It takes more than one

Many designers have shifted the perception that good design is born from the spark of brilliance from the lone genius to one of collaborative creativity.

The most important kind of collaboration happens when someone walks over and pierces the bubble we exist in, says Christoph Niemann, illustrator and graphic designer.

Getting a different perspective and new input is just one of the many advantages of working with others resulting in fresh and unexpected outcomes.

From working with one other person and with strangers to crowdsourcing creativity and teaming up across borders, we round up four collaborative efforts that highlight the value working together.

Play Play by De Steyl and Renee Rossouw.

Joint effort

Deánne Viljoen and Renée Rossouw fuse their respective talents for furniture and pattern design to create a new collection of furniture for De Steyl. See the Play Play collection here.
Common Methods.

Collaborating across borders

Common Methods, a collaborative project pairing Dutch and South African designers resulted in a collection called First Editions. In this video interview we talk to two of the participants Matthew Nielson and Lio de Bruin. Watch it here.
Work With Me People by Bart Hess.

Collective creativity

Fashion designer Bart Hess once again invited audiences to take part in Work With Me People, a collaborative production of his otherworldly materials during Salone del Mobile 2014. Read more here.
I will die by Christoph Niemann.

Two minds are better than one

Illustrator and graphic designer Christoph Niemann regularly works with art director and fellow illustrator Nicholas Blechman. Here they share some insights into the value of working with someone else. Watch Niemann in conversation with Blechman.