This series, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth, unveils the backstage of contemporary creation. Tackling various topics from personal designer processes to the position of collectible design on the global design market, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth offers different views to suit all tastes. Today we speak with Daniel Heilig from Heilig Objects.

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COLLECTIBLE: It’s rare that someone walks past one of your objects without reaching out to touch it.
Why is that ?

Daniel Heilig: I ultimately design for myself, simply because I’m compelled to. My pieces are mostly based on feelings and positive energy. Viewers feel this resonance. Witnessing how explorative curiosity and a desire for inspiring stories awaken something within people; how they haptically satisfy a sensory drive to touch, feel and contemplate in a moment where the outside world falls away – that gives me great joy and affirmation. On top of that, a fresh design language, sensitive and precise workmanship, considered details and meticulously chosen materials and colours make for an exciting, multifaceted – and rare – combination. My work always invites new discoveries.

C: Your design sensibility is timeless. What characterises timelessness for you?

DH: Timelessness stands in contrast to the contemporary and the modern. Of course, as an artist, I am part of contemporary art. However, I don’t see my design practice or my objects in this context. For me, contemporary art means concept, classifcation and standardisation. As an autodidactic free spirit, I’m not inclined to think in terms of standards, and I’m not concerned with trends. In designing free from constraints, I inevitably create design that is timeless; design that eludes categorisation. In addition, my design language fulfils the fundamental and enduring human needs for warmth, meaning, harmony and connection.

C: Where do you find inspiration?

DH: Everywhere. As a multidisciplinary artist, object and interior designer, musician, photographer and fashion designer, I draw inspiration from a wide range of disciplines. I’m interested in whether – and how – concepts can be transferred or reinterpreted. Nature and chance are equally powerful references for me. My HAPPENS Stool is an “accidental” design, for example. It came about when two heavy timber columns stood on the lid of a cardboard box, which buckled under the load and gave HAPPENS its distinctive tilted shape. I often notice references in retrospect, as I did with my MONUMENTS collection. When I saw some of the prototypes next to each other, I realised that my subconscious had been preoccupied with architecture – its styles, its epochs, its elements and its dimensions.

C: Why the focus on contemporary collectible design? What is its signifcance to you?

DH:  I come from Germany. Here, the mainstream, pragmatism and low-cost workmanship take precedence. Collectible design doesn’t tend to be highly prized. I didn’t choose my non-conformist focus. It’s the result of my rebellious nature, my artistic self-image and my total commitment to good design. In my home country, there are very few creative manufacturing partners who are able or willing to realise my technically challenging designs with me. So I’ve built up a network of like-minded people with courage, a thirst for solutions, a sharp instinct, specialised machinery, and, above all, an appreciation of the exquisite qualities of collectible design: limited-edition objects with an inherent provenance, history, harmony and soul.

C: Will you be presenting a new collection or object at COLLECTIBLE 2024?

DH:  I’m constantly creating new objects in my studio-workshop. At COLLECTIBLE 2024, I’ll be presenting the KÖNIGSWINTER Tallboy, part of my one-of COMPAGNONS DE VIE collection, for the first time. For the cabinet’s body, I used fibreglass-reinforced corrugated panels that have been patinated by nature for decades to take on an amber-golden tone. I’d been searching for this luminous patina – which perfectly matched what I had in mind – for five years. Failure in the manufacturing process would have been fatal. What I did underestimate was the complexity of the cabinet's construction. The end result is detailed, delicate and sophisticated. Four master carpenters were concurrently involved in the making of KÖNIGSWINTER at the same time, making it unique in every sense of the word.

C: Can you share an overview of your creative process?

DH:  It couldn’t be more diverse! It took me five years to find the corrugated sheets for KÖNIGSWINTER. The allure of heat-treated baking trays grabbed me instantly, but I had to wait a year for the idea for HAMBURG to arise. With BODENSEE, I waited patiently for the Rhine to wash up driftwood of my desired lengths and widths onto the shore. And with THRONE, the creative process took just under five minutes. The common denominator here is the feeling I get when I see something that offers me an input or an idea – it could be form, structure or material. If the feeling is positive, I absorb that energy and turn it into something new in the creative process. This is how my Heilig Objects acquire their collectible design character.