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Friday Five with Chris Hardy

Industrial designer Chris Hardy was born in Houston and went on to receive his Masters of Design from the School of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Once he finished his studies, Hardy headed back stateside where he settled into Atlanta, Georgia’s bustling creative community and got down to business. Since then, he’s been collaborating with major companies, like Design Within Reach and FontanaArte, and honing his industrial and graphic design skills for a variety of clients. In this week’s Friday Five, Hardy gives us insight into what keeps his creative wheels turning.

F5-Chris_Hardy-1-Chatahoochee_River

1. Chattahoochee River
Playing in the “Hooch” is probably one of the most Southern experiences that you can have. I spent a lot of time there swimming as a kid and I still go back today when I need to take a mental break. There is even a lone alligator that lurks in the water that adds a little more adventure to the experience.

F5-Chris_Hardy-2-Great-Grandfathers-table

2. My Great Grandfather’s table
My Great Grandfather Percy has always been one of my personal heroes. Growing up in our house, the only object of his that we had was a side table from when he was living in Mexico. It was the first time I had ever looked at an object as having a deeper meaning and, at the same time, was the first piece of furniture I ever paid attention to. It intrigued me how an object can become more important than the sum of its parts with the meaning and stories that we project on to them.

3. Carl Jung
It was in college that I discovered the work of Carl Jung, a Swiss psychotherapist and psychiatrist whose theories on the human psychology really resonated with me. His theories on the Collective Unconscious and Archetypes gave me an understanding on the mechanics of human behavior. I believe that what I learned from Jung gave me tools to help connect people to objects.

4. Cosmology
I am mystified with cosmology because it strives to answer the most profound questions that we are capable of asking. Usually the answers that cosmologists discover are so strange it makes the universe seem so much more profound. I like to read and watch documentaries about cosmology when I have free time and want to relax.

5. Prehistoric Creatures
I love dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures as much as any 10 year old on the planet. My Top 3: Sauropods, Liopleurodon, and the Megalodon shark. I even have a small collection of fossils.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.