While I was still studying the mediation of art and design, I regularly encountered «animal shapes» – in French there is the term «zoomorphie» for this. They play a role in various fields such as religion or mythology. As a literary device, «zoomorphie» is used to give animal-like characteristics to everything that isn’t an animal, such as humans and inanimate objects. In art, the comparison of movements or other characteristics of a person with an animal is depicted visually. It emphasises the people’s character traits. Today, I encounter animal shapes elsewhere: in product design. Here, they don’t transform people, but they transform objects into animals.
We have brands such as Alessi, Moooi or Seletti to thank for the trend. They create animal designs and continue what started in postmodernism. In the seventies and eighties, design icons such as Ettore Sottsass brought things to life by creating objects as the nodding bird table lamp Tahiti. Now the avant-garde of contemporary design is creating zoomorphic pieces.
Alessi designer Alessandro Mendini’s parrot likes to bare teeth. Not only to provide a hot topic, but above all to pop bottles. The Moooi designs by the Marcel Wanders collective transform round milk glass bodies into animals with just a few golden elements: the Pet Light series consists of rabbit «Purr» and owl «Uhuh» as well as penguin «Noot Noot», which waddles back and forth in my head just reading the name. And then there’s the cup and/or vase created by Diesel and Seletti. The two-in-one design will make your flowers gallop.
Maybe it’s just me, but objects imitating animals radiate positivity. Therefore, they look especially good in nurseries, where the interior is playful. Everyday items such as the Koala Bear Wall Hook by Oyoy are decorative and functional. The side table Goose by Marcantonio Raimondi Malerba scores with «goose bumps» as well as with two hidden drawers. Space and decoration issues are solved by the elephant in the room. The basket by Rice can store blankets or turns into a pot for your plants.
