Herbst Produkt

You have probably used one of Scot Herbst’s products before. Not just admired it in a gallery but really used it. Reclining on garden furniture, riding a bike, cutting open a box, perhaps you even pulled your kids around on one of his wagons. Unfortunately, we do not always notice an object when it works well. It is recognized only when something doesn’t work right, and that frustration you feel is poor design. Product design is all about solving problems and making our lives better. It is easy to take advice from the calm, tousle-haired Herbst. His demeanor is zen-like, relaxed. And why not? He has managed to successfully create a business and a studio, Herbst Produkt, and center it all around his family life. The spelling reflects the company’s German and Swedish heritage and uncluttered design. “It’s easy to become a big design firm with large space but to me design is an organic extension of my life and I don’t like to make a distinction between my professional world and my personal world.”

Having the studio adjacent to his house means working until midnight is no longer a problem, because he is only a thirty-second commute from home. Simplification and dedication to sustainable living that drives his company. “Problem-solving gets us excited… there’s no shortage to what you can learn. Everyday I shut the door to my office and I am smarter than when I opened it in the morning.” His two children made “the best focus subjects on the planet” to inspire a redesign of a toy wagon for a side company, Kaiku Design, that Herbst and his wife began to focus on everyday objects. The results was the Zen Wagon which won the Product of the Year award in 2009. Herbst admitted to a few “white-knuckle times when you are pulling your kids around on a wagon and you don’t know if the axle is going to fall apart,” but the process made the family closer.

Herbst Produkt is taking risks. Their approach is unconventional. By connecting themselves directly to the retail process. Herbst explained, “our clients are often not paying us for our design services but paying royalties based on how well our products perform. We have to feel very strongly about what we are working on to justify devoting that kind of energy.” He…

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