Making Objects With A Long Lifespan

Ini Archibong, a Nigerian American designer based in Switzerland, views his creations as manifestations of the sacred or spiritual. He describes to Y-JEAN MUNDELSALLE his process of distilling his perception of the world around him into artworks easily accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of background or social situation.

- Y-Jean Mundelsalle

Ini Archibong has come full circle. After following Tim Kobe, the creator of the Apple store concept, from San Francisco and New York to Singapore in 2012, the Southern Californian designer joined Eight Inc. to work on the cutting edge of industrial design and the latest technologies. However, deeply aware of the inherent obsolescence of technology, he knew he was destined to make objects with a long lifespan instead.

Singapore Dream

“I developed a lot of that mindset because I spent two and a half years in Singapore working on that technology stuff,” he recalls. “It’s true that my goal is to have a lasting impact with the things that I make, so it was a bit frustrating that by the time anything got made, we were already thinking about the next thing. Experiencing the approach to luxury in Singapore made me start to look at it in a different way and valuing luxury.”

Ini’s recent creative consultancy work with Swiss consumer electronics giant Logitech marks his return to the technology field a decade later, except this round, his inaugural project was designing the high-end Ultimate Ears CSX earphones that fit the ear shape of each individual. “It was part of the reason we decided to work together,” he says. “Before, my work in technology felt so innovation-focused, and I knew that I had more to offer. I feel like Logitech is putting me in a position to use its platform to impact people’s lives and show how technology can be a catalyst for creativity in longlasting, impactful experiences.”