JJD → Essential
Phenomenon room fragrance
A room-fragrance collection in frosted glass, part of a nature-led refresh of a Thai spa brand.
Bonjour.
Sébastien Maleville
Creative director, industrial designer, brand strategist and Product Environmental Footprint consultant in Bangkok. I help manufacturers and brands of every size, new or long established, connect business and brand strategy with product design, and keep the impact of what they make as low as possible.
ParisBeijingShenzhenShanghaiBangkok
Selected work
Products and brands from Lenovo, TCL, Jacob Jensen Design and Essential Studio. The credit line says where each was made and what I did.
Essential
Zerra
A brand of its own for three decades of bio-based packaging, so choosing the sustainable option feels like an upgrade.
JJD → Essential
Digital locks
One design language across a family of digital locks, so they stand apart from low-cost lookalikes.
Lenovo
IdeaPad U160
One of five IdeaPad laptops I led, from first sketch to factory approval.
Three things, one job
Strategy, design and impact. Each falls short on its own, so I keep all three in the room.
Take one away and see what’s left. Pick a corner.
Strategy The brain
It starts with listening, with empathy, to users and customers and to the business and brand behind the product. Then comes the end game: an ambitious, clear goal that works as a compass for every decision along the way. I keep the bigger picture in view, centred on people and on the business at once. That balance is what keeps the approach sustainable.
Design The hands
Design turns an idea into something people want. It speaks to emotion, intuition and desire, and it still has to come off a production line at a cost that makes business sense. So I start making early. Sketches and foam models become prototypes, and each step sorts the good ideas from the rest and tests them against what the factory can make. Design without manufacturing is nothing.
Impact The why
Impact on people and society, on sales, and on the environment. Today almost anyone can make good quality and design a good product. What sets a product apart now is whether its impact has been considered and documented, and in markets such as the EU that is fast becoming a condition for shipping it and getting it on the shelf.
