As Oaken is known for working with many local brands, we are excited to finally be one of the collaborators and decided to create something very special. This project seeks to capture the olfactory fusion of sea and forest—an idea that arises from Alvin's passion for traveling and experiencing nature. 

Humans live surrounded by organisms, which some can be seen with naked eyes, some other need the help of tools to be revealed. They are living, thriving, and withering around us. Even though we're living side by side with them, we often take them for granted, and it's even more apparent in this anthropocene era.

The Forming Fantasies: Liquid to Solid Odyssey collection draws inspiration from the organic world, where natural processes give birth to beautiful and intricate forms. AlvinT's visionary concepts, combined with TMAC's impeccable craftsmanship, result in furniture pieces that echo the growth and development found in nature. The Sweep bench, Blush stool & bench, Seed cabinet & sideboard, and Slab coffee table embody this inspiration, bringing a touch of nature into your living space.

Society influences design, and design influences society. This is a mutual influence that cannot be denied. Many objects we use these days are products of evolution and these influences. Culture, education, politics, and many other factors greatly influence how things are designed, as what may work for one society may not work for another. An example of this would be the menu at Mcdonald's. Mcdonald's failed in Indonesia initially because the menu consisted entirely of burgers, a food menu Indonesians needed to familiarize themselves with. It wasn’t until they introduced fried chicken, similar to their competitor, KFC, that Indonesians started familiarizing themselves with the fast food giant’s menu, thus introducing burgers to Indonesia. This is one example of how the design of a food product can influence and be influenced by culture.

After the pandemic and the frenzy of this brand-marking trend have passed, plus the realization of the need for a more sustainable lifestyle, there has been a rising interest in the “quietness” that carries substance, such as high-quality craftsmanship and stories with deep tradition. It veered away from the tendencies toward loud requests for attention. It places more emphasis on tradition, quality, and craftsmanship than on exhibiting social class or status. Because after all those lockdowns, bad news about the environment, etcetera, it seems we’re now looking for a connection—between ourselves, our surroundings, and our activities, formed through stories. The coming trend of quiet luxury is the thirst quencher for those needs.  How can that be possible?

Often done in the service of convenience and ease, it is much easier to copy someone else’s work rather than create your original work. The phrase “there is nothing new under the sun” is often used to support and justify plagiarism, as many people take the meaning as there are no new thoughts now, as everything has been repeated in history. Well, the truth is that there is still space for originality; it’s just more challenging to achieve.

Humans are social creatures. That is an absolute, much like how the Earth revolves around the sun or the moon waxes and wanes. Michael Platt, Ph.D., a biological anthropologist from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, says that “human beings are wired to connect – and we have the most complex and interesting social behavior out of all animals. According to Platt, social behavior is an essential part of our toolkit, allowing us to collaborate and cooperate to achieve what we would not be able to on our own.

At the dawn of 2022, we saw several unfortunate passing in the design world. The death of Fernando Campana, one of the Campana Brothers duo, has reminded us again of the kind of creation that break the boundaries of craft, art, and design objects. Their Brazilian identity dominated their works but remained relevant and inspiring to the global audience. And in this era of authentic identity, their approach—since the Estudio Campana inception in 1983—has become even more relevant. Something worth noting for ourselves and other Indonesian creatives: it proves that looking at our own identity and exploring should never be second-guessed.

Vast amounts of capital are channeled to these start-ups and the potential ideas that may be successful—the whole ecosystem races to test as many ideas (or products) in the shortest time possible. In doing so, entrepreneurship and start-ups have been so glorified lately. Founders and would-be founders have entered reality-distortion-field with the dreams of having a start-up hanging over their heads, and often, they lose the sense of direction and awareness of being. They are chasing growth without urgency, with their personal soul at stake. The size of the team is used to measure success rather than satisfaction and sufficiency. We keep wanting more than what we need.

I came back to Indonesia in 2005. In retrospect, that year was essential to my journey of self-discovery, as it was then that I discovered one of my biggest motivations as a designer. Upon my return to Indonesia, a wide variety of problems in society and the design industry itself became apparent to me, like so many warning lights flickering into existence. They shone brighter than ever, and cast the nation in a different light, as I had been exposed to many countries and their cultures, giving me something to use as a baseline for evaluating my country. I realized that using the right approach, design can be a tool for the betterment of people, with Indonesia as fertile ground to unleash its true potential as a method for impact. These problems, close to my heart and where I am from, pulled me deeper into the world of design.

As civilizations develop, it brings nations to form a more diplomatic relationship towards each other. In that regard, hard power, such as military movement and direct economic sanctions, is not preferable. But the need for power is undeterred because however, humans are beings that have an ego. Thus, diplomacy consists of influencing people to do things by improving a nation’s appeals. And that is what is called Soft Power.

Some objects we encounter are often so unfamiliar to us that we consider them bizarre or ugly. But actually, often, it's just because we don't understand what the objects contain. Once we are aware and understand the point of view that the things are proposing, we can begin to see them from another angle and see the beauty they offer.

What is "Made in Indonesia"? What ideas represent this country? We often prematurely decide that it is the traditional properties we're familiar with, such as Batik, Keris, Rendang, and more. But it's actually not a thing, but a subject/subjects of which we've developed "a sense of we".