While in Germany, we took note of award winning and uber-talented American designer, Scott Henderson. Our first night with Modenus’ Blog Tour Ambiente we were able to share dinner with the designer and hear of his design accolades and experience as the featured Partner- Country American designer for Messe Frankfurt’s Ambiente Faire.
Henderson co-founded MINT, a design collective through which he designs, manufactures and distributes home accessories and objects to more than 350 retailers and museums throughout the world, among them The Museum of Modern Art, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the London Design Museum. His designs have been exhibited a number of times in the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. MoMA is one of his biggest clients, snapping up products like MINT’s Hug salt and pepper set, which he calls one of the most knocked-off products in design history.
As interviewed by the Faire, Henderson shares, “When Messe Frankfurt asked me to design the 2015 Partner Country Exhibition featuring the United States, I was honored and excited by the opportunity.” Henderson is particularly looking forward to the new project in view of the high degree of internationality at Ambiente. “Designers today think very globally. However, it is fascinating to study the subtle differences that naturally occur in a designer’s work from one country to the next. I am looking forward to exploring the point of view that is expressed when viewing a collection of well-designed objects from US-based designers and companies and what statement the collection may demonstrate. Of course, I also can’t wait to design the space in which the objects are presented.”
And make a statement he did. His display showcased a design as if you were on the edge of the ocean, complete with six-foot-tall Adirondack chairs and oversized displays that represented tree canopies. We loved capturing him sharing American designs with the German Ambiente Faire’s “royalty”.
Some of our favorite designs include Henderson’s Splash bottle dryer for Skip Hop. At the Faire, Henderson stated, “All the baby-bottle dryers out there were rectilinear and took up a lot of space. I wanted to make mine circular, like a lazy susan. Then I thought, what if it has an integrated brush? And is shaped like it’s making a big splash?” He certainly is an expert on making a big splash—congratulations Scott!
