Studio visit: Eggs Design

Some days you feel like the contrast between your reality and someone else`s reality could not be bigger. The day we went to visit Eggs Design`s studio in Oslo was one of those days. The theme of that day`s lecture was digital wilderness, and it could not be more fitting as Eggs works with digital design for among other the ocean tech industry. However, my own experience prior to the visit made me feel more like I was on urban safari, only equipped with songlines.

My day felt a bit like this, compared to the elegant and sophisticated solutions presented at Eggs Design.

Photo: Marthinus Skøien/ Digitalt Museum

It was a beautiful spring day and the Blindern campus was bathed in sunlight, when we set out to visit Eggs Design at their studio in Akersgata. The journey from Blindern to Akersgata required the services of Ruter, Oslo`s provider of public transport. However, the quality of Ruters service design seemed to fail that day, as my traveling companions and I found ourselves seated in a somewhat stationary train for quite some time before it dawned on us that we were not going anywhere. The service design of Oslo`s taxi services, however, did not fail. As we contemplated our next move, reaching in to our pockets for the ever so faithful smartphone to call a taxi, three black taxis pulled up in front of the subway station. Voila the journey could begin.

After a somewhat long and winding drive from Blindern to Oslo city centre (sometimes the shortest line between two points is impossible) we arrived to another example of how Oslo`s infrastructure design was failing that day. As the taxi pulled up in Akersgata, two blocks from Eggs studio, we were baffled by the fact that also here, the shortest line between us and the studio was impossible. Because of comprehensive construction work, the walk that should have taken us 2 minutes now took at least twice as long. We arrived at our destination without much delay – surprisingly enough- and after our encounter with the failing service design of Ruter and Oslo Kommune, the contrast to the smooth design solutions of Eggs seemed enormous.

We were greeted by our host, Senior designer Bilal Chaudhry. He ushered us around their impressive office and up to the conference room set up for us, where Bilal competently presented some of the key aspects of their work. Eggs Design specializes in technology and digital design, and while Bilal talked us through their methodology and finished result for their design for Oslo airport I could not help thinking about our strident journey there. In the universe that was presented everything seemed possible. Virtual reality, digital wilderness, streamlined travels, underwater drones to investigate climate changes, and toilets that would make Cinderella scream out in joy when cleaning them. It was beautiful.

Now, if there would just be a drone that could take me back to Blindern in a straight line.