J O Y C O M P L E X is pleased to announce our agreement to distribute jewelry created by award-winning architect and designer Michael C. Poulsen.
You may find his designs as part of the MCP Collection on our online retail store on the ETSY.
In His Own Words
As a designer and being the highly creative person I am, I’m constantly inspired by various sources. They are everywhere. I’m not necessarily looking for inspiration, it just comes to my mind wherever I’m walking. It’s like I’m seeing stuff that automatically transforms to new ideas in my mind. It’s not an unstoppable continuous stream of ideas though. I can’t force it to appear. In fact, the harder I’m looking for ideas and inspiration and even chasing it, the tougher it is to find them. In the other end of the line, when I’m having my best days, ideas comes to my mind like pearls on a string.
There’s no definition of what makes something a source for inspiration. For me it can be anything of any scale. A match box once inspired me to create a coffee table which was later awarded for its no-nonsense simplicity.
The Opera ring for example was inspired by an architectural project I once did for an Opera house at the Copenhagen Harbourfront. So scale has no influence and can work both ways when talking about inspiration sources. I can also get inspired be shapes or patterns in nature, by fashion, by signs in the city or architecture.
Sometimes an idea takes a long time to develop in my mind. I may see something and instantly know that this will transform into a product one day. But that one day may come one year later when the right context is there. Like most designers I also attend design trade fairs to stay on top of what is new and sometimes even look in a design magazine. This is important I think. But still, I have to remember that what I see is the past, it has already been made.
To create interesting products you must think new or different.
When I get an idea I make a quick sketch to be sure to remember it. Therefore I always carry a sketchbook with me. There was a time when I used to have it by my side when I was sleeping because I could wake up at night with a bright idea in mind. When the right product or project appears I continue to develop my ideas - sometimes on paper at start but often directly in my mind before continuing in 3D computer software. I do all of my products in 3D even from an early stage. Basically this is because 3D is my strongest skill but also because my ideas are 90% developed inside my mind and therefore easy for my to build in 3D. By using 3D software I can make sure that I’m happy with the way my product looks from any view angle.
In general I just love to create. I feel gifted to be able to influence on what furniture people choose to surround them or what jewelry they choose to wear. I love to challenge myself and push my limits. This is how I feel alive in my professional life. To get better and better and even to master more and more different design fields. So far I have done product design, lighting, architecture, furniture, industrial design, graphics, watches and jewelry. And I doubt I’m gonna stop here.
As educated an architect from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts – The school of Architecture, I have been taught in the essence of the Danish design tradition. I value it, respect it and I have developed my own clean-cut-design based on these values. My philosophy is that the quality of a product is defined by the level of its details. Besides that I love to add a little sophisticated twist.
