“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.” – Shirley Chisholm

What I Do

Originally from Germany, I am an industrial designer and fabricator based in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.

Background

As I approached the end of my five-year industrial design program at the University of Wuppertal, Germany, I began my career working in Istanbul, Turkey. For my final year, I moved to Shanghai, China, where I attended design and language classes at Shanghai’s Tongji University for one semester and gained experience working for various Asian and international design studios. I continued living in China for an additional four years after graduation.

My work in Asia was predominantly focused on consumer electronics for a diverse range of companies, from startups to well-established corporations, both local and international. It also gave me the opportunity to gain inside understanding of the entire design process, overseeing design projects from initial concept through fabrication.

I eventually decided to move back to Cologne, Germany, where, together with designer Sascha Sartory, I established the creative agency FORMFUSION. Driven by our shared passion and keen interest in advancing sustainability and impact-driven design solutions, we mainly collaborated with German and European-based companies in the furniture and interior sector, using traditional fabrication methods and materials such as wood, metal, or glass.

In 2015, I decided to leave again. This time, together with my life partner, I moved to the US with only the items that I could carry on a bicycle. After six months, we eventually reached the San Francisco Bay Area of California. This time and experience significantly reinforced my commitment towards creating positive change that goes beyond designing physical objects alone.

Over the past decades, I have been able to engage in a wide range of areas that now extend to architectural spaces, graphic design, and even hydroponic grow systems. The Bay Area, known for its rich and diverse culture and history of change-making, continues to inspire me with its limitless opportunities to creatively engage in fostering a more climate-friendly and sustainable world.

Bio

2015-Present // Owner of Sebastian Hoek / Product Design, San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA

2024-Present // Project Designer at Envelope A+D, Berkeley, California, USA
2022-2023 // Technical Staff at Charlie’s Acres Farm Animal Sanctuary, California, USA
2019-2020 // In-house furniture designer at Zenbooth, California, USA
2010-2014 // Partner and co-founder of FORMFUSION Produkt Design, Cologne, Germany
2008-2009 // Partner at XLPLUSDESIGN, Shanghai, China
2006-2008 // Designer at XLPLUSDESIGN, Shanghai, China
2009 // Freelance designer for Medion Design Team, Shanghai, China
2008 // Graduation from BUGH-University of Wuppertal, Germany, Major in Industrial Designer

 

Recognition

2017 // German Design Award Winner – Product “Diviwall” for Ropimex
2015 // German Design Award Special Mention – Product “Fire” for Konstantin Slawinski
2014 // Focus Open Silver – Product “Fire” for Konstantin Slawinski
2014 // iF Award – Product “Fire” for Konstantin Slawinski
2014 // DesignPlus Ambiente – Product “Fire” for Konstantin Slawinski
2014 // Iconic Award – Product “Fire” for Konstantin Slawinski
2014 // Interior Innovation Award – Product “Fire” for Konstantin Slawinski
2014 // Form 2014 Tendence – Product “Fire” for Konstantin Slawinski
2014 // Interior Innovation Award – Product “Lombard” for Konstantin Slawinski
2014 // iF Award – Product “Select” for Sudhaus
2014 // Plus-X-Award “Best Product of the year“ Product Traveller for Lehmann Audio
2014 // Plus X Award “Innovation, High Quality, Design” – Product Traveller for Lehmann Audio
2013 // Interior Innovation Award 2014 in the category “Product Design”, Fire and Lombard
2007 // Red Dot Award in the category “Product Design”, Sobey Colormix
2007 // IF Award in the category “Product Design”, Guao money counting machine
2007 // Good Design Award with XLPLUSDESIGN in the category “Product Design”
2002 // Doellken Award Winner Produktdesign

Clients

Dorma
Designimdorf
Designaffairs Shanghai
Emform / Müller Möbelwerkstätten
Häfele Group
Konstantin Slawinski
KKC Cases
Lehmann Audio
Lancom Systems
Medion
Rosconi
Ropimex
Sudhaus
Sobey
Schwinn-Beschläge GmbH
XLBOOM
Zenbooth

Contact

Please email me for more information. I would love to hear from you!

info(at)sebastianhoek.com