Rafael Morgan

Welcome! This is my on line portfolio.
In this blog, you´ll find only a few samples of my work and some information about myself as well.
Please, feel free to contact me if you wish to know more about my work.

I was raised in Belo Horizonte (Beautiful Horizon), a place that provides me with much of my inspiration. Even as a child I was spending considerable time drawing and illustrating (sometimes several hours each day) for fun, as well as for school projects.

I am the kind of guy who never gives up. I am always doing my best to make things the best way as possible and I think that is what motivates me. Inspiration for me is everywhere, mostly in ordinary objects. If you stop for a minute and try to watch your surroundings by a different angle or point of view, you would be surprised on how beautiful and poetic our world is.

Since I started my career as an Industrial Designer, I have been trying to create an identity for myself and set myself apart from the rest, creating a mix of visual poetry, Industrial Design and philosophy.

I think that every good design must tell a story about itself and that is why I always try to spread good messages trough my designs.

I just want to say to young designers like me to never give up creating great stuff. Just keep doing your best and someone will certainly believe in your ideas in the right time.

Light Drop

The Light Drop is supposed to make people think about how we are

dealing with our natural resources, in this particular case, the water,
which is the main source of energy for every living organism in this
fantastic world. Water is energy indeed.

This wall-mounted lighting element illuminates the custom-molded polycarbonate bulb with an embedded, dimmable LED in the faucet, which is intuitively controlled by the tap -- the more you twist, the more light you get -- which also is a good way to contextualize energy use (though at a greatly reduced rate, compared to an incandescent version of the same design.

This design won the Third Prize in the Bright LED international design competition, by design boom.

It´s going to be produced by Dark in 2008, with the help from my great partners and friends from the fabulous Studio Mango!

Hope Table

The hope table is not only about hope, it is about beauty and visual poetry. It is about telling other young designers like me to never give up creating original designs.

There are great ideas everywhere…You just have to look into the right way. Maybe ideas are just like a message in a bottle, floating in the deep ocean, just waiting for the right people to find it.

In this particular case I am the man of the other side of the story. I am the one who threw that bottle into the ocean and I was waiting for someone to find it until now…By the way…I actually love throwing message bottles into the ocean (kidding).

It´s all about hope! Never give up!

The Hope Table is going to be produced by Sixinch, with the help from my great partners and friends from the fabulous Studio Mango!

Fletcha side table

I don´t know why home furniture is designed to be used always in the same position, you know, life changes all the time, the world is changing, our furniture should change too!

We have learned to live with ups and downs but most of the time we have no control over the direction of our life...

That´s why the Fletcha side table is so cool and funny! It allows you to point it up or down and you can use it in three different positions, so you will never get used to it.

Now you can buy it! The Fletcha side table is currently in production by Pulpo, in 2008.

Cartola trash can

The top hat was once a symbol of status but for me it looks much better as a trash can!

We also know the top hat as part of those old school magician shows.

Unfortunately this top hat is not a magical item and you probably won´t take a white rabbit from it...

Although, it will make your trash disappear!

By the way, "Cartola" means top hat in Portuguese...You probably guessed it already, I suppose.

Copyright © Rafael Morgan. All rights reserved.

Once Was comb

We are so used to some everyday objects that sometimes we don´t realize what´s behind them, where do they came from.

Great part of the exotic wood that is consumed in USA and Europe are illegally imported from developing countries like Brazil.

This comb reminds us of what it once was in the past.

It once was a tree, it once was alive.

The emptiness of its negative form remind us of its original silhouette, which no longer exists.

I truly believe that we can enjoy life in a sustainable way and fortunately, if this comb ever goes to production, it will be made with sustainable certificated wood, so when you ask yourself from where does this wood came, you will know that you are not damaging our planet.

The next time you see a jacket, a shoe, a piece of meat or a car, try to reflect about what it once was in the past and the consequences of consuming it.

Everything has a story....

Indigestive plate

This plate looks like an ordinary plate, in fact it is just a regular plate...Until you put some hot food in it.

The inside of the plate is printed with undeniable, provocative, bitter and indigestible sentences about hunger statistics in the world.

The sentences are printed using heat sensitive ink, so they will only be revealed when someone put some hot or warm food in it.

Can you imagine what would happen if we disguise some of this plates in an expensive snob restaurant...or maybe in some important political meeting?

It would be very interesting to see people´s reaction while the truth is slowly revealed underneath the food.

Hopefully this plate will cause an indigestion, or at least make people think twice before asking for the dessert.

Lulu floor lamp

This floor lamp design is inspired by the devil´s (Lulu) trident.
I have designed this lamp specially for George W. Bush´s office.
It´s supposed to be available also in pure red and black.

Copyright © Rafael Morgan. All rights reserved.

Puzzle Revisited chair

A remake of a chair I designed in the first year of ID school.

Simple, beautiful, light, economic, no screws or nails needed.

The Fishcage

Everyday we live the illusion of freedom and in fact, we are just like fishes in a bowl.

We are trapped by invisible borders like, ignorance, lies, rules, hypocrisies and old paradigms and concepts.

The fish in the bowl thinks he is free, because he has passed all his life in that condition...So do we.

The Fishcage comes to remember us that the first step to be free is finding the real obstacles that keep us away from the real freedom.

The Fishcage is going to be produced by Sixinch, in 2008.

Copyright © Rafael Morgan. All rights reserved.

Playmobil office chair

This chair design was inspired by the book Emotional Design, by Donald Norman.

It´s formal aspects come from the Playmobil, a very cool plastic toy that is one of the big icons of my generation and the Brazilian 80´s.

The sitting piece is a fusion of the Playmobil´s face, iconic smile and hair piece.

The legs piece of the chair is the Playmobil King´s crown, turned upside down.

Turn it upside down and you will see...The Playmobil king!

Sometimes life can look much better if we change our point of view, if we observe everyday objects by different angles.

Saci Chair

This chair is a tribute to one of the most popular folk character in Brazil.

Saci is a one-legged black elf with holes in the palms of his hands. An incorrigible prankster.

Thanks to a custom "U" molded, skirt like 6mm acrylic sheet, the Saci chair really is a "sittable" chair.

Copyright © Rafael Morgan. All rights reserved.