The Swirl is a product that lives at the intersection of form and function. During the pandemic when many were working from home, the client came to us with an idea, why should a weight be ugly? She wanted a way to stay active while working from home, while also creating a beautiful sculptural product that could be prominently displayed on a desk or book shelf.
There were many development conversations, whether to include a handle and break the loop, whether to dip the product in silicon instead of over molding it. The initial idea was to create a design with an open bottom and a plug so we could fill the weight to different degrees to allow 1 mold to serve as a 5lb or 7lb or 10lb weight.
We went through 2 or 3 rounds of 3D prints to lock in the form.
We converged on a direction, and negotiated with manufacturers to create the best technique to respect the intention of the product. The Swirl is a silicon skin over-molded onto an iron cast modius loop.