Bruta Home Audio
2024 - Ongoing

Bruta is a collection of “mini-architectures” for any bookshelf or countertop. A small speaker brand I’ve been developing that creates home audio with overlapping sheets of recycled material. The simple construction allows for the speakers to be produced unit by unit - something I found ideal as a project I could design and produce on my own without an extensive fundraising or engineering effort. The design’s simplicity also allows for limited editions and more expressive iterations over time.

Tally Kitchen Scale for Fellow Coffee
2023

The Tally scale is intended to round off Fellow Coffee’s expertise in the pour over coffee ritual. A third product to be complementary to the Ode grinder & EKG electric kettle.

We deviated from the traditional, monolithic form factor of existing scales in favor of something more sculptural & tool like. With that in mind, we used physical buttons to provide tactile feedback, a removable weigh pan and a high resolution display.

The display is a noticeable step up from the typical six segment displays used in this category - which is aligned with the increased responsiveness and precision of the scale itself.

Team: Josh Morenstein, Nick Cronan, Myself, Scott Ross

Individual contribution: I developed this direction from beginning to end - working through all phases of the design and collaborating with Fellow into the late development stages.

Clover Watchband for
Alloyed at Watches & Wonders
2024

Alloyed partnered with ECAL (École cantonale d'art de Lausanne) on a collection of 3d printed metal bracelet designs which could easily adapt to a watch. The goal being to showcase how Alloyed’s innovative printing technology could be used in this category.

The clover bracelet is an undulating, wave form that gradually transitions from thick to thin as it wraps the wrist. The openings on its interior allow for integration of bespoke closures as well as accessories. The design leverages capabilities of 3d printing in ways that would be difficult, if not impossible, to re-create via conventional manufacturing methods.

The final designs will be showcased at 2024’s Watches & Wonders convention in Geneva, Switzerland.

Team: Myself & ECAL

Ode Brew Grinder for Fellow Coffee
2020

The Ode brew grinder was part of a collaboration between Branch and Fellow Coffee. The grinder took two years to develop and was their most complex product in their portfolio from an engineering standpoint.

The Ode launched on kickstarter at the beginning of 2020 and successfully crowdfunded 1.2 million dollars. It has since gone on to win a range of awards including a red dot design award and an IDSA silver medal.

Team: Josh Morenstein, Nick Cronan,
Florent Alexandre and Myself

Individual contribution: I created the phase 1 (initial round) concept for the Ode grinder under the direction of studio partners and creative lead, Florent.

Fabbrica for Ghidini 1961
2023

The Fabbrica chair is designed to be premium, beautiful and easy to manufacture.

The chair has a relatively straightforward assembly of two aluminum castings, 3 cross beams and a padded, saddle leather seat. The I-Beam section of the castings are easy to manufacture and provide maximum strength for a minimal amount of material.

The chair launched at 2023’s Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy.

Team: Josh Morenstein and Myself

Individual contribution: I worked with Josh on the creative development and execution of this design.

Home Organization for Open Spaces
2020

Open Spaces was a collaboration between Branch and Pattern brands to create home organization products meant to be on display rather than stored away.

We developed 8 different products simultaneously, creating a flexible design language that has since expanded into additional post launch releases.

Team: Josh Morenstein, Nick Cronan,
Myself, Jakob Tiefenbacher and Florent Alexandre

Individual contribution: I have managed the Pattern Brands client for most of their programs - and helped launch Open spaces from beginning to end. Our collaboration is ongoing and we continue to have a dialogue over new products as well as adjustments to existing ones.

Goodform Tile Watch
2022

Goodform is a conceptual technology brand I created for the Tile smartwatch. Inspired by utility watches of the 80s an 90s, The tile watch is a versatile smart watch with an interchangeable face to accomodate specific needs.

The two tiered crown unlocks the face and allows the user to swap in for a range of alternatives. The modularity allows for faces that provide benefits for particular use cases without compromising on day to day use.

Personal Project completed in 2022

Barbican Furniture Series
2023

Barbican is a conceptual brand I developed that creates beautiful products with a simple building block - a cylindrical ceramic tube.

People have an inherent need to refresh and evolve their surroundings as they grow and change over time. This often results in heirloom quality products, intended to be kept over lifetimes, being sold or disposed of in only a few years.

Barbican’s simple sytem of ceramic cylinders with some anscillary parts can shapeshift into a wide range of home products. The intention being that a timeless, primitive form that is adaptable can meet the needs of people’s changing lives...and consequetly stay in them a bit longer.

Personal project completed in 2023.

EKG Pro for Fellow
2022

In 2017, Fellow worked with Branch on the design of the Stag EKG electric Kettle. The EKG pro is a premium release of that product - elevating the experience through materiality and construction.

The EKG pro features upgrades in material from plastic to extruded aluminum and glass, a high resolution display, improved ergonomic lid design and handle surfacing.

Team: Josh Morenstein, Nick Cronan, Scott Ross and Myself

Individual Contribution: I was involved through all phases of the process and managed all design changes including the design of the user interface

Toolset for Character
2022

Character tools is a new hardware brand for the casual DIY enthusiast meant to steer away from overly ruggedized construction grade equipment you may find at a hardware store.

Branch designed a contemporary toolbox and set of tools that is beutiful enough to be left on display - and unintimidating to the inexperienced user.

Team: Josh Morenstein, Nick Cronan, Myself, Jakob Tiefenbacher and Alex Hans

Individual Contribution: I led this design effort as a senior designer with the help of Jakob and Alex. As a studio, we were involved from start to finish.

Carbon Fiber Lounge Chair for Mishima
2021

Branch partnered with Arevo on the creation of a carbon fiber lounge chair. Arevo has developed an innovative method of 3D printing carbon fiber into shapes that would otherwise require tremendous up front tooling costs. This process reduces overall time to market - and this chair was designed and launched within 1 year.

The Mishima chair utilizes a continuous carbon fiber arm which envelopes the seat, leveraging the strength of the carbon fiber to cantilever the entire chair over its base.

Team: Josh Morenstein, Nick Cronan, David Hyun and Myself

Individual Contribution: I worked with David Hyun, creative lead, on the creation of the phase 1 concept and later phase development.

Sustainable Pharmaceuticals for Cabinet
2021

194 billion plastic pharmaceutical bottles are thrown away each year. Cabinet’s mission was to change that.

Unlike other industries that utilize refillables - the drug industry was especially challenging as it is mired in regulation that guarantees drug safety and efficacy - as well as child proofedness.

In our collaboration with Cabinet, we created the first over the counter refillable drug bottle.

Team: Josh Morenstein, Nick Cronan, David Hyun, Myself and Gesa Oeljeschlager

Individual Contribution: I was involved with this program from start to finish. I delivered the phase 1 concept that was selected for refinement and primarily focused on the refillable bottle design and development.

Equal Parts Cookware for Pattern Brands
2019

Branch partnered with pattern brands on the creation of Equal Parts Cookware. A cookware brand meant to be friendly and inviting for people without much experience in a kitchen.

We helped launch a family of cooking products including a set of stacking pots and pans and a suite of accessories.

Team: Josh Morenstein, Nick Cronan, Florent Alexandre, Hanna Bossmark, Myself

Individual Contribution: I oversaw the development of the phase 1 concept for this design and was responsible for more technical adjustments as we worked with manufacturing and engineering partners.

Stagaman Studio
2024 - Ongoing

Stagaman Studio is my public platform for design work - a space to share random ideas from day to day life. For now, the website is mostly composed of short projects and completed with a renderingThe profile is primarily composed of short projects (less than one week) and completed with a rendering.

In the future - I may produce some of the stronger ideas in small quantities but for now it is purely for fun.

John Stagaman

About

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John Stagaman

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johnstagaman@gmail.com