Why Our Lead Designer Rejects Unapproachable Design

Design is often romanticized as an exercise that happens entirely at a clean desk. But for Asu, our Lead Product Designer and Supply Chain Partner, true creation requires getting his hands dirty.

Asu grew up in a traditional wood factory alongside his grandfather, a skilled carpenter. This early exposure to raw materials shaped his entire worldview. By high school, he knew he wanted to design physical objects. Defying his family's wishes, he left a top-tier academic track to study art, later specializing in product styling. After a brief stint designing for a major sportswear brand, Asu walked away within six months, realizing he could not bear simply drawing shapes in a cubicle. He wanted to be close to the physical reality of manufacturing.

When Asu joined PUPUPULA as our third employee, he set out to create objects that feel warm, intuitive, and deeply integrated into family life. Since launching our very first Little Ben Wall Clock and Ta Da Height Growth Chart, he has spent the last nine years architecting nearly our entire core collection, including our modular bed and storage systems.

We look behind the scenes at his design philosophy, his hands-on approach to manufacturing, and why he believes the best household tools are the ones you forget are even there.

The Realities on the Factory Floor

To understand Asu's work, you have to look outside the design studio. During every major product launch, he often spends weeks on end living and working directly inside our partnering manufacturing facilities.

"Because I designed these objects, I understand the underlying intent better than anyone," Asu explains. "During a first production run, unexpected variables always arise. Every minor issue matters, and you cannot solve them effectively unless you understand the physical environment of the factory floor."

This meticulous oversight is especially critical because PUPUPULA frequently introduces entirely new manufacturing approaches. Achieving our exact standards for colour clarity and specialized processes requires constant experimentation on the production line.

During the development of the Little Ben Wall Clock, for instance, Asu insisted on a unique, matte off-white shade that required days of trial and error alongside the master colourist to perfect. Furthermore, instead of standard foil stamping, he pushed for a complex silkscreen printing process to create subtle, raised numbers on a contoured surface. The process required building nine different iterations of the production tooling and a cycle of printing, curing, and overprinting repeated six times for a single clock face.

For Asu, this intense collaboration with factory craftsmen is the most rewarding part of the job.

"Design is not a desk job," he says. "The birth of a product is an interconnected journey that spans from the initial spark of an idea through material sourcing, factory production, and final packaging. If a designer isolates themselves from the rest of the chain, they become a small cog in an assembly line, losing sight of true creativity."

Why Good Design Blends into the Background

While many designers strive to create loud, attention-grabbing statement pieces, Asu takes the opposite approach. He prefers a low, humble posture for his furniture, ensuring that every table, bed, and storage unit fits harmoniously into an existing home.

"Everyday objects should maintain a gentle presence," Asu notes. "If an item feels too cold or aggressive, you naturally hesitate to bring it into your daily routine. A truly excellent everyday tool is one that you forget exists while you are using it. Your focus stays entirely on the experience it provides. Think of a perfectly balanced pair of chopsticks. You do not think about the chopsticks themselves when you eat; you only think about the food they help you reach."

This philosophy directly informs the clean silhouettes and versatile colour palettes found across the PUPUPULA collection:

• Our Ta Da Height Growth Chart: Designed with a minimalist aesthetic to replace the loud, chaotic graphics common in standard growth charts, allowing it to integrate seamlessly into contemporary interiors.
• Our Little Ben Wall Clock: Features a distinct, downward-tilted angle designed to mirror the natural perspective of a parent looking down to speak with a child, creating a sense of warmth rather than isolation.
• Our Furniture: Our modular beds and storage systems utilize timeless lines and durable materials, ensuring they remain relevant as a child transitions into adulthood.

This approach aligns closely with the classic principles of good design made famous by masters like Dieter Rams, who emphasized that products must be functional, durable, and above all, honest. To Asu, honesty means an object is exactly what it appears to be, consistent inside and out, using the absolute minimum amount of design necessary so that the object feels as though it simply belongs in the world.

A Commitment to Craft

Asu's dedication to intentional living extends to his personal life, where he spends his free time collecting handmade ceramics and carving wooden spoons as an exercise that connects him back to his childhood roots in the workshop. After carving more than a hundred spoons, he famously refused offers to sell them, citing a deep respect for the decade-long discipline traditional artisans undergo before offering their work to the public.

"You do what you love, not for recognition or commercial gain, but to build the specific life you want to lead," he reflects.

That same sense of purpose is what keeps him energized through the complex challenges of managing our supply chain and developing new product categories for modern homes.

"Designing for PUPUPULA brings constant creative challenges," Asu says. "My work used to focus solely on furniture, but now I explore a wide variety of product categories. I enjoy the freshness of that challenge. Some evenings I go home thinking about how difficult a production problem is, but every morning I wake up energized, completely confident that we will find the right solution."