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Dor Kedmi

Forms of Smiles

Product Design and Development Processes from Monkey Business

May 28, 2019 – October 26, 2019


 

How do you sharpen a carrot? Who are Morris the Donkey and Moby the Whale? In the world of the design firm Monkey Business every twig is a sabre in a bold game of knights, every elephant is a coin bank, and every wine bottle cork can become a pre-historic dinosaur. These popular gift products offer an unexpected encounter with rare polar bears inside a freezer or a charming acrobatic performance on a clothesline. Using a humorous approach to everyday objects, the designers breathe life and bring a smile into our daily routines.

מוריס, יעקב קאופמן למונקי ביזנס, 2009. צילום: סטודיו דן לב

Image: Morris, Yaacov Kaufman, 2009 (Photo: Studio Dan Lev)

Photo: Dor Kedmi

Monkey Business has an important role in the world of design-for global consumers and local designers alike. Since it was founded by Oded Friedland in 1994, the company has introduced into the local and international market over 100 items all designed by Israeli designers with whose help “despair becomes a bit more comfortable,” cheerful and amusing.

The exhibition will present the stories of 14 products, giving a deeper look into the development process from the concept stage to hand-crafted models, ideas that didn’t make it and up to the final product and packaging. Many of the stories present the evolution of multi-product series and families all based on ongoing dialogues among designers, producers, suppliers, illustrators, distributors and other professionals who influence the design process.