Marcus Vagnby

My Childhood Inspiration
As a child I often sat under the coffee table, when my parents entertained guests. I decorated the underside of the table with colorful drawings. I created my own world. I had an urge for creating, drawing and being imaginative from a very young age. My parents gave my creative urge space to grow and I had freedom to pursue my desire to explore the unknown. It inspired me.

I have always been surrounded by a creative environment. I was born in 1981 as the third generation in a family of designers and graphic designers. My grandfather, Viggo Vagnby, who was wellknown for his art work and graphic tourist posters for Wonderful Copenhagen, created a strong and iconic universe inspired by his surroundings. My parents are successful graphic designers with creative minds. Hence, from childhood I have learned to - and let my self - inspire by my surroundings and my approach to the world has always been based on graphical communication and design.

Honest Design
My design focus on the characteristics in a product. Any challenge or complication inspires me. I believe in simple and legitimate solutions, which is reflected in my designs by form and function. The function of a product determines its shape. This makes the most honest, actual and useful design. Designs may, however, not become predictable. My constant curiosity for exploring form and function has since my first product in 1999 and throughout my education at The Danish Design School and at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture taught me to combine form and function with the unexpected.

I often participate in multidisciplinary working. This improves and sharpens my professional skills and profile, and I have had a close and fruitful cooperation with the Danish designer Karina Mencke for many years. I work in all scales and complexities, which is evidenced by my wide range of designs comprising of everything between graphic work, thermo pots and sofas to modern architecture. The diversity in my work is challenging and nourishes new and different creativity. Innovation and renewal are key elements in my work. It's fun to start over each time.

I want to avoid the natural extension of the expression. I am not content just by rethinking my products; they have to be developed. An example hereof is my steel and silicone baking brush designed for Nuance in 2001; an original and pioneering design of a familiar and classic kitchen product, but in which the brush was made hygienic, convenient, timely and easier to clean. By looking into to the challenges of existing baking brushes, I created my first design success and at the same time put and end to an era with hair in the dough as a natural consequence of home cooking. My Nuance kitchen brush won the Formland Award in 2001 and is available today in almost every third Danish home. It has since its debut been copied in countless colours and shapes all over the world. It pays to think about form and function a second time.

Sustainable Design
My designs are based on the Cradle to Cradle principle; Whether it comes to architecture, preparation and marking of material, durability, packaging, or to updating products, I always embrace an environmentally friendly and green approach. For example in the MIX series, recycling and green thinking is not only reflected in material selection and packaging, but also throughout the series own concept: mix and use again.

Modern design is not only beautiful and functional. Modern design also has a story. So do my products. The world, I drew under the coffee table as a child, is now the world I live in every day.
  • Nuance Wine Finer
    The Nuance Wine Finer is the ultimate decanting experience. It works as a pourer and stopper and aerater all in one!
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