Mike & Maaike is a progressive industrial design studio led by Mike Simonian and Maaike Evers. Maaike is Dutch, and Mike is from California. Their international backgrounds and thoughtful approach to design have culminated in a diverse body of work marked by experimentation, substance, and strong conceptual narratives.
Partners In Design
Mike & Maaike have partnered with Watson on multiple projects including Haven and Tonic.
Award-Winning Design
Mike & Maaike work across a broad range of categories from furniture and technology products, to transportation and soft goods. They’ve worked with a variety of companies including Google, Incase, Haworth, and Watson. The studio has received international, critical acclaim through awards and exhibitions, and achieved commercial success with products being produced in the millions.
Mike & Maaike's work is recognized internationally and exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide. They have been named on over 70 patents and are featured on Fast Company’s list of 100 Most Creative People in Business.
How Mike & Maaike are Different
Usually, industrial design studios are used as a service-based business. But Mike and Maaike use their studio as a creative space where to work on innovative projects with people and companies that have an interesting challenge to pursue.
The Creative Process
The design process is about discovery as opposed to designing. Mike & Maaike design experiments and discover the products along the way. "You can’t really predict where it’s going to go," Mike says. "But the design wants to come out, and you just have to find it."
"We really like working with Watson. Because of the size of the company. It is really connected to all the varied teams in the company. It’s very intimate, very hands-on. I think what I really appreciate about the team at Watson is that there’s never a push to just grab the first answer or the first solution, because it really just... has to be right.”
Mike and Maaike