Spectacle Makers: Thoughts on design from Daniel Weil
Daniel Weil’s studio is a living archive. One gets the sense that nothing within is a complete artefact, all adding up to an ever evolving gestalt. The sketchbooks lining the shelves date from 1978 to the present, each filled to every centimetre squared with drawings.
‘There are periods in which you're so taken with the task in hand that you sketch and sketch trying to solve something, your mind only operates in the material and the immediate iterative process. Those are the not so good moments. The good moments are when—instead of sketching—you draw. That means you're in the thought of a design process that is fluid. Now, when I put pencil to paper to design the drawing is an instruction to make or build. Drawing is thought made visible.’
‘There are periods in which you're so taken with the task in hand that you sketch and sketch trying to solve something, your mind only operates in the material and the immediate iterative process. Those are the not so good moments. The good moments are when—instead of sketching—you draw. That means you're in the thought of a design process that is fluid. Now, when I put pencil to paper to design the drawing is an instruction to make or build. Drawing is thought made visible.’
Words and interview by
Henry Whaley