ddp design fair

The name makes me guess that the brand is related to office.

odd-office designs the convenience and culture of office by planning and developing necessary tools while focusing on in-person work environment and “humans” in the era of digitalization. As the name suggests, odd-office is a compound word of odd, which means unique and unusual, and office. It means to create an office environment that may be somewhat unfamiliar but unique and creative.

Please tell us the story of how this odd brand got started.

There was a time when I felt tired of my office life and started to have doubts about where I was heading. I just had a vague idea that “I want to live a happy life”, but I came up with an answer: “Let's make today my best day in life.” Based on the idea that improving the elements related to “work”, which accounts for the most part of the day, could bring me closer to a happier life, I established a design agency called “Odd Project” with people who had similar thoughts with me. This is how “odd-office”, a brand that represents our own thoughts, was created.

Could you tell us about your latest product or a new product you are working on?

We designed a modular trolley through a maker-designer collaboration project at this DDP Design Fair. I thought we needed a product that is not too overwhelming but could store a pair of shoes or an umbrella, which is somewhat difficult to store in our personal work space. Since most work spaces are relatively small and put more value on efficiency, it has been developed as a product that functions as a desk and a drawer, the two most essential pieces of furniture in the office, and also a modular design that can be easily separated and assembled and can be installed without any hassle in a space where you already have a desk and drawers. In the beginning, we came up with product ideas with more interesting stories or formative elements, such as installing a cushioned plate on the top that also functions as a footrest, but we decided to incorporate a product design that keeps things basic into the current version of our product.

We are also producing and selling two types of free-standing office partitions, which can be placed on desks, called “Natgarim” and “Motgarim”. Natgarim, a partition and organizer that can be placed and used in any space without partitions, was created with the aim of guarding the privacy from the prying eyes of others in a playful way. Motgarim is a mini-size partition, which is relatively too short to hide the face of the employees sitting opposite to each other. Both products were released through a crowdfunding platform called Tumblbug. They are especially meaningful to us because they were our first products to get responses and feedback from users. We are also planning to make additional products, such as pencil holders and bookends, which can be used together in diverse ways by the end of this year.

What are the things visitors should look out for in the Launching Pavilion?

Just like our brand name, we would like to show visitors the “odd office”. This is our first time participating in a design fair, so we have concerns that things may not turn out as we planned. However, we would like to break away from the norm and standardization and show the direction of our brand and the characteristics of our products that stir up new feelings. I think this will be an opportunity to get a glimpse of odd-office's philosophy, focusing on in-person work environment, which goes against the current trend, especially when most of our tasks are going digital. Since our first product was released this year, we haven’t got many things to showcase yet, but I would appreciate it if you could come see our exhibition and use your imagination to visualize our products that will have a strong presence in the future. I hope you enjoy our booth where you can experience the fun names and various features of our products. And I hope the DDP Design Fair serves as an opportunity to find ways to work happily together.

Why did you participate in this DDP Design Fair? What are you expecting from the fair?

I participated in the DDP Open Market last May. This was our first time meeting customers face to face and selling our products since the launch of our brand, so it was a valuable opportunity to hear people's honest feedback and directly experience their responses toward our products. It was an experience that allowed me to overcome doubts that I had while planning and designing products, such as “Is this a product that people really need?” and “Would we be able to deliver our message?”, and gave me the strength and drive to move forward. I also participated in this DDP Design Fair to get honest feedback from many people, but also to set our future brand direction and keep our motivation high. I hope the fair serves as an opportunity to deliver our brand’s message and introduce our products to those who are not well aware of “odd-office”. In addition, I think this could be an opportunity to find ways to work happily together.

What recent trends do you find to be most interesting?

Although these buzz words are still ongoing trends, we have been paying attention to the environment, sustainability and how is COVID-19 reshaping office culture. The changes in various work environments, such as contact-free tasks, working from home and shared office space, have also brought changes to products within the office space. These shifts are driving new patterns of consumption, and I think people's needs have changed as well. There are consumers who want to make their workplace feel more like home, whereas there is also a growing demand for products that set boundaries between office and home life. We will constantly monitor the trends of office culture to plan and design products that can keep pace with more diversified working patterns, and our ultimate goal is to become a leading brand in the industry.