animiste

animiste [a.niˈmist · ] is a design lab driven by research, following the odd question of how the things we make come to feel alive — from software to furniture.

Most technology asks you to adapt to it. We’re interested in the reverse — how a made thing should feel to live with, not only what it does. We work by making attempts: we build something, put it into the world, and write about what we learned. Some attempts become products. Some stay experiments. We don’t decide in advance what form the work takes. Software now. Maybe furniture or hardware next. The odd question stays the same.

on anima

The name comes from anima — the old word for the breath that makes a thing alive. We’re not animists. We just think the word describes the work.

read on anima →
the lab

A small lab, designer-led. We care more about how something feels in use than which category it belongs to. — [email protected]