Welcome to coquine![design]. We do yacht design. And product design. And so much more. The creative process is like a dive down the rabbit hole: open your eyes and it will take you on a journey you’ll never forget.
coquine! (fem) French for scoundrel, naughty girl. It would be whispered in a woman’s ear, in the right moment…
While not necessarily in a whispering tone, design is all about communication. Understanding the connection between the designer, the client, the product and the world around us is essential. As the creative process determines the result, the designer becomes a storyteller, though not on his own; the story ties together all the protagonists.
Christian established the philosophy of coquine![design] in the second semester of studying industrial design in Munich, when he decided to keep the logo / logotype he developed for a fictional boutique (specialized on lingerie) for his future design studio.
Since then he has worked for a few renowned yacht design offices, such as Evan Marshall (London, United Kingdom), newcruise Yacht Projects & Design (Hamburg, Palma de Mallorca), Ken Freivokh Design (Hampshire, United Kingdom) and most recently Marc Newson (London, United Kingdom) and applied his creativity to practically everything from yachts to cars, Christmas cards, graphic design, architecture, furniture, film, and photography. Sometimes for cooking as well, although nowadays that would be mostly pizza and pasta…
Why we do design might be the reason why you want to work with us.
We believe that we should always do our best to make this world a better place. Not just for us but also for our children and for generations to come. Maybe the things we design might not be what this world most urgently needs, but how we design does matter. We focus on what our design does with the people. Our work is meant to inspire and to make people smile. Every smile we can create makes our world a better place.
We are not looking for any holy grail or the perfect line. We understand design as a living thing and we must allow design to interact with us. Good design must be allowed to evolve and grow with us. So when we design we think of you first.
So, what can we do for you? Well, we do yacht exterior design. For super yachts, fast yacht, explorer yachts. Motor yachts. Sailing yachts. Yachts with one, two or three hulls. Or no hull at all. From 8 metre tenders and sport boats to over one hundred metres. And river barges and floating homes as well. We do new built projects, conversions and refits.
We also do interior design, be it for yachts or anything land based. Plus any furniture design. Furthermore, as industrial designers, we would happily do cars, motor bikes, coffee cups and cutlery, cameras, car keys. Or any other creative challenge you might want to throw at us.
We’re happy to take on complete projects just as well as working with your design team. We can support fellow designers. Do 3D modelling or rendering tasks. We are also happy to offer design project management, on behalf of the designer or as part of the owner’s team. We do concept design, detail design and consult in any design related subject.
Most importantly, we don’t just want to do it for you. We want to do it with you.
The coquine![design] pocket guide to being a good designer
Although it sounds obvious, it should be stated first: Allow yourself to be creative. Get out of the infamous ‘box’ and leave your comfort zone.
Being able to surprise others with new and exciting ideas, shapes and concepts means you’ll have to surprise yourself first. Also, always push the boundaries. It is possible to fail sometimes or not to win a competition. But we’d rather fail for going a bit too far rather than failing for being too timid.
One more thing about creativity. It’s in the word, a creative person creates. So if you don’t wake up in the morning with a new idea (every now and again, without anybody actually asking for it), you’d better find yourself some inspiration quickly
Be curious. Every project is a perfect opportunity to learn something new (of course, any other opportunity should be taken as well)! Feel free to experiment, be open for new fashion or freshly discovered new technologies. Do your networking, the best way to find out about what’s going on is by talking to people. There is of course no obligation to use only the newest and latest, but one should never ignore what’s going on out there!
The skill most closely linked to creativity is being able to see. See things that other people might not see. See the beauty where other people don’t expect it. Find new angles to see things in a new light when everybody thought everything is already old news. And see things that others don’t see because they only exist virtually. There is the theory that most new ideas are already ‘out there’ in the air, but it needs a certain skill to actually see them and make them visible to the rest of us.
Be passionate about what you’re doing. The creative process is like being in love, and the way from a blank sheet of paper to the finished product is inevitably a roller coaster of emotions. This is of course not an invitation to cry when something goes wrong (sometimes happens), but it’s the fire within the designer and generally everybody involved in a project that drives it forward.
Talking about crying: Don’t forget that the ‘duty’ of the designer is to create something that the client will feel good about. It is equally important, that the client will get this ‘feel good’ during the whole design process. There is a very important relationship between the designer and the client (and the project itself), and every rule for making a personal relationship work (trust, respect, etc.) does apply here, too.
Know when to talk, know when to listen. When you’re passionate about your projects like a cup of Italian coffee it’s easy to talk about it. However, there is a moment when a project is only a dream in the client’s head. It’s fundamental that the designer listens closely to what the client dreams or he won’t be able to make this dream come true.
Be a pragmatic perfectionist. No short-cuts. No ‘good enough’. Perfectionism is important and we shouldn’t settle for anything less. However, you’re not god and you don’t have 500 million years to practice. Aim for perfection and deliver a result in time. Also, understand that perfection does not exist because if you would achieve perfection, you would have designed the last product ever.
Know your place. The designer might be the single source of the spark that brought the project to life. But it takes a whole team of equally passionate, talented and skilled people to turn a design into reality. And it’s a fact that a team only works as well as the communication between all the team members.
Be ambitious. Trouble is, that can be either easy or difficult. If it’s easy it usually means you’re putting yourself in front of the project. If it’s difficult, you have the right perspective, but of course, there are moment when one should shine a light on one self, too. We believe it’s okay to be a star as long as you don’t forget that it’s the project which is the real superstar (oh yes, and the client of course!) There are two reasons why it’s cool to be a star: First, clients like stars, because a name adds value to their project. And second, because you have to be good in what you’re doing to become a star. Nothing wrong about being good, is there?
We mentioned already curiosity. Now we should also mention that you should be interested in what’s going on around you. Be interested in anything related to the project. That’s rather obvious, but we cannot stress it enough. And, above all, be genuinely interested in people. It’s people that the designer’s universe should be turning around. Especially those that you work with.
Talent and a never-ending source of creativity is a good start, but it’s experience that turns youthful exuberance into an asset. Experience can be a designer’s worst enemy when it becomes his comfort zone. But when applying design to the real world, experience is also his best tool, because a good designer dreams with his head in the sky and his feet on the ground...
