How Singapore designers Dazingfeelsgood created minimalist furniture for Danish brand Bolia

Local studio Dazingfeelsgood believes in creating simple, functional items that honour the effortless beauty of natural materials. They share a little more about their design ethos and latest Scandi-inspired collaboration with Bolia

It started as a couple’s passion project—Karen Chiam and Kiat Ng wanted a challenge outside of their full-time jobs, so they founded their product design firm Dazingfeelsgood in 2015 to make time for such creative pursuits.

The studio’s whimsical moniker came about from this desire to daydream. “It was a fun name that came to our minds, as we like dazing at the beach, and feeling good about spacing out. The name embodies our playful spirit,” quips Chiam. Chiam specialises in retail design, while Ng teaches 3D design at Nafa; together, their interdisciplinary expertise feeds off each other. Chiam often leads the photography, visual display and creative direction of their projects while Ng’s expertise in industrial production informs the technical aspects of their work.

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Above Dazingfeelsgood founders Kiat Ng and Karen Chiam

The couple consider their ongoing collaboration with Danish brand Bolia as one of their most fruitful collaborations to date. The Latch table by Dazingfeelsgood was one of the winning entries at the Bolia Design Awards 2017. Since then, various iterations of the well-received Bolia table have been launched: these include the three-tier version of the original design, and a dining table to be launched soon. Here, the couple share more about their design concept for the Latch collection and the design principles that guide their collaborations.

Above A single-top version of the Bolia Latch table by Dazingfeelsgood, pictured in two oiled oak finishes

How would you describe your creative dynamic?

Karen Chiam (KC): We both like similar things; our tastes and design spirit are aligned in terms of creative direction and outcome. We learn a lot from each other. I usually start a project by looking for inspiration on Pinterest and magazines to pick out things that attract me. If I’m unsure about the production side of things, I’ll show it to Kiat and then share my point of view for the visualisation and mood, and how we should display our products.

Tell us more about your concept for the Bolia Latch tables.

Kiat Ng (KN): The initial iteration for Latch was a three-tier low coffee-table in solid ash and walnut timber. It comprises three overlapping masses, with the top layer latching onto the bottom two layers for support. The undulating contours of the table took reference from the pattern oflandscape topography.

It was one of our first few projects where we developed a high-quality lifestyle design that can be easily adaptable, and is accessible and sensible to both user function and commercial production. It is made of up seven primary parts and is simple to produce, is fully collapsible and can be flat-packed. It is also easy to assemble as it uses common hardware and tools for wood: socket nuts and a dual-thread dowel screw.

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Photo 1 of 2 The Latch Table in Darked oiled oak

Photo 2 of 2 The Latch Table in Oiled oak

What was it like teaming up with Bolia for this collaboration?

KN: There were refinements needed for it to be ready for production. The process took us over a year with Bolia to conduct technical research relating to the engineering and stability of the table: how the joints work and material consistency, among others.

We redid the mock-ups several times to obtain optimum comfort in the sensual feel of the table—both the visual elements [how the table looks] and how it feels to the touch. We also worked with the Bolia product manager to understan European markets to design the table in the right scale for it to sell well internationally.

Which are the materials that interest you the most right now?

KC: Our outcomes usually focus on the use of one material, be it acrylic, wood, or fibreglass. We aim to design things in simpler ways instead of using complicated
methods or unnecessary materials or finishes. We will also keep the joinery simple, and Latch is a good example of this. We prefer to use natural materials, and we avoid adding unnecessary colours; for example, we will not do a spray-painted finish on wood.

Above The Latch table was originally designed as a three-legged structure with a tiered design inspired by topography patterns

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Topics

Dazingfeelsgood Bolia Furniture Product design Singapore Minimalist design Minimalism

Tatler Asia

How Singapore designers Dazingfeelsgood created minimalist furniture for Danish brand Bolia