GENTLE MANIFESTOS

Woogmaster Studio applies critical and academic design reasoning to our work, ensuring that each outcome is truly tailored to the Project Brief and the intended user. Internal studio dialogues have led us to a series of theories we call ‘Gentle Manifestos.’ Acknowledging that Design Theory is ever growing and ever tested through experience, the following are the Studio’s current beliefs as relate to fundamental design and its effect on human existence. We strive to practice what we preach:

TIMELESSNESS

We believe that Timelessness is the crucial design quality that bridges historic and contemporary lessons, and helps to ground us to life experiences just as it brings us to imagine other possibilities. In a larger context, where design can be artificially historicizing and false, or contemporary to the point of removing us from our roots, Timeless design allows us to subtly bring our histories with us towards the future, and through harnessing those elements, remind us of our best selves.

RESTORING CEREMONY

We believe that Ceremony is the system by which one highlights the richness of daily life. Ceremony is not the imposition of superfluous etiquette, but instead a matter of accentuating the moments that bring us joy. Deliberate design decisions in planning, form, and detail allow us to elevate, appreciate, and delight in the most natural and basic actions. Such Ceremonies bring a sense of purpose to our lives, and a quality of memory to our existence alone, and as we share it with those we love.

DEFINING LUXURY

We believe that Luxury results from the removal of all superfluous obstructions between the user and the desired need or action, and the celebration of that ultimate need or action through the infusion of specific design (i.e. Ceremony) to highlight them. Luxury may be striking, or it may be subtle, but it must always be purposeful and clear. We further believe that Luxury is achieved when user needs are anticipated by intuitive design, before those needs are even recognized by the user. 

DEFINING ELEGANCE

We believe that Elegance is the simplification of elements and the elevation of specific actions. In hosting, in luxuriating, and simply in living daily life, we believe that Elegance is that trait that allows the user to feel closest to our personal aspirations. In seeking this, Elegant design removes all clumsy elements from the user’s environment, and allows them to move with as much finesse and flourish as they desire. Elegance is as much about the appearance of a space, as it is about the self-presentation of its user.

RETURNING TO NATURE

We believe in learning from the past, and look to historic lessons often as we develop design solutions for contemporary life. Too frequently, we feel, technology separates us from the living moment, removes us from those around us, and shields us from those physically interactive experiences that make us feel most human. We prefer to embrace the early 20th Century Modernist approach to technology: that innovations should help us feel healthier and more fundamentally comfortable, but only insofar as they bring us closer to a full and natural human experience.  In Returning to Nature, we believe that technology must be more a utility than an altarpiece.