For the designer, travelling is one of the most important things
one can do, because it allows you to understand cultures. “Dis-
covering all senses of a culture is really amazing and that’s also a
really huge influence on my work.
Becoming a designer wasn’t exactly his childhood dream. Since
a young age, he was always a creative person, but he never had
the idea of becoming a product designer, since it was never a
topic of discussion at school or in the media. “There was fash-
ion, art, culture and painting, but never product design.” It was
through a purchase on a flea market that Herkner learned what
was product design. The designer was determined to use his
skills to create products, so he started right in his home town of
Offenbach, where he’s still based. After graduating, he opened
his own studio.
With a five-person team, the studio does everything from fur-
niture to lighting, accessories and mirrors. It has even spread to
tiles and sunglasses now. The designer enjoys the diversity and
looks at it as a challenge, always focusing on high-quality prod-
ucts and good materials.
“Our generation is quite privileged
thanks to technology, we can access lots
of information and we can travel more.
But we have a digital life and an analogue
life. On the one hand, we have the digital
where everything is transparent, and on
the other hand, at home, we want to have
the quality, like leather, glass, marble.
That’s why there has to be a resource for
reality, which is important and also part
of my design approach.”
The designer prides himself on his high-quality products and the
work he has done with craftsmen, claiming that he wants “to create
companions for our lives”. Herkner also has a really sustainable ap-
proach to design and that’s why he focuses on creating long-lasting
products, as he further explains,
Bell coffee table by
Sebastian Herkner
Metal legs for wittma n©Photo
studio Sebastian Herkner
Sebastian Herkner Lucio Doro
© Laila