Jasper Morrison

Jasper Morrison CBE RDI^[1][2](born 1959) is an English product and furniture designer.^[3] He is known for the refinement and apparent simplicity of his designs. In a rare interview with the designer, he is quoted as saying "objects should never shout."^[4]

Thinking Man's Chair first exhibited at Aram Gallery and later manufactured by Cappellini (1985–1988)^[5]

Samsung SGH-E590 (2007)

TW 2000 Hanover light rail vehicle designed with Herbert Lindinger (1990s)

SCP side table drawing with annotations (1986)

Air-Chair production process

Jasper Morrison CBE RDI
Mondadori Icon Design magazine cover, February 2016
Born	1959 (1959) (age 66) London, England
Nationality	British
Education	Bryanston School
Alma mater	Kingston Polytechnic Royal College of Art Berlin University of the Arts
Occupation	Industrial designer
Known for	Chair design; founder of Jasper Morrison Ltd; co-originator of the Super Normal design manifesto
Honours	Commander of the British Empire[1] Royal Designer for Industry[2]
Website	jaspermorrison.com

Early life and education

Morrison was born in London, England, and was educated at Bryanston School in Dorset.^[2] His design studies began with a foundation course at Ravensbourne College of Art (1978–79),^[6] after which he studied at Kingston Polytechnic, graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor of Design degree.^[7] He then attended the Royal College of Art, from which he received a master's degree in Design in 1985.^[8] He also studied at the Berlin University of the Arts (formerly the German: Hochschule für Bildende Künste).^[9][6]

He has spoken about his childhood memories of the Braun SK 4 "Snow White's Coffin" radiogram^[10] (designed by Hans Gugelot and Dieter Rams in 1956), which he first saw in the "Scandinavian style study" of his grandfather's house, and how "the room and the record player both had a very important influence on [his] choice in becoming a designer."^[11][12]

Work and career

He has designed products and furniture for many manufacturers and brands such as Alessi, Alias, Cappellini, Emeco,^[13] Flos [it], FSB [de], Hermès,^[14] Ideal Standard, Magis [it], Issey Miyake, Olivetti, Puiforcat [fr],^[15] Rosenthal, Samsung,^[16] Sony, SCP,^[17] Üstra, and Vitra.^[18] Morrison is the lead designer at boutique Swiss consumer technology company Punkt., known for its minimalist MP01 and MP02 mobile phones.^[19][20][21] He has also collaborated with the Japanese retail company MUJI on a variety of products ranging from housewares to housing.^[22][23]

Morrison curated the Super Normal exhibition with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa in 2006, which presented 200 ordinary or anonymously designed products that were devoid of gimmicks and branding.^[24]

In a Domus magazine review of his 2015 exhibition Thingness at Le Grand-Hornu,^[25] the design critic Alice Rawsthorn stated that Morrison "is one of the most influential product designers of our time."^[3] More recently, a 2020 article about the designer in la Repubblica described him as "the anti-Philippe Starck par excellence" whose "projects are often the result of a long gestation to achieve simplicity, elegance and discretion."^[4]

His product and furniture designs have been widely exhibited^[26][27] and they are held in the permanent collections of institutions such as the British Museum, Victoria and Albert (V&A), and Design Museum in London,^[28][29] the Vitra Design Museum in Germany,^[30] the ADI Design Museum in Milan, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York,^[31] as well as the M+ museum in Hong Kong.^[32]

Morrison's designs have received many awards including the Compasso d'Oro, Good Design Award,^[33] and 12 iF Product Design Awards.^[34]

In March 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Design from Kingston University.^[35]

Morrison received the Isamu Noguchi Award in 2015,^[36] and in 2020 he was named both "Designer of the Year" by the Elle Decoration British Design Awards, as well as the German Design Award "Personality of the Year".^[37][38] In the same year, he also received the Compasso d'Oro "Career Award"^[39] from the ADI [it] in Milan.

Morrison was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the UK 2020 Birthday Honours for services to design.^[40]

In 2025, Morrison was among 35 UK-based designers who signed a letter to the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, urging the government to reconsider its plans to allow artificial intelligence companies to train their models on copyrighted works without permission.^[41]

Selected works

• 
  APC chair designed for Vitra (2016)^[42]
• 
  Handlebar table (1982)
• 
  Moon porcelain for Rosenthal (1997)
• 
  Glo-ball pendant light designed for Flos (1998)
• 
  Model 1144 door handle designed for FSB (1991)
• 
  Air-Chair [it] designed for Magis (1999)

Selected exhibitions

Jasper Morrison: Take a Seat exhibition, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (2009)

• 1988 Some New Items for the Home, DAAD Galerie, Berlin, Germany^[43]
• 1989 Some New Items for the Home (Part II, with Vitra), Galerie Facsimile, Milan, Italy^[44]
• 2006 Super Normal, (curated by Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa), Axis Gallery, Tokyo, Japan^[45]
• 2009 Jasper Morrison: Take a Seat, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France^[46]
• 2011 Jasper Morrison: Danish Design: I Like It!, Danish Museum of Decorative Art, Copenhagen, Denmark^[47]
• 2015 Thingness, Grand-Hornu, Boussu, Belgium^[3]
• 2018 Objects & Atmosphere, Iittala & Arabia Design Centre, Helsinki^[48]
• 2019 Corks, exhibition of cork editions, Kasmin Gallery, New York^[49]
• 2022 Early Work, Jasper Morrison shop, London, England^[26]

Publications

• Dormer, Peter (1990). Jasper Morrison: Designs, Projects and Drawings, 1981–1989. Architecture Design and Technology Press. ISBN 9781854544353. OCLC 901561363.
• Morrison, Jasper (1992). A World Without Words. Tony Arefin.^[50]
• Morrison, Jasper (1997). A Book of Spoons. Imschoot. ISBN 9789072191854. OCLC 41423606.
• Morrison, Jasper; Ganseforth, Heinrich (1997). A New Tram for Hannover - Design: Jasper Morrison. Gebr. Mann. ISBN 9783786122487. OCLC 75902074.
• Morrison, Jasper (1998). A World Without Words (2nd ed.). Lars Müller. ISBN 9783907044827. OCLC 456768503.
• Boyer, Charles-Arthur; Morrison, Jasper; Zanco, Federica (1999). Jasper Morrison. Dis voir. ISBN 9782906571730. OCLC 757671494.
• Morrison, Jasper (2002). Jasper Morrison: Everything but the Walls. Lars Müller. ISBN 9783907078440. OCLC 469426651.
• Morrison, Jasper; Mauderli, Laurence (2006). Jasper Morrison: Répertoire pour une forme: Carrara tables. B. Chauveau. ISBN 9782915837100. OCLC 470651351.
• Fukasawa, Naoto; Morrison, Jasper (2007). Super Normal: Sensations of the Ordinary. Lars Müller. ISBN 9783037781067. OCLC 804331139.
• Boysson, Bernadette de; Morrison, Jasper (2012). Jasper Morrison au musée. B. Chauveau. ISBN 9782915837582. OCLC 888838417.
• Morrison, Jasper (28 March 2013). James Irvine obituary. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.^[51]
• Morrison, Jasper; Olivares, Jonathan; Verlardi, Marco (2014). Source Material: A Project by Jasper Morrison, Jonathan Olivares & Marco Velardi. Vitra Design Museum. ISBN 9783931936976. OCLC 967841666.
• Morrison, Jasper (2014). The Good Life: Perceptions of the Ordinary. Lars Müller. ISBN 9783037784235. OCLC 884953735.
• Picchi F, Morrison J, Cappellini G, Rossiello M, et al. (2015). James Irvine. London: Phaidon Press. ISBN 9780714868967.
• Morrison, Jasper (2015). A Book of Things. Lars Müller. ISBN 9783037784631. OCLC 1023259812.
• Morrison, Jasper (2017). The Hard Life. Lars Müller. ISBN 9783037785140. OCLC 992532936.
• Morrison, Jasper (2020). Notes on design: Enzo Mari by Jasper Morrison. Domus^[52]
• Morrison, Jasper; Saik, David; Tane, Tsuyoshi; Zanco, Federica (2023). Fehlbaum, Rolf (ed.). A Way of Life: Notes on Ballenberg. Lars Müller. ISBN 978-3037787267.