Top Toronto Product Design of 2020

We’re not going to lie: we’re looking forward to the end of 2020. We won’t bother with the details, since you’ll know why unless you’ve been living under a rock this year. (Since you’re reading our humble, interior design-focused rag, we’ll assume that’s not the case.) Still, though, we can look back fondly on a lot of great product design this year, and a lot of great stories. Clearly, a number of them resonated with you, too. Keep reading to see our 5 most popular stories on products, objects and stuff.

Edition X is Re-Designing Cannabis Culture in Toronto

Cannabis had a big 2020, with new shops, strains and accessories popping up everywhere, often with considered design being a common element. Edition X, a new brand dealing in all of the above, is no exception. With StudioAC designing their retail locations, designer Mary Ratcliffe making accessories, and gourmet edibles in flavours like blood orange and hibiscus-grapefruit, they’ve helped push cannabis consumption from guarded habit to bespoke, design-forward experience with accessories meant for display, not the junk drawer. See the story here.

Chef Matty Matheson and Castor Design Are Coming For Your Kitchen

Matty Matheson wants to take you to “Frothtown.” For those unaware, you’ll find it in the corner of a scalding hot cast iron skillet where, having been tilted, melted butter pools and bubbles away. Specifically, you’ll find it in the corner of the cast iron skillet he designed in collaboration with Castor Design, which features a long, knurled handle and raised back quarter to make getting there easier. The first product in Matheson’s eponymous kitchenware line but not the last, we’re eager to see where he’ll take us next. See the full story here.

Product of the Year: Studio Paolo Ferrari’s Extra Rolled Back Lounge

While it hasn’t even been a year since we awarded Studio Paolo Ferrari‘s Extra Rolled Back Lounge, it already feels nostalgic. When we spoke to him, he recalled a FedEx driver who was eager to sit in it, and when we shot it, he was joined by members of his studio. With its roomy, low-slung stature, and mohair upholstery, it’s a sociable chair, and nobody had even heard of a bubble then. See the full story here.

Thom Fougere Launches New Products with Mjölk

Mjölk co-founder John Baker describes the shop’s collaboration with designer Thom Fougere best: “There’s an architectural element to everything Thom does, but there’s also an intense craft element… that’s how we work together. Our intimacy and his architectural style create a nice dialogue.” We couldn’t agree more. Plus the collection, which features a daybed, tambour cabinets, fire tools and firewood hutch, is almost entirely manufactured in Toronto. See the full story here.

How Stacklab’s Felt Series Disrupts the Design Process

“The last thing the world needs is another chair,” says Stacklab founder Jeffrey Forrest, “but it does need innovation. And sometimes a chair is a good conduit for a more important conversation.” In this case, the conversation was prompted by felt offcuts that, without intervention, would go to waste. Aided by a digital script to maximize yield, the Felt Collection, which includes a bench, stool, side table and two chairs, is as much a product of process as it is of deliberate design. See the full story here.