Welcome to the latest issue of our newsletter, where I’ll continue to share the latest ongoings at the studio. Take a look at our our archive.

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The gears of our online shop have been rotating fast ever since I clicked last week’s newsletter GO button (caps already sold out!!), so before everything is completely off the shelves and our distributor stops returning my calls, here’s a conversation with our Head of Hardware Simon Merz about the making of this collection.

Read the long version here — or scroll on for photographs by Ariel Pedatzur from the night of the launch.

🛠 Behind-the-Scenes with Simon 🛠

How did you get into creating objects?

It really goes back to my earliest childhood memories. When I was a little kid, I was completely obsessed with action figures. They were everything to me and I couldn’t even throw away their packaging. I remember being in seventh grade and some people were already in puberty. I was such a late bloomer and still secretly playing with my Ninja Turtles. I was honestly a little afraid that I would never be able to stop playing with them.

And you haven’t been able to stop…

Exactly, I never did. Because then I got into skateboarding and it became about all the gadgets and gear. And now I’m making these products.

So how did you start working with us at Dinamo?

I met Johannes in Vienna. I shot him a message on Instagram when I saw he was in town. The next thing you know, I’m in Berlin, and he’s asking me if I want to do what I did with my old publishing project WTP—PP, but for Dinamo.

What’s it like creating objects for a type foundry?

You have this slogan on the website’s Hardware page, about “transforming type thinking into tangible objects.” I love that. As a fan, as an outsider, of Dinamo, I always thought about it as so much more than a type foundry — it’s a way of thinking. The challenge became: To apply that way of thinking to objects.

For me, a lot of this comes down to authenticity. It’s not just slapping your logo onto a T-shirt, it’s about creating something weird, original, and real. That comes through in the details, nuances, and thinking around an object.

Tell me about the concept around the final line-up of our new Hardware Unlocked.

We tried to create a mix of home goods and office goods, and also a bit of apparel. To create a real sense of range. We want people to see that, okay, this is something new. A whole new world.

What world do our objects live in?

They’re all, in the own way, a little bit cute. The color palette we chose brings this out (I’m thinking about the light pink mug). They’re a bit cute and not too serious. They’re all very well and locally produced.

This calm vibe also comes through the embossed packaging. It’s quiet but impactful.

I had this idea very early on, of showing on the front of the package what’s inside, as if the objects are pressing against the cardboard. So we embossed them. They become something that people will have a very hard time throwing away.

Like your Ninja Turtle’s.

Simon: I was going to say them same. When I couldn’t throw the packaging away.

Shop the Collection

The Launch @ WASTE

🚨 Simon’s P.S. Takeover 🚨

First thing’s first, here’s the playlist that was playing at our Waste event. No one asked for it, but still...

• Speaking of skating, this clip came to my mind.
• I just bought this beautiful (artist)book: “The Realm” by Jean Shear
• I am manifesting a Dinamo Hardware AD in Lilypad Mag #5.
• It’s been out for a while but I can’t stop listening to “God Save the Animals” by Alex G.

That’s it for today. See you next time.

Love,
Dinamo 🕯