The TYPE 01 headphones concept began with a conscious return to a more making-led way of designing. Looking back at design classics from the past, I’m always struck by the very visible relationship between form and manufacture. Their character was often inseparable from the way they were made. A friend of mine, and a brilliant engineer, has a simple hand-operated 3-axis CNC mill and lathe in his workshop. So the metal parts of TYPE 01 were designed specifically around those tools and 6061 aluminium. The geometry, intersections, radii and proportions come from keeping setups simple, machining straightforward and time in the tool to a minimum. Those constraints became a large part of the character of the headphones.

The on-ear format was a deliberate choice too. While larger over-ear headphones offer obvious acoustic advantages, I wanted something smaller, more elegant and less visually dominant to wear out, while keeping enough volume within the metal arms to house a decent battery. The interaction is equally direct. Headphones are largely operated blind, so the controls need to be immediately recognisable by touch. Volume, the function you reach for most often, is controlled through a large knurled dial integrated directly into the arm.

TYPE 01 is a celebration of the machine, and of letting material and making shape the object.