We are a very physical design studio with a very experimental microfactory.
We make restaurant tableware. And more.
Odd Standard was founded by Constance and Tonje in 2014. We are both Norwegian product designers with an extensive background from development and production of tableware. We were brought together by a common fascination for how tableware products could enhance the experience of eating, and an ambition to explore the possibilities that different materials and techniques offer.
Restaurant tableware is the core of Odd Standard, and the interaction between our products and the makings of innovative chefs does not stop intriguing us. We do odd objects that trigger the conversation around the table and are photographed and posted, and we do the more standard sorts - the discreet backgrounds that are just right for the food to play the main role.
And we do more.
We design combining strong technical skills with our desire to break rules.
The Odd Standard collection of products is constantly updated and available in our online shop. Most of the products are made to order, so please have some patience (or planning skills as we call it). The collection is under never-ending development and most products start out as collaborations with a chef or restaurant, so do not hesitate to contact us if what we have does not fulfill your needs.
We also design and make custom collections for some customers, still under the Odd Standard brand although not sold by us. Exclusivity is sometimes limited geographically or in time.
Applying the same design philosophy as we do on our own collection, we also design for other brands. Our background from industrial production and our years of experience within strategy and marketing makes us quite skilled consultants within design and development of physical objects (if we should say so ourselves).
Our microfactory is a ceramic research lab with die-hard efficiency.
Because we are driven by curiosity about the yet unseen and unmade (and a rather childish desire to prove other people wrong when they say something is not possible) we are constantly testing, developing and pushing the borders of production.
This is why it is important for us to have our own factory, and why it is important to keep it micro and flexible. It is far easier to challenge the normal way of doing things when you are the one making the decisions. And this is also why we have worked hard to find skilled craftspeople and manufacturers, experts in other materials than ceramics, that we can work closely enough with to push their borders as well as our own.
There are days when we could call our HQ a research and development laboratory rather than a microfactory. It is both. What it always is, is efficient and tidy. To be able to build a business on exploring borders and endless flexibility, structure and speed are crucial factors.
We are designers that like to get our hands dirty.
In addition to founders Constance and Tonje, Odd Standard is currently manned by three gals; Tuva, Hege and Lene. All of us have a background as designers, which is good since we spend a fair part of our day working with our hands rather than dwell in front of a computer. Confused? Well, in our world design and production are not two separate processes, they are highly integrated.
Graphic designer Tuva is in charge of our local microfactory shop Fabrikkbutikken, and loves to discuss colours. Archeologist and archeological illustrator Hege has a talent for clay that she uses to make plates and bowls, and loves most of all to draw on bisque fired plates. Lene is a graphic designer whose path has taken her from running her own sowing studio to specializing in meat - and now in clay!
What they have said about us in the press.
D2 Magazine. This is the first time he has seen the tableware that Odd Standard has developed over the past year. Some things have been tested, others are new and have never been tried before. Tonight he will find a way to use all the objects during dinner service. What can he put in the heavy soap stone bowls? How can he serve advanced food on a plate of recycled brown cardboard. The produce has already beeen ordered and the dishes are planned. But now he has to find out how to plate the dishes in an entirely new way for 18 guests. Article (in Norwegian).
A New Type of Imprint. They traveled around Scandinavia collecting thoughts and ideas from famous chefs for what would be the perfect tableware. Their goal was to find the recipe for how they could enhance the experience of eating even better. Be it a gourmet restaurant or a low key place, they gathered all the inspiration and information they could get, and discovered that chefs and designers aren't really that different. And thus began Odd Standard. Scanned article.
Ulterior Epicure. Haatuft also invited Constance Kristiansen and Tonje Sandberg, two designers who had left a large ceramic design firm to open their own, Odd Standard. Haatuft had worked with these two before, and wanted to include them in this event. Based in Stavanger, a city south of Bergen, Kristiansen and Sandberg were asked to create special service pieces just for this dinner. Their contribution turned out to be one of the most dynamic aspects of that weekend for me. Article.
Plnty. We have the same attitude that you often find among chefs: that you should use the whole animal. Why should we throw away the things that do not match the end result, just because it is a bit irregular or because they do not look like each other and can be sold as a series of identical products? It always has a value for some. Article (in Norwegian).
Some of our references.
Ikoyi** (UK) / Restaurant Brace (DK) / Restaurant Vermeer (NL) / Hotel Belvedere Grindelwald* (CH) / Pure & V (FR) / Restaurant Iris (NO) / Krug (HR) / Frevo NYC (US) / Lucky Cat Miami (US) / Ristorante Noce (JP) / L’Enclume** (UK) / Renaa** (NO) / Little Pearl* (US) / Bellies (NO) / Restaurant Tapio (FI) / DaTerra* (UK) / Tulus Lotrek* (DE) / Atelier Amaro* (PO) / Restaurant De Zeeuw (NL) / Neso Paris* (FR) / Pineapple and Pearls** (US) / Aulis (HK) / Kontrast* (NO) / Credo* (NO) / Maaemo (NO) / Ekstedt* (SE) / Hantverket (SE)
Our latest Instagram posts:
Contact us.
Talk to Constance if you want to discuss a strange project, need ceramic expertise that few people in Norway can exceed, need a lecturer for your design class or simply if you only speak German:
constance@oddstandard.no / +47 40 40 85 28
Talk to Tonje if you want to ask about a custom collection, want to place an order, discuss prices, need someone to organize your projects or 3d-model your plates, or just to chat in Spanish:
tonje@oddstandard.no / +47 99 03 81 20