Lillagunga Reindeer - a collaboration with world-famous DRILL DESIGN

We are thrilled to have added a brand new product to the Lillagunga family. The Lillagunga Reindeer is a rocking horse with a new minimalistic touch that suits the modern Scandinavian home. The new product is a result of the cooperation between Lillagunga and DRILL DESIGN studio from Japan.

The Lillagunga Reindeer was originally designed by Yusuke Hayashi and Yoko Yasunishi from DRILL DESIGN. Yoko and Yusuke designed it in Tokyo in 2011 for the exhibition held together with Swiss based designer Aoi Huber Kono, a pioneer within modern graphic design. The prototype was later exhibited in Milan in 2013 but was never taken into production. In the end of 2016 Lillagunga and DRILL DESIGN found each other and started to collaborate.

DRILL DESIGN started in 2001 by Yusuke Hayashi and Yoko Yasunishi in Tokyo, Japan. The duo has designed products for world-famous companies such as Mercedes and MUJI, just to mention a few. DRILL DESIGN has exhibited its work in Tokyo, Singapore, Milan, Paris and Stockholm and have been awarded with many national and international renowned awards such as the Red Dot Design Award and The Good Design Award in Japan.

We did a short interview with Yoko and Yusuke.

1) Tell us shortly about your background and how you started DRILL DESIGN?

Yoko and me have diverse backgrounds. Yusuke has studied economics and economic geography at the Gakushuin university in Tokyo and Yoko sociology at the Waseda university in Tokyo. After this we met at design school and DRILL DESIGN was born.

2) Where did you get the idea and inspiration for the rocking deer?

Our idea was to redesign the handles of a “normal” rocking horse. We wanted the handles to melt into the design of the product and not be an add-on only fulfilling functional aspect. The end result was not a horse but a deer with big ears that also function as handles. As an animal the deer is also more familiar to the Japanese culture than the horse.

At Lillagunga we renamed the product to Lillagunga Reindeer to remind everyone of its Nordic roots. The seat of the reindeer is redesigned to meet the aesthetics of our other Lillagunga products and is now similar to the design of our swing seats. The eyes of the reindeer are also modified to get a more peaceful appeal than the original one, and the rockers have been increased in length for better movement and stability.

3) What’s your most exciting project so far?

Basically every project is exciting for us! If I have to mention some specific ones I would say our collaboration with TIME&STYLE, which is a Japanese furniture brand. We designed three chairs with them and we still continue to talk about doing some projects with them in the future. I would also like to mention our work for Paper-Wood.

 Find the Lillagunga Reindeer here.