Jasper Morrison (born 1959) is an English product and furniture designer. He is known for the refinement and apparent simplicity of his designs. In a rare interview with the designer, he is quoted as saying: "Objects should never shout."

Early life and education

Morrison was born in London, England, and was educated at Bryanston School in Dorset. His design studies began with a foundation course at Ravensbourne College of Art (1978–79), after which he studied at Kingston Polytechnic, graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor of Design degree. He then attended the Royal College of Art, from which he received a master's degree in Design in 1985. He also studied at the Berlin University of the Arts (formerly the Hochschule für Bildende Künste). He has spoken about his childhood memories of the Braun SK 4 "Snow White's Coffin" radiogram (designed by Hans Gugelot and Dieter Rams in 1956), which he first saw in the "Scandinavian style study" of his grandfather's house, and how "[t]he room and the record player both had a very important influence on [his] choice in becoming a designer."

Work and career

He has designed products and furniture for many manufacturers and brands such as Alessi, Alias, Cappellini, Emeco, Flos S.p.A. (company), FSB (German manufacturer), Hermès, Ideal Standard, Issey Miyake, Magis (Italian company), Olivetti, Samsung, Sony, Rosenthal, SCP, Üstra, and Vitra. Morrison is the lead designer at boutique Swiss consumer technology company Punkt., known for its minimalist MP01 and MP02 mobile phones. He has also collaborated with the Japanese retail company MUJI on a variety of products ranging from houseware to housing. Morrison curated the Super Normal exhibition with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa in 2006, which presented 200 ordinary or anonymously designed products that were devoid of gimmicks and branding. In a Domus magazine review of his 2015 exhibition Thingness at Le Grand-Hornu, the design critic Alice Rawsthorn stated that Morrison "is one of the most influential product designers of our time." More recently, a 2020 article about the designer in la Repubblica described him as "the anti-Philippe Starck par excellence" whose "projects are often the result of a long gestation to achieve simplicity, elegance and discretion." His product and furniture designs have been widely exhibited and they are held in the permanent collections of institutions such as the British Museum, Victoria and Albert (V&A), and Design Museum in London, the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, the ADI Design Museum in Milan, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, as well as the M+ museum in Hong Kong. Morrison's designs have received many awards including the Compasso d'Oro, Good Design Award, and 12 iF Product Design Awards. In March 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Design from Kingston University. Morrison received the Isamu Noguchi Award in 2015, and in 2020 he was named both "Designer of the Year" by the Elle Decoration British Design Awards, as well as the German Design Award "Personality of the Year". In the same year, he also received the Compasso d'Oro "Career Award" from the ADI (Italian industrial design association) in Milan. Morrison was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the UK 2020 Birthday Honours for services to design.

Selected works

Selected exhibitions

Publications