Kazoo Design

Κostas: My involvement in any form of art probably started in my childhood years while I was studying piano and later on classical/electric guitar. I have always been into music, photography and movies. In regards to music and photography, I really enjoyed experimenting with making them myself from a relatively young age. Design and architecture have always been something that I have admired greatly, but since they weren’t something I studied in university they remained a mere passion. A series of events most likely led me to become a designer. I studied forestry at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki and at some point participated in some seminars (outside the university) that introduced me to the digital 3D space. My tutor was Christos Vasdekis and is one of the most inspiring tutor/professors I have ever come across in my lifetime. I was amazed by the whole concept of being able to create a three dimensional object and edit it at my will. This urged me to improve my skills by spending endless hours practising it at home. With my colleague Thomas with whom we had attended the seminars together we did our thesis on making a digital 3d guide of our university’s facilities. From there, I went on to work for a company that specialized in making architectural visualizations, later on studied 3d animation and visual effects in Vancouver, worked in a post-production studio in London and eventually moved to Istanbul where I worked on VFX projects and and currently apply my skills as a designer. Zeynep: I have decided to study something related to Art after graduating high school. I didn’t know which form of art I liked or would be good at so I started my Foundation Art studies in Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, USA. Later I picked up Graphic Design as my major and completed my studies in Middlesex University, UK. While studying Graphic Design at College, I discovered 3D Modeling and Animation. After working for some advertising agencies in İstanbul, Turkey and realizing that I could further develop my technical skills in 3D, I decided to attend 3D computer Animation in Vancouver, at Vancouver Film School where I also met my future partner in life and co partner at work. So, I cannot say that I always wanted to be a homeware designer per se but I always loved Art and Design combined and pushed on my technical skills to later be able to have a vast imagination and be able to create and make the designs without any technical restrictions.

We (husband and wife Kostas and Zeynep Paradeisopoulos) created Kazoo in 2020 as a way out from the visual effects sector that was becoming more and more exhausting with lesser budgets and shorter deadlines. At the same time we were expecting our first child and couldn’t imagine that this was how our life would be with a new baby. The initial thought behind it was that we could do something that we’re skilled at and at the same time dictate the terms for the creation of any object we decide to design/produce. It was definitely a wild move to make but we are happy with how it’s going up to now.

Design is a form of expression and communication that solves problems and enhances peoples’ lives.

We enjoy creating projects that challenge us to think outside the box and employ different design strategies compared to our past design works.

We like all the things we have designed equally. Maybe we have a special connection with our “wall nut” since it’s one of the first things we designed/made. It’s one cotyledon (half a walnut seed), made to hang from a wall. We saw a resemblance between the walnut and the human brain, so we decided to give it a pink hue in order to make the connection even more apparent. It has become one of our pop art design objects that we still relish.

The first thing we designed for our company was the 428 candleholder and the Wall Nut.

We are using Jesmonite in our latest products and we are very happy with it. Definitely the 3D printer is our favourite form of technology since without its’ existence we most likely we would have never gotten into creating a homeware design brand.

We actually like blocking out ideas separately in solitude while listening to music, most likely on the computer. We like the night time better for designing, when the chaos of the day’s tasks are finalized and there is more space and time to be spent creatively without distractions.

Form and texture are our primary focus, but we always keep function in mind.

Kostas: I feel at peace. Feelings of excitement come in when solving challenges that at first glance may have seemed unsolvable. Zeynep: I feel that designing is mostly fun. I do have many ups and downs since there are many challenges but when the design is finally made, I feel happy.

The goal is to captivate the audience while simultaneously sending the intended message across.

We know for a fact that we are using resources either by consuming electricity when our computer is on while we’re designing, or when we’re melting filaments while printing prototypes, or when we make molds in order to cast copies and finally we use whatever material we are using for the casts. I think our responsibility is to do our best in order to ensure that the final product is something that people would ideally like to own for a lifetime and not something that will end up getting dumped in a landfill in the very near future.

The design field is evolving very well especially with the use of new technologies like CNCs and 3D printers. The future of design is looking very bright. We just want to believe new designs won’t rely on AI for their creation.

We have not held an exhibition in any gallery. Our objects have been exhibited in the shops we have had been working with throughout the years.

Kostas: By observing the real world but it mostly comes when I least expect it. That’s why I always to to block out an idea when it comes to me in order to not forget it. I also try to feed my creativity by listening to music and watching movies and going for walks around the city we live in. Zeynep: First I come up with a question like whether an everyday object be designed differently or something that has been done a specific way can be improved with the latest technological availabilities. Later I try to merge concepts and draw some ideas on my ipad and we discuss whether our design ideas can be produced and what path we could follow to make it happen. I get a lot of inspiration from my husband and like sharing my ideas with him since we both use 3D as our base, and therefore we share a common communication language. So I feel privileged in our studio that we can take a simple idea and turn it into a standing object. My main sources of inspiration is nature.

We don’t think of designing based on a certain style and we never try to follow trends. We rather like experimenting with as many styles as possible and not restric our designs to styles. Our main objective is to keep evolving as designers.

Kostas: I come from Athens, Greece but for the last decade I have been living in Istanbul, Turkey. I think my cultural heritage has always been a reason to try to excel in what I’m doing since there are many artists who come from my country that I strongly admire. Zeynep: I was born in Istanbul, Turkey but I try not to restrict my imagination to my cultural background. I believe that İstanbul specifially is a city mixed with many different cultures and this is what I like the most about living here, that I get to experience different flavors of societies and mixture of East and West but also this cultural diversity sometimes brings challenges in navigating communication barriers.

We are currently designing for our own brand, but are open to collaborations with other companies in the near future.

We recommend that companies entrust designers with the creative freedom to execute their vision, as this can lead to more innovative and effective designs. Additionally, a shared understanding of the project's goals and incentives can foster collaboration and streamline the design process

Kostas: Throughout the years I’ve had to use many 3D packages for the various jobs I have participated in. As a result I feel very confident using them and rarely grab a pen or pencil in order to sketch out a design. Zeynep: I do scribbles of ideas on the Procreate on my ipad but later model the design and collaborate closely with my husband on the 3D model to refine the design and make any necessary adjustments before moving forward.

1. Around the Clock by Gaetano Pesce 2. Eames LCW by Charles and Ray Eames 3. Uten.Silo Wall Organizer by Dorothee Becker 4. SUM shelves by Peter Marigold 5. HAY CPH30 designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

Throughout the day we will be involved in one or more of the following tasks: - designing a prototype of a new object - designing the mold for a new object or revising a mold of an older object - setting up 3d prints for prototypes/molds - post-processing prototypes - casting copies - cleaning-up casted copies - painting/varnishing casted copies - making a plan for what object we will be designing next

Design, like any other form of art is food for the soul. We know that it may not be the safest bet in order to pick it as a profession since there is no guarantee for success but that still doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try if we feel attracted by it. On the positive side it inspires us to move forward as a humanity, become better people and solve problems. On the negative side it is a very competitive job like most creative professions and will most likely require way more working hours compared to many other jobs.

Don’t copy. We most likely copy unconsciously the things that have inspired us throughout our lives, so there’s no need to do it consciously also. Dive deep into your soul and let your true self shine through.

An eye for analysing form but also the skills to be able to translate that idea in their head onto a canvas.

Softimage, Zbrush, Affinity Designer and Procreate are what we use most of time to design with. 2 computers , 3 FDM printers and 1 SLA printer are what we use for printing prototypes and molds.

We not only conceptualize the product’s design but also engineer the manufacturing process, investing countless of hours in resolving potential issues at the computer to ensure a seamless pipe-line later on. This proactive approach enables us to streamline the production line and manage our time with efficiency.

It really depends on the project. For simpler forms it might take us around a week. For more intricate ones probably a few weeks.

If we used our own noses as a reference for the bookend noses we designed.

Kostas: I have been lucky to have worked in a few types of jobs in 3 different countries. From every single one I have definitely learnt many important lessons. At the same time I have had the opportunity to work alone as well as part of a broader team. Every job had something to teach me and I don’t know if I can narrow it down to just one thing. If I had to answer I’d say finishing a project is the most important one. Zeynep: My most important work experience has been at our own studio, where I’ve had to develop strong time management skills and self-motivation to drive my own productivity without any external guidance.

In the past our clients were architectural firms, visual effects and post-production studios, advertising agencies and individuals. Currently, our clients are the people who buy our products.

Kostas: I am lately enjoying design using profile curves. In the past and when working as a modeller I used to do a lot of polygonal modelling. Since we shifted to designing objects, the majority of design workflow is done with curves. Zeynep: I enjoy our designs that came out from the concept of making everyday objects and elevating them to a bigger scale: like our Thimble Pot or the Wall Nut. We not only got to create some pop art but also brought some color and joy into other people’s homes.

We got into designing furniture for our own home and commissioned those pieces to local craftsmen/woodsmiths. We were very happy with the results and are considering to try our luck in furniture in the future amongst more homeware objects.

We have a few works in progress. We’ll only say for now that we’re working on large pendant lamps.

We got into producing many of our items due to the difficulty in finding other producers that could deliver commissioned work on time and without quality issues. It would be great if there was a portal where designers and manufacturers could connect and collaborate on projects.

For the last 10 years we have collectively and separately had the privilege to work on a diverse range of projects, including building projections, and 3D visuals for various ads, documentaries, tv series, movies and architectural visualization projects. Our tasks involved modelling, rigging, animation, camera layout, texturing, shading, lighting and compositing. We later felt that we could print our 3D designs but didn’t know how to make that into a valuable business. We chose naturally that we like designing objects for homeware since we spent a lot of time on designing and decorating our own home. We have concentrated our 3D knowledge into making design objects for homes.

We chose to become designers because we were tired from the CGI industry we were working for and wanted to work on the creation of our own projects. Up to that point, for the most part we had been involved in the production of CGI content that always came from a specific script/blueprint and had to be made with the director’s vision and a client’s deadline. Also, we felt that so many skills we had acquired from all our previous jobs could be all put together for designing an object. Honestly, we don’t know if getting into design was the “appropriate” decision, since we had no proven proof that it would lead us somewhere. We think it was more an internal drive that told us we may have a future in it.

All the objects we design, have been designed digitally. We mostly use software that have been created with visual effects artists in in mind and not really industrial designers. At the same time though, we feel very confident using them and don’t find the need to refer to dedicated designers' software.

We see the whole design process as going on a journey. You may be mostly interested in actually designing something like you want to visit the place you have selected in the first place, but at the same time everything that happens before and after that is an integral part of the overall experience.

Kostas: I think the fact that for many years I worked as a 3D Generalist really helped me me become a designer. Being a 3d generalist means that you can pretty much undertake a project from start to finish without needing to rely on anyone else. This certainly made me understand the importance of being able to first learn and then know how you can start from an idea and go all the way to the final product using your own strengths. Knowing you can do this gives you the confidence to overcome any obstacles that you are bound to meet along the way. Also, I would say music and photography have shaped my thinking and have paved the way for me to get into designing. The first helped me create structure in my work while the latter strengthened my sense of observation of light and shadow. My design journey has been very pleasant up to now. I have mostly had to deal with many challenges post design and specifically production. They have all been very helpful in the long run, but when I had to deal with them I did regret having to deal with them many times. Zeynep: I really enjoyed being a 3D Generalist since like Kostas, I believe it helped us a lot in establishing a solid base for designing products. I come also from a Graphic Design background so I feel that I developed a good eye for design and color.

We’re trying to evolve either by coming up with different design styles, or by experimenting with new materials or even by new painting techniques. Our future plans involve moving to a bigger workshop and collaborating with more people.

We still consider ourselves to be in the beginning of our design career, since we only started designing 5 years ago, so we’re sure we have many things to learn still. If we could offer one piece of advice to anyone interested in becoming a new designer is to load their arsenal with as many skills as possible. For us, modelling, rigging, animation, lighting, staging, camera layout, compositing and photography have been very helpful in designing. Also, although we sometimes borrow elements from our past designs and pass them on to newer ones, we prefer to come up with something fresh each time in order to evolve as designers. Best piece of advice we have received is that inspiration is out there everyday. You just need to learn to see it.

Nowadays, we think there are way too many distractions when it comes to all the digital tools that are out there. Every single one is promising something that the other one can’t do. It’s very easy to get lost into trying to learn them all, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you actually need to. For us sticking to one software most of the time (the one we felt most confident and happy using) and trying to make everything there, was a very liberating move. Also never stop observing everything around you and never give up! Sure, some people are born with natural talent, but for the rest of us, becoming good at any creative profession involves many hours of practice. You’re bound to get better the more you work on your designs.

Our days seldom look the same. Depending on the day we may be designing new objects, designing molds for those objects, setting up prints for protoypes/molds ,post-processing the 3d prints, casting/cleaning up/painting/varnishing copies, communicating with clients, keeping track of orders/stock and preparing deliveries. We believe that being involved in many different tasks doesn’t allow us to get bored of our job.

We don’t keep up with design trends nor do we try to design based on what’s trendy today. We’re sure design trends matter to many people but it’s not something we try to achieve. Knowing that whatever we’re putting out there reflects a piece of our souls and anyone who buys it is on the same page as us, makes us a lot happier. Inspiration sometimes comes from observation and other times it simply comes out of the blue.

Kostas: I’m very lucky to be on the same team with my wife. We will be each other’s harshest judge (OK maybe I’m a bit worse) so if we pass each other’s test we think the design has a good possibility of being “good”. A very good lesson we’ve learnt during our brief experience in the design sector is that while it may be important to have a good design, it’s also important for it to be “producible”. Up to now I think that I would describe a design as being good if it catches my eye and instantly makes me think “wow, that’s a great design”. Zeynep: I feel that for me a good design usually shows when it doesn’t give the feeling that it’s just a trendy object, but rather displays great complexity and does stand the test of time. I believe some of the best designs actually look very simple but are rather complicated to make. We do give each other a lot of criticism for our own designed objects and try to produce designs that are innovative and unique. And surely Kostas is the harshest judge out of the both of us.

Aside all our designs, we have been lucky enough (initially we thought it was a bad thing) to be involved in the production of most of our objects. This has given us the ability to be able to understand how to make molds and later on produce copies. During the design process we will also troubleshoot the production side of things, so when we know that we have something that can be produced and we’re happy with it’s form and function we’ll call it done. At the same time like with anything in art, there’s always a reason to add/remove something to/from it but we think that we’re at the stage where we’re not fighting with these demons as much.

We’re in an in between phase right now in which we really have mastered making molds for smaller objects but we would like to test ourselves with bigger but lighter objects. One of these objects is the Knot Lamp. We have designed the mold so that it’s 50 cm diameter. It’s currently still in production stage with some other larger pendant lamps we are testing from different materials. It’ll give us great joy once we master working with bigger molds, since even handling the molds is quiet difficult let alone mastering making copies from the mold.

Kostas: I admire Gaetano Pesce's work. Zeynep: I do like Jonathan Adler's designs. He also started with his passion for ceramics and making every piece himself and later grew quiet a lot. His story is quiet inspiring.

Kostas: I find pleasure in the simplest things in life and love coffee. I’ve visited a few cities but the one that stuck with me the most was Bilbao. I rely on music I love to get the rhythm I need during my working hours but I listen to a lot of music when not working also. I believe my culture effects my design process but probably gaining different stimuli from all the countries I’ve lived in effects it more. In life, design can be found everywhere. From the water bottle we drink from every day, to the shoes we wear, to the chair we sit on, the music we listen to, the small cafe we pass by on our way to work and the list goes on. Every single thing had to go through countless revisions as well as versions in order for our lives to become better. I’d say that thanks to being involved in design I appreciate more the work any individual has put in for the creation of a product or project. Zeynep: I find London to be very inspiring. When I was studying there I felt that there is so much art and design everywhere in the streets and coffee shops, many concerts to attend to and museums to visit. I like listening to music or podcasts while crafting our handmade copies. We are currently working on our big pendant lamps that we would like to release during this year.

We will continue to work on projects that excite us and make us feel very proud to have been a part of. For the most part we (Kostas & Zeynep) work alone but in the very near future we would like to start working with more people who are as passionate as we are.

Kostas: I have no background in design and I could say that I was self-taught, although I have worked in a few jobs where design was a key element. I studied forestry in university and before finishing my degree I got sucked into the world of CGI and specifically 3d modelling/animation. After endless hours of reading and practising 3d I got a job in a studio specializing in architectural visualizations. As my tasks started becoming too repetitive I went on to study 3d animation and visual effects in Vancouver. After that, I worked for a post-production studio in London for 3 years and later on moved to Istanbul where I worked for various visual effects projects. Zeynep: I come from a Graphic Design background where I studied a lot of Color Theory, Calligraphy and general Design theory at school. During the final years of University, I have started getting interested in 3D generated imagery. The first advertising company I’ve worked at after school, there was only one person who was doing 3D and he had an upper hand compared to more traditional artists, using pen and paper. So, later I decided to do sttend a 3d animation & Visual effects programme in Vancouver Film School, where I studied in depth 3D Animation. I also met my husband and future co-partner there and after years of working for advertising, movies and several television series we are excited to use our 3D expertise to create innovative homeware objects that bring out a unique style.

Kostas: It is a way of expression. Some people do it by writing novels, others by composing music, others by singing, other by cooking. For me designing is the closet form of expressing my inner self. Zeynep: The idea that our handmade designs could one day find their way into someone's home or coffee shop, becoming an integral part of their daily routine, motivates me to create with the intention and care. I take pride in knowing that every object we craft will soon be treasured by someone who will appreciate its place in their life. Our products are not very common house objects, usually they have some twists, so I believe the customers who purchase also appreciate the uncommon designs.

Kostas: I chose to become a designer, thinking I would have a chance to be good at it. Zeynep: Initially, I was encouraged by my husband to focus on designing homeware items, which was a departure from what we were used to doing. However, we wanted to expand our impact in the industry and felt that homeware design would provide us with a larger platform.

We design household objects. We would like to design furniture and maybe one day a house to live in.

Certainly not stop designing and try-out new things as much as they can.

A very fine line distinguishes the two and the biggest difference is usually a final push

A good design usually addresses a common, everyday problem, and a small design tweak can lead to a significant time savings and reduced frustrations. And other times it just brings more joy to your day.

The value of good design is unmeasurable. It is a reason to thrive to move forward and evolve for the better.

We would design toys for our children. And maybe some wall tiles.

We would like to one day design a house for our family, based on everyone’s needs.

A passion for what we do is probably a key element. We also always try to develop new skills/styles

Gaetano Pesce, Konstantin Grcic, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Big-Game

Flos Aim by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec. We like it since it's a very smart and unusual design for a pendant lamp. Herman Miller Aeron Chairs. We have been sitting on them for the last 10 years, they have not aged or gotten rotten and they are perfect for long term sitting and working.

We think our greatest design is one we have finished working on but haven’t released yet.

We designed again and again and again. Not every design that you have sketched out or blocked out will end up turning into a new object but you’re bound to get better with practice and eventually some of them will be realized into something.

We have been each other’s biggest supporter. If we both weren’t involved in this entire process we wouldn’t have made it up to here.