Jordan Maurice

Q&A with Jordan Maurice


Where did you grow up? How did it influence you?

I grew up in a small farming village of 200 in Northern Illinois. Growing up there gave me a sense of self-reliance, adaptability, and an appreciation for quiet spaces.


What’s the most prized object you own? Why?

I have prints of my grandfather’s electrical engineering patents from his projects with NASA. He passed away when I was a kid, but his presence lingers in my work. Coming from a small-town farm, his ambition and curiosity give me inspiration. Also, as small lighting component that I convinced Grand Brass to start carrying on their website.


In a world overflowing with objects, why continue making new things?

Craft is the most honest way I know to express myself. I'm often in my own mind and through making I can connect with others.


What design movement, current or historic, do you think is the most overrated and why?

I wouldn’t dismiss any movement entirely, but I do think minimalism becomes overrated when it’s treated as a default rather than a choice. It’s been co-opted by corporations and wealth-driven trends, turning design into a signal of taste or status rather than something that fits real life.


What’s your favorite material to work with and why?

Aluminum for its precision/ strength and versatility of finishing effects


If you designed a chair describing your relationship with your father, what would it look like?

I think the chair would be made to sit in for a while, maybe a lounge chair. I'm picturing a pretty geometric frame that keeps you sitting in a formal posture, but has soft cushions. It would have traditional joinery too. Maybe on some wheels like the Vitsoe 620 chair.


Tell us about something that inspires you.

I’m inspired by gift giving and the thought of making something for someone specific. It moves the work away from authorship and toward care.


What would you do differently if you started your practice today?

I’d be quicker to ask for support and focus on finding a better balance between commercial work and my own projects.


Any advice for young designers?

Trust your ideas and your intuition. Spend time being quiet and noticing them. they’re often the things that lead to your best work.Also, learn how to make great technical drawings. Its not glamorous, but it will help you get jobs.


Any regrets?

Being so clueless about the university design programs I could attend. No one in my world was able to guide me in that way.


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