An Interview with
Mark & Andrew Pickett

Our first father/son duo, Mark and Andrew Pickett, are our neighbors in nearby Altadena, CA. Mark is a longtime Industrial Designer, currently designing light fixtures and ceiling fans. Andrew is a student who does graphic design as a hobby. Their beautiful 3D cube design can be used as a knob or a pull and was inspired by the work of graphic artist Maurits Escher.

Doug Mockett: What is your background in design? What led you to our Annual Design Competition?

Mark Pickett: I’m an industrial designer, and I think I first heard about your company and the contest years ago when I first moved to Los Angeles. I lived in Manhattan Beach and realized the connection there. At some point in time, I reached out and called Doug, and we spoke briefly over the phone, but it’s taken me almost 40 years actually to follow up on that conversation. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of the Design Competition, so when I had this recent idea, it was kind of a natural reaction to think, “I have to reach out and do that.”

DM: Tell us a little about your design. What was the inspiration behind it?

MP: I’ve always been intrigued by optical illusions. Because this is a cube and it’s three-dimensional, as you move past it, you actually get the feeling that it’s moving with you. The tumbling block form is such a classic in design and architecture. Years ago, I happened upon illusions like that, particularly on the Haunted House ride at Disneyland, where you see the ghosts that move with you and the statues with animated faces that seem like they’re following you as you move past them. This pull does a similar thing. It’s such a classic element that it could fit on anything from a modern product to a farmhouse product.



DM: What is your process and approach to design? How do you envision the concept-to-part pipeline, and how do you execute it?

MP: We started out with drawings. I’m still old school and render by marker, so Andrew handled all 3-D renderings. With this ability, we were able to go through the process of how it would be made, adjusting for form and shape and literally just the physical feel.

Andrew Pickett: In my mind, if something feels right, then that’s kind of the route I go with it. I don’t know if I have a specific formula to get there, but I think that through many iterations, I slowly define the design and see what comes from it. When it came to this specific part, my dad brought me the drawings for his idea, and I thought it was cool and wanted to see what we could make of it. I spend a lot of time on the computer and do a lot of 3D modeling and 3D printing, so I figured I could take the design to the next level by modeling it out and actually making a physical prototype.

MP: Yeah, my process tends to be more problem-solving. I like someone to give me a brief and say, “this is a need we have; what can you do with it?”. This was some of that, but because I came up with the idea on my own, I had to say, “Okay, this will go in this particular location.”

My day-to-day work is I design lighting fixtures and ceiling fans, so I have a lot of background in home furnishings. Seeing this form, I knew there were opportunities for it in the market. The concept-to-part process was very different from what I’m used to with this part because typically, I will send a drawing to a vendor, and they’ll produce the 3D renderings for the client, and my part is just reviewing drawings and renderings. In many cases, I won’t even see the product until it’s in store.

Making this part was a lot easier than making a lighting fixture, where you need to work with ten different vendors to get the parts you need. It was easy to talk to Andrew and change this or that along the way. So that was a more immediately gratifying process than what I’m used to.

Congratulations to Mark and Andrew for creating a stunningly unique design. We can’t wait to see this hook/pull come to life! To view their full interview, click here.

For more information on our Annual Design Competition or to see how you can enter, click below! We are now accepting entries for our 38th installment!