A conversation with Jasper Morrison
There is no output without input!

It’s a good feeling to return to Berlin with an almost complete look back on everything I’ve done in the last thirty years. I’m pleased to be showing in the Bauhaus Archive. I often visited there as a hopeful design student.

I see Berlin as the city that really shaped me as a designer. Of course, London and Milan played their parts, but Berlin had such an energy-charged atmosphere at the time. And it was through this special environment, enclosed by a wall, that the city became such a more intensive experience for a young designer just soaking up the inspiration and vibe there.

I had designed a handle for an apartment in London and had it produced for an interior design project commissioned by the apartment owner. This handle appeared in an article in Domus, an Italian magazine, which really was the first boost for my career. That would have been in 1988. Jürgen W. Braun, who was the Managing Director of FSB at the time, read the article and asked me if he could manufacture the handle. I had no clue what FSB was, but it wasn’t long before I realised that this was my first chance at industrial series production of my work.

When I started my work on the 1144, I was warned early on of the issue with the rose, and the design came together without any major problems. I still think it’s a good handle today, and I have it in my own house. Every time I open or close a door, I’m glad that I delivered such good work with that design!

Handles are everywhere and ordinary, we use them so much and they are often an anonymous thing. Exactly. I think the 1144 was probably my first Super Normal design. I took the shape from a drawing of a handle of a horse-drawn carriage, which I found in an old catalogue. It seemed to be the epitome of the gripping shape.

Yes and no. It’s certainly not the most important thing. But I have always thought that a new design should have something fresh and even surprising to offer – even if the inspiration for it comes from something old. But the design should also be both individual and simple. I didn’t come up with the concept of Super Normal until about 16 years later, but the 1144 was instinctively Super Normal.

Oh, that’s easy. Things don’t have to be new so much as better. Dieter Rams taught us this, and it’s a very important point that has catastrophic consequences if a designer ignores it.

There are quite a few relationships like this and they are all extraordinary. It's exciting working with a new company from time to time, but the trust and understanding that I have with the companies I've been collaborating with virtually since the beginning are practically unbeatable.

I used to teach, until one day I realised how bad a teacher I was. Writing books is my way of giving something back to the education system. As a student I learned so much from books, and I find a lot of joy and inspiration in writing new books.

It’s an integral part of the process, an extension of my visual memory that helps me express new things. There is no output without input!

The things I am asked to design constantly surprise me and are more interesting than what I would consider to be a good project. I prefer to wait and see what lands on my drawing board!