Five Minutes With Simon Legald
On a sunny Thursday afternoon, we head over to Normann Copenhagen’s design studio, located only a short bike ride from the headquarter and showroom in Copenhagen.
We are on our way to meet our in-house designer Simon Legald, who designed close to 40 different product families for Normann Copenhagen, many of which have won several design awards.
Simon, how did you know that you wanted to become a furniture designer?
That’s a good question! I think for me it’s always been kind of a passion to build things. When I was younger I loved to build things and I liked drawing a lot. So along the way I tried.. or, I thought that I was going to work in the graphic design area.
But then I found out most of the work was done in computers and that really didn’t seem that interesting. I went to school where I had a semester of art and then a semester of product design. I realized I found it much more fascinating to create three-dimensional objects instead of just flat images.
You started at Normann Copenhagen more than five years ago. Tell us how it all started.
The company was very young at the time, and you know, a younger company is more open to change and trying new things. I thought it could be interesting to not be in a giant company where everything is locked and you need to go to a different person in order to get to a result.
At Normann Copenhagen, there was a possibility to make results quite fast and for me that is more motivating than working on a single project for a year. I like having lots of projects simultaneously, which I can learn from. In a way, each project is like a teaching phase. So, the more stuff you get into, the better of an understanding you get of the materials and the sense of proportion and so on.
During those five years, your name has been behind the design of close to forty different product families. What’s your secret for being so productive in your creative process?
I guess it is about not being afraid of failure, and to work on as many different projects as possible. Many of the projects never become reality, but I still learn a lot from them. And that experience I can use for the next project.
What was the first product you designed for Normann Copenhagen?
The Kabino sideboard was the first product that I designed for Normann Copenhagen. Though the first one to be produced was the Sumo pouf back in 2012.
What are you currently fascinated by?
Glass, stone and steel, are materials I find very interesting at the moment. It’s exciting to be able to work with the surfaces and structures in many different ways.
Your all-time favorite design piece?
My Bialetti Moka coffee maker! It keeps me fresh and awake every day.
Favorite everyday object?
My “Holdsworth Hurricane” bicycle from 1952, it gets me around the city all year round.
What’s the best thing about living in Copenhagen?
The size - it allows me to cycle everywhere!
Dreams for the future?
Designing a house or a bicycle someday would be fun!
Thank you for the chat, Simon! Explore all of Simon Legald’s designs below.
