Keeping pace with changing economic and industrial trends could be hard for designers. Finnish designers Aamu Song and Johan Olin understand this predicament and thus concentrate on the industrial aspect of a design rather than the other way round, which is usually the norm. By studying what could be manufactured in factories they design products and hence there is no issue about a concept not being manufactured in factories.

In the picture one can see the “Dance Shoes, For the Father and the Daughter” which have been designed for a Finnish felt factory. Just as they aim, the shoes are not just artistically designed but can be manufactured in a factory on a wholesale basis. Perhaps one of the secret motives is to let the father dance without worries of the daughter’s little feet getting hurt accidentally. Cute indeed, but very functional as well!

Designs such as this and others are sold under the name “Company” by Song and Olin. Later, they sell the goods in “Secret Shops” which they hold as events across European cities including Milan, Berlin, Oslo and Helsinki. The idea also is to help traditional factories brace against the onslaught of global outsourcing by giving them a chance to manufacture functional but almost “haute-couture” industrial concepts. Song and Olin continue to design products which are viable in an industrial setting.

Via Core77