my story:
Scott Klinker’s work in furniture and lighting explores a space between design, architecture, art, and craft. While trained as an industrial designer, his vision is applied through an architectural lens – always questioning the ways in which humans inhabit space.
Scott Klinker Design Studio strikes a balance between industry projects and cultural projects, working with design-driven industry partners such as Herman-Miller, Alessi, Steelcase, Landscape Forms, Burton Snowboards, and others. Klinker’s industry projects have been recognized with numerous professional awards and his limited edition works are currently represented by Playground Detroit.
His practice is based at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI where he has served as Designer-in-Residence since 2001 running the graduate 3D Design program. In that time, Scott has mentored over 150 young designers from around the world. This space of academic research and experimentation has deeply informed his theory, practice and methods while building a wide network of creative peers.
Scott is an alumnus of Cranbrook Academy of Art, IDEO in Palo Alto, and Sony Ericsson. Prior to teaching at Cranbrook he taught Design in Japan for two years at the Kanazawa International Design Institute.
contact:
Location:
Cranbrook Academy of Art
39221 Woodward Ave. Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
Phone:
248-645-3335
Email:
klinkerscott(at)gmail.com
news archive / links:
January 2024
The 2023 award season concludes with 8 awards for the Theory collection for Landscape Forms, including: 2023 BOY Awards Outdoor Products Winner, Good Design Awards by The Chicago Athenaeum Award Winner, Architecture Master Prize Winner in Outdoor Products, Architectural Record's Products of the Year Award Winner, Best of Year Awards Finalist - Outdoor Furniture Collection, Grand Prix Du Design Awards Gold Certification in Furniture - Urban & Street, Grand Prix Du Design Awards Gold Certification in Furniture & Product – Outdoor, 2022 SPARK Awards Bronze Winner
May 2023
Scott is interviewed on ‘Scratching the Surface’ a well-known design podcast hosted by Jarrett Fuller, speaking at length about design education at Cranbrook and his own practice.
January 2023
Voyage Michigan features SKD as a creative practice in Michigan. In this interview I share some of my lesser-known backstory, education, and trials along the way in building my experience.
December 2022
Landscape Forms publishes this insightful article on the development and ideas behind the new Theory line for transit applications. Landscape Forms also sponsors several full-page ads featuring Theory in Metropolis magazine and Business of Furniture magazine.
November 2022
SKD launches Theory with Landscape Forms - a family of street furniture for transit stations. Theory arrives at a moment when transit infrastructure in North America is being revised and improved.
September 2022
Published a 3-part think piece titled ‘Work From Home Changes Both’ in collaboration with Metropolis magazine. The series serves as a useful framework for Architects and Designers to consider new questions about post-pandemic workplace design.
August 2021
Scott was featured in a national news story about chair design on the PBS News Hour. The story featured chairs in the Cranbrook Art Museum’s ‘With Eyes Opened’ exhibition. The segment includes a studio visit with PBS arts and culture journalist Jeffrey Brown.
August 2021
Landscape Forms featured this terrific article ‘The Power of the Remix: How Breaking Boundaries Breeds Innovation for Designer Scott Klinker’ on their Insite blog. The piece takes an in-depth look at our design process for our three award-winning sunshade products Disc, Peak, and Stretch.
March 2021
Our sun shades for Landscape Forms are featured here in Interior Design Magazine because they ‘embody quintessential minimalism’.
January 2021
Was invited by Creative Startups to do a short Instagram Live discussion about creative process. The audience here is mostly business folks, but the ideas apply equally to the Arts.
January 2021
Scott started the new year as a guest on this podcast with Felix Martinez of Wyzendale, a Chicago-based architectural practice. The conversation covers ideas about his practice, Cranbrook 3D, teaching during Covid, the evolution of collectible design, and other topics.
December 2020
Award season finishes with a total of 5 major awards for our collection of sunshades with Landscape Forms: 2020 Good Design Award Winner, 2020 Architectural Record Products of the Year Winner, 2020 Spark Award Gold Level Winner, 2020 The Architect's Newspaper Best of Products, 2020 BOY Awards Finalist (Interior Design Magazine).
July 2020
For the second year running Scott he served as juror for the Industrial Design Excellence Awards hosted by the IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America). This year he served as team captain for the student category while also judging several other categories.
January 2020
Installation ‘Structures of Light’ is featured at 1301 Broadway in Detroit. The show is co-hosted by Cranbrook and Playground Detroit and features over 25 lighting objects that explore the new spatial potentials of LED neon. The show runs from January 1st through February 2020. Learn more about the installation in this interview.
October 2019
Landscape Forms announce the launch of three new sunshade products, Disc, Peak, and Stretch, designed by SKD. These products will soon appear in public spaces throughout North America.
October 2019
Scott is featured in a video portrait of Cranbrook called ‘Imagine a Place’ sponsored by furniture manufacturer OFS.
September 2019
’Zone Lights’ featured in group show ‘Substance’ by Form and Seek in Detroit.
June 2019
’Material Light’ studies featured at David Klein Gallery in Detroit through August.
May 2019
Cranbrook 3D Design wins Best School Award at the ICFF in NYC.
November 2018
Dwellings shown in group show at Playground Detroit.
August 2018
Corner Bright Light and Lowrider Lounge receive Honorable Mentions in the IDEA Awards.
July 2018
Corner Bright Light takes a silver award in the lighting category of the International Design Awards.
May 2018
Offi’s Lowrider Lounge shown for the first time at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in NYC.
October 2018
Lightforms presented with Playground Detroit in a group show ‘Comm[unity]’.
September 2017
Scott begins his first-ever sabbatical from Cranbrook after 16 years, taking 9 weeks to travel through Italy and Spain to visit key architectural sites. Back in the studio, these travels inspired a new round of photo constructions (see instagram account above).
May 2017
Lightforms featured in 'Cranbrook: A New Domestic Landscape' Exhibition thru January 2018 at the Cranbrook Art Museum. This exhibition will also feature the work of prominent recent alums from the Cranbrook 3D Design Department.
March 2017
Scott is invited by the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art to speak on panel discussion exploring new connections between design, art, and craft. Other panelists included Jennifer Scanlon, former curator of the Museum of Art and Design in NYC.
December 2016
Scott's appears on Detroit Public Television in a 'conversation' about Eero Saarinen's legacy at Cranbrook to support a new documentary film about Eero's life and work. Additional clips from the conversation were used as commercials to promote the screening.
November 2016
Scott's Superset is featured on the design blog/magazine Sight Unseen.
November 2016
Scott's Lightforms are exhibited with Playground Detroit in a group show called 'Ambience'.
October 2016
Scott talks about developing design culture in this interview on the Core77 design blog.
August 2016
Scott gives a talk entitled 'Prototyping Culture' at the national conference of the IDSA - Industrial Designers Society of America - in Detroit.
July 2016
New article about Cranbrook 3D's recent exhibition at the Collective Design fair during NYCxDesign in May.
June 2016
The Low Rider Lounge designed for Offi made its debut at Neocon in Chicago, the largest trade show of contract furnishings in the US. The chair will be ready to ship in September.
May 2016
Cranbrook 3D exhibits 'Fine Design for the End of the World' at the Collective Design Fair in NYC during design week, with creative direction by Scott Klinker. See the exhibition here.
December 2015
SKDS appears in a beautiful video about 'Detroit: City of Design' by Stephen McGee. Look for it at 1:25.
October 2015
Check out my sabbatical lecture at Cranbrook if you'd like to learn more about my recent lighting designs.
September 2014.
Scott is interviewed by Core77 design blog on the future of design education.
March 2014.
Scott is guest-editor for INNOVATION magazine on the theme of design/art/craft. The magazine is the quarterly journal for the IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America) with a circulation of over 12,000 readers. In addition to directing the theme of the magazine, Scott also conducted an interview with Italian design master Andrea Branzi.
November 2013.
SKDS is a finalist in Metropolis Magazine's 'Workplace of the Future' competition. The top twelve (of over 200) submissions are shown here.
October 25 - November 30, 2013.
"Life Support: Art -Design Sustenance"
Scott's Tower Book Displays will be part of an exhibition at the David Richard Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico featuring functional artwork.
September 17 through October, 2013.
"Doing it, and Doing it, and Doing it Well"
Scott's Spaceframe Builders Kit was featured in this Cranbrook Alumni Show at Studio Couture in Detroit.
May 18 - 21, 2013.
'Hands-On: Conceptual Craft Research"
Scott co-curated this alumni show with Chris Schanck at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in NYC. Several of his pieces we also featured in the show. A website documenting the exhibition can be found here:http://www.cranbrookhands.com/
September 2012. Scott Klinker for Alessi
After nearly two years in development, the Italian 'design factory' Alessi will launch a small group of products from Cranbrook, including the new 'Trellis' bowl by Scott Klinker. Available at Alessi retailers and the Alessi website.
2012 Design Week in NYC
Scott leads two major projects exhibited in NYC. 'Metal Workshop: Cranbrook for Alessi' at the Alessi SOHO showroom presents prototypes and new products from a recent workshop. 'Rest and Concentration in the Workplace' presented six prototypes from a recent student project for Herman Miller at the ICFF which earned the Cranbrook 3D Design program the prestigious 'Best School' award.
select awards:
2023 BOY Awards Outdoor Products Winner
2023 Good Design Awards by The Chicago Athenaeum Award Winner
2023 Architecture Master Prize Winner in Outdoor Products
2023 Architectural Record's Products of the Year Award Winner
2023 Best of Year Awards Finalist - Outdoor Furniture Collection
2023 Grand Prix Du Design Awards Gold Certification in Furniture - Urban & Street
2023 Grand Prix Du Design Awards Gold Certification in Furniture & Product – Outdoor
2022 SPARK Awards Bronze Winner
2020 Good Design Award Winner
2020 Architectural Record Products of the Year Winner
2020 Spark Award Gold Level Winner
2020 The Architect's Newspaper Best of Products
2020 BOY Awards Finalist (Interior Design Magazine)
2018 International Design Award - Silver in Lighting
2018 IDEA Award honorable mention - Furniture and lighting