Product Design: Rugs made like waterfalls and household shrines from Dean Brown

For an industrial designer there’s an enormous amount of conceptual thought present in Dean Brown’s work. He’s not one for post-rationalising his design decisions but instead creates a clear narrative around the objects he produces. Witness the Reservoir Rug a wall-hanging-cum-floor-covering that flies in the face of the our traditional conception of a rug and uses the real-world tonal subtlety of moving water to demonstrate complex processes in textile production. Similarly his most recent series, Shrines, reappropriates traditional commemorative shrines by adorning them with miniaturised household objects to encourage a more functional use. Dean’s a designer we’ve enjoyed seeing develop and are anxious to see what he’s capable of producing when he leaves the confines of Fabrica for good.