you would like to work with?
We are soon to release a collaboration with the Royal Mint who have launched a new consumer brand called 886 who are producing wonderful jewellery and homewares in their Welsh factory.
We hope to one day move out of just drawing and writing tools and work in different design categories. We are very inspired by Brompton bicycles and would love to create bike parts or even a bicycle with them.
What is your ambition as a business?
Our ambition is to become a household name as a world-leading sustainable brand creating designs that elicit joy, a culture of care and are made in line within the circular economy within our own UK factory.
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