Simpler, sturdier, and it will provide a better grip, for happier playing.
Designs balanced to be fun to use, and low-impact from an environmental point of view.
Andrea and I live on an island with a limited amount of resources and suppliers, and make products that need to be delivered worldwide. Not all kind of materials are available here - you need to find a balance between choosing ecological materials and not having them travel the world to get to your door, for instance. This constraint give the products an edge - you need to think in a way that is not the same as in industrial design or mass production, and who purchases these products also tends to use it a bit differently than mass produced items.
Definitely, some love for playing and trying new things out is needed with small scale production.
After a few years, we found that running a small company is a great way to reach out and connect, as it has earned us collaborations with people from all over the world, which we enjoy very much. When thinking online shopping platforms, people often tend to imagine impersonal automatized processes, from customer service to product delivery. What we do is the complete opposite. Think of our products as tailor-made for yourself. You can always ask for advice, suggest changes, ask for a new project. It is a little bit like crowd-sourcing and co-designing, only slower and on a small scale. This a good thing for design in general, and simply reflects the way we want to live. We are here, discussing your emails over breakfast, trying to find solutions, getting back to you, making new things and perfecting them slowly, with the help of everyone.
Happy playing, and till the next update!
Elisa