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“We design elevated everyday objects that celebrate simplicity, materiality and functionality.”
SALLYANN CORN + JOSEPH KENT
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In a few words, describe yourself and your practice.
We design elevated everyday objects that celebrate simplicity, materiality and functionality.
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Why “Fruitsuper”?
This is one of our most frequently asked questions. And we kind of love the idea of it remaining a mystery…
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What’s your creative background?
Through long and winding paths, we both have two degrees in Industrial Design. We’ve been working together for 15+ years. We started by working with clients when we founded our studio in 2008 and transitioned from consultancy design work to launching our first product in 2011.
“Know your process: what makes you tick, what gets you excited, what you’re good at, what you’re great at, and what you should outsource.”
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How did you turn your passion into business?
We met in college our first time around, and immediately recognized how perfectly balanced our skill sets were. From day one, we knew that we wanted to be partners and chose to go to Pratt together for our second degrees because at the time they were well known for nurturing entrepreneurs. It’s taken us many years of studio practice to translate our values into our output.
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How does your new store fit into your practice?
We’ve always been dedicated members and supporters of our creative community; the shop is a reflection of that and has allowed us to assume new roles as leaders. The shop is a physical culmination of our passion for hosting events, celebrating our creative community, testing ideas, and experimentation.
WHAT MAKES YOUR WORK UNIQUE?
Simplicity. One of our favorite parts of our process is that we tackle the everyday—we call them the unsung heroes. They are objects we all reach for on a daily basis without thinking. These are the objects we love to design, the ones that seamlessly fit into any and all surroundings. Simple, but better—we call it elevated everyday.
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What are some challenges you're facing in your practice?
We’ve always been discouraged by the term work/life balance. This idea has always left us a bit perplexed—our work is so integral to our lives! Our work is our passion and raison d’etre, not just our livelihood. So it has always felt strange to want to push that aside in order to balance our life with our work. During two recent refueling trips (one to Los Angeles to visit the Eames House and one to Marfa to visit Donald Judd’s studios), we realized we were not alone in our thinking. We were instead reminded that the balance of a creative life is not in life and work, but in active and rest. This is the balance we seek in our practice. Knowing when and how to pause and refuel is one of our biggest challenges.
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Who (or what) inspires you?
Books, our colleagues, Donald Judd, Jean Arp, Imi Knoebel, Jasper Morrison, Beverly Pepper, building, making, traveling, observing, failing, growing.
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How does where you live affect your work?
Living in Seattle means that we’re fortunate to be near a wide variety of industries. We’re obsessive process nerds that still get the Mister Rogers factory visit feeling every time we meet new manufacturers. Moreover, our work space is a visual and physical representation of our process. We are collectors, observers, and lovers of things. Though our work can be read as both minimal and simple, our inspiration comes from far reaching, colorful and diverse areas. We surround ourselves with collected treasures that inspire us on a daily basis.
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How would your audience describe you?
The descriptors we hear the most are smart and clever. Often because they’re reacting to a combination of useful and simple paired with an unexpected material that is solving a problem in the most straightforward way.
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If you were to share one piece of advice with someone who wants to be a full time product designer, what would it be?
Know your process: what makes you tick, what gets you excited, what you’re good at, what you’re great at, and what you should outsource. One of the biggest misconceptions about having your own studio is that it’s all creative all of the time. We’re designers that also handle billing, shipping, accounting, sales and sourcing in addition to our design work. And some of the best advice we’ve received over the years is to not try and do it all ourselves. We’ve built around us a team of amazing creatives that are incredible in their own fields and have been invaluable additions. In short, identify your specialized skills and build yourself a great team.
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Where is your happy place?
Anywhere there’s a stack of books, cocktails, and our sketchbooks.
“The balance of a creative life is not in life and work, but in active and rest. This is the balance we seek in our practice. Knowing when and how to pause and refuel is one of our biggest challenges.”
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What does community mean to you and how important it is in your practice?
Community is without a doubt one of the pillars of our practice. We feel so fortunate to be surrounded near and far by passionate and talented friends. Not only is the shop itself filled with beautiful wares from our dearest friends, but we’ve been able to create a hub for our creative community and neighborhood through our various events and workshops.
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What's your work routine? Do you find it helpful to have a routine
By no means do we have a daily routine, but we do have a fairly patterned process routine. At its core, we generally kick things back and forth in the same manner. Sallyann is generally the big ideas, and Joe comes in with reality. We joke, but she’s generally the why and he is the how. As far as routine, rarely is the process quick and easy. It’s generally a lot of back and forth, a lot of dialogue (between each other and between 2D and 3D), and a lot of letting it sit.
“Our work space is a visual and physical representation of our process. We are collectors, observers, and lovers of things.”
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Are you comfortable sharing all aspects of your process? If not, why?
YES. We also teach design, and our overall approach to teaching is by teaching our own process: the good, the bad, and the ugly. We often tell our students that their creative process is their lifelong project.
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Share one thing that makes you more productive.
Deadlines
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Name three essential things in your studio
Books, plain white printer paper, scrap materials.
“Sallyann is generally the big ideas, and Joe comes in with reality. We joke, but she’s generally the why and he is the how.”
PSST…SPECIAL SHOUTOUT:
Product photos by Fruitsuper
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What are you currently working on?
Balancing our new roles as curators and community leaders, teaching, designing, and finding new ways to stretch creative muscles and push our own boundaries.
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How has your practice changed over time? Where do you see it going?
We’ve found our outermost boundaries: financially, creatively, emotionally, physically. And we’ve gotten better at valuing our voice and our work, knowing what we need, and how to hone our process. Our emphasis and core values haven’t changed since we started, we’ve just found new ways and channels to incorporate them. We’ll forever continue to seek projects that excite and challenge us in new ways!
