Pentagram’s accomplice appointments are at all times a second of reflection on each the studio’s legacy and the trade’s route. With the arrival of commercial designer Piotr Woronkowicz as the latest accomplice in its New York workplace, it is also a press release of intent.
Recognized for his furnishings, packaging, and product design work for purchasers akin to Google, Maker’s Mark, and Bread Alone, Piotr turns into the primary accomplice to signify industrial design in Pentagram’s New York staff. Whereas the milestone could also be new, the partnership has been years within the making.
“I really feel honoured to be chosen as a accomplice and to get to signify Pentagram industrial design in NYC,” Piotr says. “It is even a bit surreal at instances to get to collaborate with expertise that’s on this area.”
Professionally, he says the transfer feels pure. After collaborating on initiatives with Pentagram over the previous few years, the alignment was already there. “We realised we complement one another’s work. In the end, I am excited for what we’re going to have the ability to create collectively.”
Whether or not it is mass-market bottles or one-off installations, Piotr’s work has constantly bridged the hole between type, operate, and storytelling. Whereas that selection would possibly appear to be a frightening shift in gear, Piotr approaches it with calm pragmatism.
“Being a product designer is to be a problem-solver,” he says. “Framing the issue and determining what the consequence needs to be is my course of for any design challenge. I select what I need to work on and what pursuits me, so it turns into pure to shift gears.”
On the coronary heart of his course of is a sensitivity to model and context. From the geometry of a bottle to the engineering of a chair, Piotr’s work captures not solely a product’s function, but additionally its persona.
“You need to fully perceive the shopper or model and the place it at the moment is, the place they need to go, and the way they need to be perceived,” he explains. “There are various issues at play when attempting to give you a type. Instinct performs an enormous function as effectively.”
It is a craft honed over years of working with a few of the most recognisable corporations on the planet, although for Piotr, recognition is rarely the purpose.
“An thrilling transient to me consists of a real problem on enhancing one thing in folks’s lives,” he says. “I like it when a shopper involves me with an concept that they’re personally captivated with, for the best causes. It is telling of how the method shall be to deliver a design to life.”
That integrity shines by means of in initiatives like Bread Alone, a family-run bakery that champions regenerative agriculture and native meals techniques. Sustainability, for Piotr, is just not an afterthought.
“It is only a foundational component that’s required when making any merchandise,” he says. “If I can not make a distinction in materials alternatives, I am going to look into logistics, delivery, disposal and different factors of the product’s lifecycle. There’s at all times a chance to make good selections for the planet.”
Piotr’s mix of idealism and rigour owes one thing to the designers who helped form his profession. He studied underneath furnishings design icon Don Chadwick, greatest recognized for co-designing the Aeron chair, and labored with industrial designer Jeffrey Bernett.
“That is a simple one,” he says. “Nice work will converse for itself. Each Don and Jeffrey targeted extra on the initiatives within the studios than on the commerce exhibits or the night occasions. The success of their work was a results of this ethos.”
Now, as a part of Pentagram’s famously partner-run mannequin, Piotr continues that philosophy. And apparently, he does not see an enormous distinction between working his personal apply (Piotrworks) and becoming a member of a world identify.
“It is fairly comparable, truly,” he says. “At Pentagram, all the choices made on methods to run a enterprise are from a designer’s perspective. This is similar for small impartial studios, the place an important facet of constructing the enterprise thrive is the standard of the work. Every part else comes second.”
What’s totally different, although, is the proximity to different disciplines—and the chance to strengthen each component of a product’s journey. “Most merchandise right this moment require branding, graphics, and digital parts when launching,” he says. “I now sit subsequent to the very best designers of their subject to ensure all these parts of the challenge have the very best expertise utilized to the best disciplines.
“There’s nothing worse than designing one thing you’re keen on after which seeing a poorly designed label or emblem positioned on it by another person.”
This multidisciplinary collaboration is very related now, as product design straddles a brand new frontier. In a digital-first world formed by automation, touchscreens, and AI, Piotr sees a rising urge for food for tactility and a return to bodily objects that really feel good to make use of.
“I feel we’re starting to see a correction of over-adoption of tech,” he says. “This stuff promised to assist and save time, however persons are realising that will not be the case for everybody.”
He sees this in every part from home equipment to automotive. “The automotive trade is lastly coming round and bringing buttons again into vehicles after the mass adoption of screens. It is a good signal that industries see that essentially the most superior tech is just not at all times the best reply.”
For Piotr, the long run lies in designing bodily experiences that improve digital ones, anchoring high-tech in human behaviour.
This mindset additionally makes him a pointy critic of the objects that many people take without any consideration. “As an individual who is consistently critiquing every part as I exploit issues each day, I’ve a brand new thought in all probability hourly,” he says.
This speaks to the broader philosophy he brings to his work: considerate problem-solving over novelty, high quality over hype, collaboration over ego. As Pentagram’s New York staff enters this subsequent chapter with a product designer on the desk, it is a well timed reminder that good design nonetheless begins with listening, touching, tweaking, and considering together with your fingers.
