There is something lovely in things that are a little odd, a little eccentric, and just that tiny bit outside of the lines. This is a philosophy taken up by award-winning Australian product designer Nicholas Johnston, with his imaginatively realised Eccentric Collection for Rogerseller.
Awarded both the Red Dot Award for Product Design and The Good Design Award Best in Class for Furniture & Lighting, The Eccentric Collection by Rogerseller is designed to disrupt. Offering a reinterpretation of traditional tapware, the collection is decidedly opposed to rigid uniformity. Instead, it adds richness and layers as it introduces expressions of individuality, warmth, and unexpected detail through its celebration of asymmetry and playfulness in the bathroom. “Eccentric is a nod to the unconventional thinker,” Johnston says. “To the idea that balance can exist in asymmetry, and that refinement doesn’t always follow the straightest line.”
Johnston is himself an unconventional thinker, drawing on characters that flout convention. As such, the collection draws inspiration from the curious rituals of great thinkers and inventors — celebrating nonconformity, individuality, and the quiet rebellion against design convention. For this collection, Johnston pays homage to the quirky genius of the greatest minds in history, including Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, and the Japanese inventor Yoshiro Nakamatsu, whose creative process involves listening to music before diving underwater to enjoy oxygen depriving deep dives, which he claims to spark his best ideas! For Johnston, the individualism, wonder, and curiosity found in many great scientists, explorers, and inventors, and their rebellion against convention, provides a cornucopia of creative impulse.
With this in mind, the unique positioning of the design is elegantly simple, with a slightly off-centre axis that challenges expectations and introduces a moment of surprise in an otherwise uniform space. This quirky characteristic, however, is subtle. The eccentric nature of the progressive tap mixer design (for both wall and hob), for example, is only revealed when the handle is turned and the unexpected back plate featuring cold and hot indicators is progressively revealed. Once the handle is returned to its closed position, the unconventional back plate is once again concealed.
Embracing the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of Wabi-sabi, which finds beauty in imperfection, the visual character of the Eccentric range, comprising cylindrical forms, minimalist lines, and an unexpected twist in orientation, present asymmetry as an imperfection to intrigue. In keeping with the Wabi-sabi appreciation of finding value in simple, unadorned forms, the foundational shape of each of the pieces in the collection is that of an elegantly proportioned geometric cylinder. Inviting users to slow down and notice the details, the off-centre control is tactile and smoothly inviting to the hand.
The Robe Hook, perhaps the simplest of the designs, is first realised as a streamlined disk that sits out from the wall. However, in redefining the ritual of touch in the everyday, a simple twist of the hand brings the front plate upwards. In doing so, the design shifts from its simplest form to a more clearly expressed hook.
Designed for architects and homeowners, the Eccentric Collection is expansive, with options for every bathroom need, from progressive mixers to wall basin sets, 2-way diverters, and shower roses. Accessory items within the range include the aforementioned Robe Hook, plus heated and unheated towel rails, paper holders, shelves, and more to ensure a consistent aesthetic throughout. Available in a range of finishes — including Chrome, Graphite, Brushed Nickel, Matte Black, and Brushed Gold — the collection provides specifiers with the freedom to contrast or complement. In short, a comprehensive solution for architectural bathrooms that lean into sculptural, expressive tapware. As Johnston states, the Eccentric Collection is “Designed to be noticed, not to blend in.”
Rogerseller
winnings.com.au/brands/rogerseller
