A whimsical and decorative trio ; the three “CHOUETTES” (owls), that BIG GAME designed, adorn any shelf, desk or night table with their joyful looks. Piercing the dark, their large round eyes light up to woo the young like old night owls. As a passionate player which does not take itself seriously : the name of the studio BIG GAME sets the tone chosen by the trio of designers Grégoire Jeanmonod, Elric Petit et Augustin Scott de Martinville. Coming together during their studying years at ECAL, Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne, where they teach nowadays, the Swiss, the Belgian and the Frenchman soon found common values swiftly embodied into “practical, simple and efficient” objects.
Right after graduation, they decided to set up their studio in order to work together; design was to be their playground, where dialog would serve as both an engine and a referee. “It’s really kind of a three players ping-pong game to the point where, when objects are out in the market, we are unable to spot who did what on the projects.” From a dynamic and united team, BIG-GAME soon became a winning combination. Propelled into the limelight with their project “Heritage in progress”, a series of turned hunting trophies that were showcased in Milan in 2005, the trio imposed its style as something that surprises its audience to this day. “It has now been 11 years since the hunting trophies were first edited, and still are nowadays by Moustache, and on the market.Their longevity is quite a surprise for products which have a purely symbolic value.”
Since then, BIG-GAME ‘s fame has grown through numerous projects that combine both a purpose and the expert handling of clear lines. They conclusively produce smiling objects tinted with optimism. “Many people mention humor when talking about our identity, and although this evokes a lightheartedness designing our products demands a lot of responsibility.” Now raised to stardom in the contemporary seats universe, their chair BOLD, an item of their “plus is more” collection, hides behind its joyful look and the pun on Mies van der Rothe’s famous motto “less is more” a lengthy work to re-interpret and streamline to the max the traditional steel-tubed chair. At BIG GAME, all is deeply matured and irony always carries a meaning.
Permanently in quest of novelty, BIG-GAME has been multiplying its achievements for the past 10 years. “Our fuel, from the very beginning, has been the ability to tap into all subjects: today we move from furniture to electronic appliances through to watches… diversity is what interests us because all of these different areas can bring a lot to one another. As a matter of fact, a chair is never just a chair: each project catapults us onto the next.” On top of working on different kinds of products, the trio further diversifies itself by collaborating with companies of very diverse natures. Author of the highly singled out collection CASTOR for Karimoku New Standard, a Japanese manufacturer of traditional wooden furniture, BIG GAME also creates products for MUJI “which is closer to a supermarket” or for editing houses as diverse as Hay, Moustache, Alessi, Habitat or Nespresso, for whom they came up with a collection of assorted cups launched in November 2015. Prolix, the designers are always warming up to the idea of “affordable design” which stands in line with both their claim to optimism and the designerbox project. They “caught on right away with a clear and efficient concept.
It’s a nice opportunity to draw up an object that can be afforded by the widest audience and with whom people would entertain a particular relationship”. Conceived as a small family, the CHOUETTES (OWLS) cumulate the aesthetical and practical qualities dear to the designers. “Simple, streamlined and graphic, they fit together rationally like a puzzle, the three pieces are arranged into their box taking minimum space so as to keep the postal fare at the lowest.” Of different sizes and shapes, the three whimsical figures with phosphorescent eyes can be parted at will but “they complement each other perfectly when side by side”. So it can be that logical after all: at BIG GAME, a nice story is always a play between three entities!
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