Jasper Morrison's first commission for the industry becomes an instant bestseller - a trailblazer for his "super normal" design approach

His designs feel familiar, create confidence and are use-oriented. They are formally reduced to their essence, yet they are not cool-minimalist: like probably no other contemporary furniture and product designer, British designer Jasper Morrison succeeds in giving objects lasting relevance, regardless of fashion phenomena and trends. He owes his design attitude, which he characterizes with the term "super normal," to his collaboration with FSB. In 1990, the premium hardware manufacturer presented Morrison's reinterpretation of a design by Johannes Potente from the 1950s. The FSB 1144 door handle suddenly became a bestseller and marked the starting point for an entire product family that today ranks among the icons of industrial design.

In the late 1980s, young British designer Jasper Morrison, who by then had just established his studio in London, was commissioned to rework Johannes Potente's somewhat dated designs - including the FSB 1020 model - and conceive a reinterpretation of the classic hand-shape design. Morrison adopted the shape as the basis for a new design with an excellent handle inspired by traditional carriage and wagon handles. Because of their link to the Potente model-len on the one hand and a "super normal" everyday product like the carriage handle on the other, his design inspired confidence from the start.

The FSB 1144 model was first presented in aluminum at the international hardware fair in Cologne in the spring of 1990, at the express wish of Jasper Morrison. The designer naively appreciated the natural silver hue of the material. In addition to the door handle, the product family developed by Morrison already included a door handle, a handle for narrow profile doors, a window handle, a door and wall stopper, a furniture knob as well as a hat and coat hook. The door handle gave Jasper Morrisson two faces: the front is wedge-shaped, the handle extends to a wide, flat curve. Depending on the per-spective, one approach and the other comes to the fore, just as with a tilt. That it is nevertheless a harmonious design is due to the skilfully cross-linked lines and planes that merge into one another without fractures, giving the stool a swinging character. Instead of the asymmetrical hand-form design of the 1950s, Jasper Morrison ultimately opted for a symmetrical design that can be used left-right-variably. He thus simplified the FSB 1144 in comparison to the historical example both in terms of product-technology and with regard to storage and use.

The FSB 1144 program quickly proved to be a success: in 1991 it was awarded the North Rhine-Westphalia State Prize. This was followed in 1992 by the German Federal Prize for Product Design, and the Hannover Industrial Forum chose it as one of the ten best products of the year.Asked what good design means to him, Jasper Morrison replied in an interview about the process of creating the FSB 1144 model: "Two things are important: convenient operation and in-tuitive use." The shape of his door handle is characterized in such a way that it offers itself in the same way to eye and hand. It signals that it is a tool for opening the door - no more and no less. This is precisely what has made the FSB 1144 model, which is now available in aluminum and stainless steel, so successful to date. The product family currently comprises door and window handles (both as rosetteless handles), door knob and profile door handle. Thanks to a range of finishing finishes, the range of variants is wide: with the models in aluminum, color comes into play with the powder-coating on request. Anodized colors are based on velvety matt, refined aluminum surfaces with a very individual gloss character. Finally, the stainless steel polish version is a noble and environmentally friendly al-ternative to chromed surfaces.