What is the role of the designer and how is it changing in a time when design and manufacturing become increasingly more digitized? This question is key to understanding the work of design studio Unfold. The studio, founded in 2002 by Claire Warnier and Dries Verbruggen after they graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven, develops projects that investigate new ways of creating, manufacturing, financing and distributing in a changing context. A context in which we see a merging of aspects of the pre-industrial craft economy with high tech industrial production methods and digital communication networks. A context that has the potential to shift power, from industrial producers and those regulating infrastructure to the individual designer and the consumer.

Graduated at the Design Academy Eindhoven, department of Man and Identity in 2002 and received a Master of Arts (M.A.) at the University of Ghent in 2008. Besides Unfold she works as a mentor at the Masters Department at the Design Academy Eindhoven and previously held positions at Colorado State University, USA; LUCA School of Arts, university college of art and design, BE and Z33, art center in Hasselt, Belgium.

Graduated at the Design Academy Eindhoven, department of Man and Living in 2002. Besides Unfold he works as a mentor at the Masters Department at the Design Academy Eindhoven and previously held positions at Colorado State University, USA; LUCA School of Arts, university college of art and design, BE and at the ICT & Media Design department of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences, NL.

Unfold has worked on commercial projects ranging from ideation to strategy, concept development, design, exhibition scenography and production for clients such as Ecover, Hermès, Puig (l’Artisan Parfumeur), l’Oreal (Armani Privé), Aesop, Royal Salute, Barnabé Fillion Parfums, Artek, Audi, Air, Famous Grey, City of Antwerp, MAS Museum, Middelheim Museum, Museum Plantin-Moretus, NAi, Flemish Community, Droog Design, Joris Laarman Lab, Unilever, De Nieuwe Opdrachtgevers and Anya Gallacio.

Work by Unfold has been presented internationally at museums such as the New Museum, New York (US); Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taipei (TW); Design Museum London (UK); Museum of Arts and Design, New York (US); Abu Dhabi Art (AE)
; Istanbul Design Biennial (TR); Z33 House for Contemporary Art (BE)
; Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco (US); Jerusalem Museum (IL)
 Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art, Alfred (US); Zuiderzeemuseum, Enkhuizen (NL).

Work by Unfold has been published internationally in publications such as Hello World: Where design meets life by Alice Rawsthorn; The Belgian Affair, Domus Magazine by Justin McGuirk; Frame Magazine; The Real Thing, essays on making in the modern world by Tanya Harrod; Beyond Architecture; Spacecraft 2; New York Times; International Herald Tribune; The Journal of Modern Craft; Icon Magazine; 3D Printing for Artists, Designers and Makers by Stephen Hoskins; Metropolis Magazine.