With the global ascension of the headphone market showing no signs of abating yet, there are a wealth of different brands out there to match any and all tastes and requirements. And while it may be difficult for the conscientious consumer to decide what brand to go for in such an oversaturated marketplace, you can always rely on AIAIAI to produce powerful and sleek headphones for personal or professional use.
With an aesthetic influenced by the Scandinavian minimalism the founders grew up around and assimilated in Denmark, focusing on clean uncomplicated design with minimal branding, AIAIAI‘s headphones have managed to successfully couple high design with professional sound quality, a rare feat.
We recently sat down with AIAIAI‘s Frederik Jorgensen to talk about the origins of his company, co-brands and functionality.
1) Could you explain a little about your background, and how AIAIAI came to be?
I guess it all started 8 years ago when one of the other founders of AIAIAI and I had a nightclub in Copenhagen. We got access to this empty building called The A-house where we opened up a club on the rooftop, beside that we invited creative people in and ended up having more than 300 studios of artists and designers. Unfortunately, the place had to be turned into apartments, and we had to go on new endeavours, and when two old friends suggested headphones it seemed like the perfect idea, as there was a lot of opportunity to do something new back then and at the same time it was a perfect combination of music, art and design, which we had been working with during the years in The A-house. At that time the headphone market was completely different from today, and the products were pretty much either something you just got along with another piece of hardware, or something for audiophiles – obviously a lot have happened since then. our vision was to create products that were at the same time uniquely designed and thoroughly developed.
2) What is the company’s approach when choosing who to co-brand with? How involved are the artists in the design process?
we like to work with people who inspire us and whos work we appreciate – whether being fashion brands, musical artist or labels. This way we hope the collaboration helps us get somewhere and that the products have new features or perspectives – we would like it to be more than just a logo marriage, but more about actually developing something together. Therefore the process is also often long and we invite the partner in on all decisions in order to end up with something we all appreciate and are excited about.
3) Your products are very sleek, with minimal visible branding. Where does this aesthetic stem from? Anything in particular?
I think this very much comes from our Scandinavian roots. Its not really a formal manual for us, but more a result of all the iconic designs and architecture we have been surrounded by growing up in Denmark. There is a tradition for Functional design, which we relate to, where three is a lot for focus on details and at the same time where decision in the design is made to create a better product. We don’t like when products are overly branded and full of glitter – to us that does not have a meaning, and we would rather create a design which in its uniqueness can replace a logo.
4) Do you have a personal favourite product from the AIAIAI range?
That’s like choosing between your kids! I do however think that the Young Guru edition from a functional perspective is very nice product
5) What can we expect from AIAIAI in the future? Any new products on the horizon you’d like to share with us?
Big things I hope. We are working on some pretty exciting stuff for next year, which will be the biggest news since we launched the TMA-1 4 years ago.