portfolio george plionis
industrial & jewelry design
contact
Address 47-05 45th St, Apt F8 Queens, NY 11377 Cell +1 917 499 2090 Email george.plionis@gmail.com Website www.georgeplionis.com
profile
As a designer, I see the importance of cross-pollination and inter-disciplinary collaboration as important drivers for the future of design. These partnerships are beautiful conversations that facilitate new design strategy and drive innovation with impactful design solutions.
The Audubon Collection An Eclectic Dinner Set World Kitchens - Corelle Collaboration: Caroline Brustowicz
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 Cairn Chair Bringing Nature to the Table Roche Bobois Collaboration: Wenny Chen
Jax Headphones Thesis Project Electronics for Life
table of content
Weaver Bird Basket Transforming Inanimate Objects to be Vessels for Personal Experience
Giagia’s Kitchen Set of Cooking Tools Collaboration: Sarah Templin
Dolphin Jacks Moet Hennesey Promotion Product
Jewelry A Collection of Projects: CAD, Bespoke, Exhibition and Production 1998-2019
education resume
2016 - 2018
Master of Fine Arts - Industrial Design Parsons School of Design New York City, NY - USA
2008 - 2009
Certificate 3 in Jewelry Manufacture Design Center Enmore, Sydney Institute - TAFE Sydney, New South Wales - Australia
2003 - 2004
Certificate 4 in Small Business Management New Enterprise Incentive Scheme Australian Government Sydney, New South Wales - Australia
1989 - 1991
Bachelor of Education - Secondary Design University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia - Australia
1991 - current
experience
current clients
George Plionis - Sydney, Australia & NYC, USA Jewelry Design and Manufacture Director and designer of jewelry business trading as George Plionis. Exhibition, bespoke and production ranges characterized by strong concepts, unique design, handcrafted quality and attention to detail. Fine jewelry in technique and contemporary in style, materials include precious metals and stones and nonprecious materials like glass, wood, paper, resin, plastic and leather.
2016 - current
Design Studio 5 - Senior Product Design | Interdisciplinary studio focus that explores the world of health and wellbeing through deep sensory analysis. Through this exploration of the senses, the studio aims to develop a deeper connection between humans, design systems and products. Summer Studies Industrial Design | Designing product concepts focusing on developing 2D and 3D skills for portfolio caliber to apply to MFA Industrial Design graduate programs.
Fitzgerald Jewelry - NYC, USA Freelance Jewelry Designer
Jewelry 1 | Predominantly a studio-based subject that focuses on foundation jewelry techniques and research project that tackles historical and contemporary jewelry.
Collaboration with owner to create commercial fine jewelry collections, from concept through to final realization. Design, development and technical designer to create a new branded collaborative collections.
Jewelry 2 | Industry-based focus using digital fabrication techniques associated with production jewelry design.
World Kitchens - Rosemont, USA Freelance Product Designer Development of concept and graphics for new patterns that are responsive to current design trends and embodies the Corelle brand.
Digital Fabrication for the Body | Focused on using digital fabrication and rapid prototyping together with the hand-made techniques to discover new expressive and communicative potentials for wearables. 2015 - 2018
Roche Bobois - Paris, France Freelance Furniture Designer Develop concept and furniture design for global production that drives current design trends and embodies the Roche Bobois brand. The Plunge - NYC, USA Freelance Jewelry Designer Design, development and technical designer for The Plunge to realize male jewelry collections for engagement and wedding occasions.
Parsons School of Design - NYC, USA Adjunct Professor
Erica Molinari - NYC, USA Freelance Jewelry Designer Product development and technical designer. Working with Design and Production Managers to realize jewelry collections through CAD development.
2013 - 2014
Temple St Clair - NYC, USA Senior Designer Product development and design. Working with design team to develop all fine jewelry collections that embody the brand – collection, special stock, bespoke and one-of-a-kind collections.
Concept Design: Exhibition Concept Development Execution of prototype Collaboration with artists, designers and craftspeople Bespoke Problem Solving Liaising with client/manufacturers Hand rendering Commercial Technical Development of prototypes Liaising with manufacturers
Sales and PR:
Liaising with clients Branding: realize product concepts as directed by the brand of the company Marketing: Researching and analyzing markets to inform design direction Liaising with stylists: magazine, newspaper, catwalk
achievements & awards
skills
Computer: Rhino Z-Brush Key Shot InDesign Photoshop Illustrator
2018
2017
2016 2015
2014
Interview by Michelle Jackson; BGC Craft, Art & Design Oral History Project Bards Graduate Center, NYC, USA MFA Industrial Design Award - Sustained Achievement in Design Parsons School of Design, NYC, USA Design Intensive Workshop - Corelle Design Challenge2nd Place Winner Selected from schools across Parsons - Parsons School of Design Partnership, NYC, USA Milan Furniture Fair - Roche Bobois Milan, Italy Design Week NYC 2018 - Roche Bobois Showroom NYC, USA Modern Atlanta Design Festival - Roche Bobois Atlanta, US Winner Roche Bobois Design Awards 2017 - 1st Place Winner Parsons School of Design Partnership, NYC, USA Artist Residency - The Jam Factory, Jewelry and Metal Studio, Adelaide, Aus SOFA – Represented by Charon Kransen, Chicago, USA The Understory – Jason Moss Jewelery Studio - curated by Alex Bowen Sydney, Aust SOFA Represented by Charon Kransen, Chicago, USA Traveling Exhibition - Brooch - Represented by Charon Kransen Hiko Mizuno College,Tokyo, Japan | Yamawaki Design College, Tokyo, Japan | Kobe Design University, Osaka, Japan Dutch Embassy, Tokyo, Japan | International House, Tokyo, Japan Mariposa - Solo - Fitzgerald Jewelry, Brooklyn, NY USA SOFA – Represented by Charon Kransen, Chicago, USA
2011 Contemporary Wearables 2011 - Touring Exhibition Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Toowoomba, Qld | Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, NSW | Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, Pialba, Qld | Redland Art Gallery, Cleveland, Qld | Schoolhouse Gallery, Rosny Farm, Tas Finalist for ‘Contemporary Wearables ‘11, Australia and New Zealand Jewelry Competition Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery Queensland - Australia 2010 Finalist for National Contemporary Jewelry Award Griffith Regional Gallery, New South Wales - Australia Finalist for Pearl Award JAA (Jewelry Association of Australia), Australian Jewelry Awards - Australia Marie Claire Finalist for People’s Choice Award, Australia
01 Jax Headphones
Electronics for Life Thesis Project 2018
JAX C O N N E C T I N G T F
O O
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H V
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why do we as a consumer society have such short lived and under stimulated relationships with our objects?
waste is nothing more than a failed relationship between us and our things, where insufficient empathy leads to a dumping of one by the other
gold 75lbs palladium 33lbs “90% of resources taken out of the ground today become waste within only 3 months” Emotionally Durable Design, Objects, Experience and Empathy Jonathan Chapman
12%
E-waste is recycled per annum United States Environmental Protection Agency 2016
many headphones for a mass market are designed for replacement within a year. The cell phone-add-on headphones are constantly in a cycle of disposability ‘Will Your Headphones last 10 Years’, October 21, 2010 Steve Guttenberg
United States Environmental Protection Agency 2016
silver 772lbs
1M cell phones recycled, precious metal recovered
copper 35,274lbs
develop a deeper emotional connection between us and our things to cultivate a longer product life
design
headphones
that instills a sense of
redefining how we relate to our objects and how our objects relate to us
adventure and fosters ownership giving rise to meaningthrough storytelling
Consumers treat these objects with a worshipful attitude that transcends their mere function
fetishization of objects 1955 Dieter Rams Transistor Radio for Braun
1980 Sony Walkman
1933 George Carwardine 1939 Voltswagen Beetle
1927 Eileen Gray
1949 Hans Wegner Chair 1975 Bang&Olufsen by Jacob Jensen 1960 Timo Sarpaneva
2018 Sunbeam Toaster
1983 Michael Graves for Alessi
1920 Helen Jensen
1933 Moka Express Stove Top
2016 Maison Martin Margiela
1908 Model T Ford 1920 Portable Gramophone
2007 Apple Iphone
minimalism
materiality
analogue
futurism
Philippe Starck’s Juicy Juicer’s social commentary on the fetishization of our consumption is in direct contradiction to the notion of form meets function
1990 Philippe Starck for Alessi
retro
aesthetic beauty
over fun c t i on
fashioning of objects are important to consider
paramount to the success of a products life
1964 Radio Cubots -Richard Sapper and Marco Zanuso
form
&
1930 Ace Stapler
explore how the form of an object can respond to the past yet speak to the technology of the future observe traits that continue to emerge in our history time-line and appeal to our sense of aesthetics
a headphone concept that can be customized, transforming over time
2018 - Purchase . Original purchase of the headphones 2025 - Repair . Right earpiece is damaged and is replaced by the current manufactured component
a modular system that links together, forever, and ultimately begins to develop a 2027 - Community community . Customer wants to ecosystem that update the headphone. They connects with is about sharing, other headphone swapping and owners to swap and share components selling s
y
s
t
e
m
modular easy to reassemble design for disassemble
p r o d u c t
magic of analogue customizable and current linking together forever noble materials live forever
c o m m u n i t y
swap and share
philosophy
developing an intimate understanding of the parts and how they might work understanding both parts and technology was imperative to developing the form
exploring form finding through sketching and model making
whilst model making, I looked at open source, symmetry vs asymmetry and ideas of wearing the break with pride
removing the intimidation associated with taking ownership of a broken object could be as simple as unplugging, replacing and repairing
if the world of cables are simplified to a plugging and unplugging system, swapping parts becomes a simple step
music - play pause | hold | stop calls - answer hang up noise canceling
music - direction | scroll forward backward blue tooth - on|off
S
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P
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|
T
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functions associated with the models
volume
re-imagining the electronic functions of headphones as physical switches
calls - answer hang up noise canceling
music
slide
play pause | hold | stop direction | scroll forward backward
press
interactive headphone that respond to the user through physical attributes and allows for ease of repair through a plug and unplug modular system
turn
volume
tension
developing an intimate understanding of the headphones, each component needs to be considered separately
JAX is a modular system that contradicts current systems of consumption
a simple outer shell and a complex inner structure
C T F
O O O
N
N G
JAX
E E
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embedding ideas of repair and customization at the beginning of the products life provides insights for its possible futures offering opportunities for a living product Jax is a vessel for storytelling
battery battery charger port printer circuit board bluetooth switch microphone female connection for external cable female connection for part #1, #3 and 11 speaker grill earpads female connection for external cable wheel button - volume joy stick - direction switch board male connection to part #2 printer circuit board microphone female connection for part #4, #6 and 11 speaker grill earpads female connection for external cable
1. adjustment stopper 2. slider adjustment
part #1
3. shoulder - slider
part #2
left ear gear
left brain spring shoulder loaded hinge
5. steel spring 6. bottom hinge
8. AUX connector to brain 9. pivot to brain lock
left pivot
10. pivot cavity 11. AUX connector to ear gear part #2 or #5
part #4
part #5
part #6
brain - slider
the brain
brain - replacement magnetic connection
4. top hinge
7. shoulder pivot
part #3
brain - head
1. 2. 3. 4.
right brain shoulder
5. 6. 7.
8. 9. 10.
right pivot
11.
right ear gear left ear gear
part #1 part #2 part #3
part #4 part #5 part #6
right ear gear
modular connection system
press button - answer call latch button - sound cancellation switch board male connection to part #2
unplug the headphones ear gear transforms the component into a portable speaker and shares the soundtrack you live your life by plug in to reprogram the functions and diagnostics to easily locate faulty components to repair
Japan
Murikami
Australia
Kab 101
Ariana Baret USA
limited edition
JAX initially engages multiple users by offering a variety of styles
the future of doing business to create revenue has to diversify
broken components easily switched out for repaired or upgraded parts limited styles manufactured, encourages wearing the repair with pride
building community through a buy back scheme and encouraging community to swap and exchange pieces for their desired styles
a vessel for storytelling, creating reverence over a long owner-product relationship a living product that changes and morphs over time
headphones for life - less waste and more love
JAX
02
Cairn Chair Winning Entry
Bringing Nature to the Table Collaboration with Wenny Chen 2018
1 cairn chair
Roche Bobois is tight with nature...
inspiration a sensory eating experience how will we engage with eating if nature is sitting at our table?
“
our muscles are designed for
dynamic movement
and not well adapted to
static strain Peter Opsvik
an organic form that offers affordances for body movement
exploration
the more organic the form, the more restrictive to the body
inspired from
natural formations
we explored
the balance of body movement as applied to
organic geometry where comfort
is achieved by balancing the body in the
chair
we arrived at a
pebble formationcalled a
cairn
a stone formation that
resonates with manycultures. for thousands of years people have used piles of stones to indicated their way home.
we are creating a landmark at the philosophy
dining table where familycomes together.
exploration
cushions combination offers customization
concept discovery
testing aesthetics materials technique form innovation
exploring aesthetics, form and language through hand drawing, cad and physical modeling. shape, size and curvature of the chair provides affordances for freedom of movement.
soft pebble formations created with woolen upholstery and developed with hat blocking techniques
chair elements have a cohesive language proportions curve details and textures all speak to each other
introducing the
Cairn Chair
simplified structure
illusion with balance
tension between forms
cushions combined in different ways to capture the poetry of the cairn individual seating for different individuals.
bring nature into our dining experience through form, the variation creates a dynamic landscape around the dining table.
eccentric modern and avant garde, the cairn gives clients the opportunity to customize their dining chairs to suite their personality
Cairn Chair
The Audubon Collection
An Eclectic Dinner Set World Kitchens Dinnerware Intensive for Corelle Collaboration with Caroline Brustowicz 2018
The Audubon Collection
An Eclectic Dinner Set
project
brief
Design a new pattern that reflects Corelle’s brand and captures a new audience whilst at the same time appealing to their current market. . Create awareness . Create change . Look to the future while incorporating the past . Design patterns that inspire future food experiences
program
target audience | outdoor dining experience
marketplace
tempered glass
affordances
What do current generations desire?
recyclable local manufacturing indoor | outdoor dining supporting USA industry scratch and chip resistant microwave safe
old fashioned
market research for dinnerware pattern
unbreakable USA owned & manufactured
modern
corelle dishware lines current trends minimal
melamine
attributes
Corelle’s biggest competitor
connecting history
Blue has been a significant color throughout history. Patterns evolve but the color is always present.
outdoor dining high-patterned mimics ceramics prominent trend plastic non-recyclable not microwave safe global manufacturing toxic formaldehyde ingredients
mix and match
Designing a less formal way for Corelle’s users to acquire a full dinner set through time.
For centuries, humans have used nature in pattern to tell stories and to bring us closer to God.
pattern
The Audubon Collection
introducing
In collaboration with The Audubon Society, an eclectic nontraditional dinner set. Different patterns on each piece offer opportunities for mixing and matching.
cheese platter
carafe
stackable glasses
cheese platter
carafe
stackable glasses
Three new additions to the Corelle Family. Introducing existing typology that users already associate with glass, educating users of Corelle’s sustainable material.
blue . connecting history
nature inspired
social commentary and awareness
mix and match 4 x designs | 12 x iterations
Golden-winged Warblers
conservation status: near threatened population declined by 68 percent since 1960
Northern Bobwhite Quail conservation status: near threatened population decreasing
Ivory Billed Woodpecker Whooping Crane
conservation status: endangered
conservation status: critically endangered
back plate quote
quote
collaborator
Young generations have a heightened awareness of our planets future. Offering conversation starters for trans-generational exchange to give back and be stewards to our world.
#Corelleforawareness Future collaborators in the #corelleforawareness campaign.
The Audubon Collection
04 04 Weaver Bird Basket
Transforming Inanimate Objects to be Vessels for Personal Experience 2016
weaver bird basket
problem
solution
We are becoming increasingly disconnected from our environment and in an odd turn of events, have started purchasing as a means of fulfilling the void.
Design an object that initiates an experiential interaction that creates storytelling, transforming an ordinary object to one that is highly personalized.
“Without the objects, the stories would lack vibrancy; without the stories, the objects would lack significance.” Objects and Memory 2008
philosophy
$1.2T
“Americans spend $1.2T every year on goods and services they don’t need” Wall St Journal Apr 23, 2011
imagine if each product you purchased had a starting story
looking at objects that have
time
meaning
is essential to creating
stories
transforming objects
from inanimate everyday things to conveyors of
personal experience
crafted objects
have a greater ability to take on identity and form bonds with the user that has longevity
technique transferability
importance of the human hands relationship to natural objects
creating a narrative for the user that conveys the products ongoing story
modular
a system that allows for a variety of solutions
biodegradable
looking towards a cradle to cradle closed life-cycle
interactive
highlight the symbiotic relationship between the user and the product
design constraints
& technique material exploration
form exploration
process
slab-built
umihimo
weaving
binding
stoneware stitching
plant irrigation material layering planter for small rooted plant systems
orchid
creating a system for drainage without dripping
layering plant materials to allow for nutrients and water to wick from the bottom of the planter to the plant.
planter
sphagnum moss bark pebbles water container
life-span
biodegradable transferability
craft
modular interactive technique
weaver bird basket
05 Giagia’s Kitchen
Set of cooking tools Collaboration with Sarah Templin 2016
Giagia’s Kitchen
Experimental pasta tools for social, tactile cooking
3D sketching drove concept and form innovation. The tools to create new food shapes, billowing sea creatures, curving fans and tiny succulents.
Create utilitarian, heirloom cooking tools to make new food shapes and promote tactile, social cooking.
Each tool formed from a single shape without any joining.
Family consists of tools and the resulting food.
Slow Cooking a family of objects to promote tactile social cooking.
Panayota Sieve
Truman Tongs
Millie Knife
Olga Billow Cone
Giagia’s Kitchen
06 06
Dolphin Jacks
LVMH Group Promotion Product Development Cloudy Bay Pelorus Sparkling Wine Launch 2011
Dolphin Jacks
program reflect logo
organic form
tactile
childhood game
Create a give away to promote Pelorus, sparkling wine.
engages people at a bar
played in limited space
old school game fun
tactile
played in limited spaces
organic
old school
reflect logo
childhood game
Appropriating the game of Jacks using dolphin motif
The game of Jacks, has ancient origins, usually played with five knuckle-bones
Variations with both wood and resin
Dolphin Jacks
07 Jewelry
A Collection of Projects: CAD, Bespoke, Exhibition and Production 1998-2019
Engagment Ring Private Commission CAD rendering New York, USA 2017
Coffin Pendant Jewelry concept Erica Molinari New York, USA 2017
utilizing digital fabrication for design development
CAD
Wedgwood Provocation Luxury for everyone Paper cup concept New York, USA 2018
Till Death Us Do Part - Halo Ring Capsule collection with Fitzgerald Jewelry CAD rendering New York, USA 2018
Engagement Ring Private Commission CAD rendering New York, USA 2019
Enamel Bracelet Design development with jewelry designer and maker Erica Molinari New York, USA 2017
Phoenix Earrings Design development for ‘Mythical Creatures’ capsule collection Temple St Clair New York, USA 2014
Horsehair Wrap Glass beads, horsehair, 925 silver Sydney, Australia 2007 Photo: Studio Go - Josh Evans
collaboration with clients
bespoke Cocktail Ring Lemon quartz, 750 white gold Sydney, Australia 2010 Photo: Nuran Zorlu
Wedding Ring Diamond, 750 white gold Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 2010 Photo: Studio Go - Josh Evans
Ink Ring Diamonds, 750 white gold Sydney, Australia 2008 Photo: Studio Go - Josh Evans
Amber Choker Akoya pearls, amber, glass, 750 yellow gold London, UK 2005 Photo: Silver Vaults - Simon Surtees
Coin Ring Amusement coin, diamonds, 750 white gold Sydney, Australia 2010 Photo: Riccardo Abate
Cocktail Ring Amatrine, 750 red gold Adelaide, Australia 2011 Photo: Craig Wall
Single Black Line Diamond, sapphire, black rh., 750 red gold Melbourne, Australia 2011 Photo: Riccardo Abate
Lorikeet - Earring/Brooch/Enhancer Carved resin, silk, 925 silver Exhibition: Make Do, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney, Australia 2009 Photo: Josh Evans
exhibition
works that critically explore ideas, techniques and materials
Nest Feather Ring Golden south sea pearls, diamond, 750 yellow gold Exhibition: One Night Under Lights, Design Centre, Enmore, Sydney, Australia 2009 Photo: Riccardo Abate
Untitled - Pendant/Brooch South sea baroque pearl, ruby, 750 yellow gold, 999 silver, 925 silver, black rhodium Finalist in Pearl Award, JAA (Jewelry Assoc of Aust), Sydney Australia, 2010 Photo: Riccardo Abate
Untitled - Bracelet Carved resin, 925 silver Exhibition: One Night Under Lights, Design Centre, Enmore, Sydney, Australia 2009 Photo: Riccardo Abate
Untitled - Bracelet Carved resin, 999 silver Exhibition: National Contemporary Jewelry Award, Griffith Regional Gallery, Griffith Australia 2012 Photo: Riccardo Abate
Blood Lasso Glass, akoya pearls, ruby, 925 silver Exhibition: Blush, Glass Artist’s Gallery, Sydney, Australia 2006 Photo: Josh Evans
It’s so green it hurts my eyes - Brooch Pearls, paper, plastic, wood Exhibition: The Understory Jason Moss Studio, Sydney, Australia 2016 Photo: Devon Jarvis
Butterfly - Neckpiece Pearls, cotton, mother of pearl, paper Exhibition: Mariposa Fitzgerald Jewelry, NYC, USA 2014 Photo: I Love Shoot - Mariano Garcia
Butterfly The reverse
Colony - Neckpiece 925 silver Exhibition: Contemporary Wearables Touring Exhibition – Toowoomba Regional Gallery, Toowoomba, Australia 2011 Photo: I Love Shoot - Mariano Garcia
production storytelling in a series of objects
Deconstructed Collection A customizable collection Photo: Riccardo Abate
Jewelry
george plionis c: +1 917 499 2090 e: george.plionis@gmail.com www.georgeplionis.com
