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David Caon

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David Caon
Born1977
Adelaide
Alma mater
OccupationDesigner
Spouse(s)Jeramie Hotz
Websitehttps://caondesignoffice.com/
[edit on Wikidata]

David Caon (born 1977) is an Australian industrial designer and creative director. He is active in the fields of furniture, product, interior, and transportation design.

Early life and education

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David Caon was born in Adelaide, Australia to a family of Italian origin.[1][2][3] He graduated from the University of South Australia with a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design and subsequently travelled to Europe to further his studies.[4] In 2000 he enrolled in the Automotive and Transport Design Master's programme at Coventry University, however, he quickly became disillusioned with the course and left after several weeks.[1][5] He moved to Milan to work as a graphic designer at Mondadori publishing group, after which he went to work for George Sowden, an English proponent of the Memphis movement.[6][7] While in Milan, he also collaborated with Jerszy Seymour [de], a post-punk artist and designer.[8][9][4][3]

Work and career

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Following his time in Italy, after a chance meeting with fellow Australian designer Marc Newson in 2003, Caon moved to France to join Newson's Paris studio.[9] He worked on projects for clients such as LVMH, Nike, Samsonite, Magis [it], and Qantas.[10][6][4] In a Sydney Morning Herald profile, Newson recalls that Caon, who was 26 when he joined the studio, was "bright eyed, ambitious, confident and full of energy". In the same article, Caon describes how he went "from working with Jerszy and that kind of blue-sky, idealistic, exhibition-style open thinking, without restrictions, to working on serious projects for serious clients. And Marc Newson has a dream stable." The collaboration lasted over 5 years, with Caon working his way up to become a senior designer and project manager for Newson.[1][11]

Caon returned to Australia in 2009, and after briefly working with architects Woods Bagot, he established Caon Design Office, a Sydney based design practice. His first major client was Marc Newson Ltd.[12][4] He has worked in a wide range of design disciplines including industrial design, product design, furniture design, transportation and aviation design, brand identity, graphic design, packaging, interior architecture and retail design.[13][6][4][1] The studio has worked for companies such as Noritake, Recaro, Schneider Electric, Woolmark, and Qantas.[9][14]

Qantas weight saving crockery manufactured by Noritake

He has been a consultant responsible for the creative direction and design of the interiors of the Qantas fleet,[15] including the refurbishment of its Marc Newson designed Airbus A380s,[16] the design of new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft,[3] and ultra long-range Airbus A350s for direct Australia to New York and London routes,[17] as well as ground based interiors, bespoke furniture and fittings.[17][18][15] Caon's weight reducing designs for Qantas's in-flight crockery[19] and cutlery[20] resulted in an annual savings of over 500,000 kilograms of fuel.[21][10][22][23][1][a]

In collaboration with architects Acme and Akin Atelier, he has designed retail and hospitality interiors including restaurants for Australian celebrity chef Neil Perry such as "Margaret" and "Next Door" in Sydney;[24] Qantas's first class, business class, and transit lounges in Australia and abroad;[25][26] as well as residential interiors for private clients.[27][12][11]

In 2020 Caon and business partner Henry Wilson founded Laker, an Australian manufacturer of design editions, furniture, home accessories, and architectural fittings.[28][29][30][31][5]

Personal life

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Caon lives and works in Sydney, Australia. He is married to Jeramie Hotz, an Australian businesswoman. They have two children.[8][1]

Notes

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  1. ^ Qantas press release claims an annual fuel savings of over 535,000 kilogrammes.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Souter, Fenella (August 25, 2017). "Coming soon: Perth-London direct flights. This man will make them more bearable". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  2. ^ Tucker, Ashley (August 7, 2015). "Five minutes with David Caon | IndesignLive". Indesign Live: Interior Design and Architecture. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Stahl, Michael (August 14, 2019). "David Caon profile: from classic car worship to Dreamliner design – Executive Traveller". www.executivetraveller.com. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e "The sky's the limit – making fabulous functional". University of South Australia. May 29, 2023. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "David Caon". Sparkkle. 2021-02-06. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  6. ^ a b c "David Caon biography at Design and Art Australia Online". www.daao.org.au. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  7. ^ "GOOD DESIGN AMBASSADORS – DAVID CAON". Good Design. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  8. ^ a b "Jeramie Hotz & David Caon, Edgecliff". IN BED Store. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  9. ^ a b c Bell, Jonathan (2024-05-22). "Caon Design Office and Woolmark reshape the form and feel of airline seats". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  10. ^ a b Glies, Nolan. "Radical departure gallery – Issue 114 – Magazine". Monocle. pp. 78–79. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  11. ^ a b "Good Weekend Magazine — Caon Design Office — A multi-disciplinary creative practice headed by Australian Industrial Designer, David Caon". caondesignoffice.com. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  12. ^ a b "David Caon on Transport's New Frontier | Semi Permanent". www.semipermanent.com. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  13. ^ "David Caon, Yves Béhar, Passivhaus and Omniyat, Monocle on Design 638 - Radio". Monocle. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  14. ^ "The 44 People Changing the Way We Travel". Condé Nast Traveler. 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  15. ^ a b Arlidge, John (June 16, 2023). "Inside the new 21-hour flight to Australia with £20,000 suites". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  16. ^ Ilic, Nikolina (October 2, 2019). "Qantas' Fully Refreshed A380 Cabin Has Arrived Complete With A Lush Business Lounge". GQ Australia. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  17. ^ a b Arlidge, John (2023-05-21). "Qantas' Airbus A350 cabins make non-stop to Australia a dream ticket". Wallpaper magazine. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  18. ^ Khalil, Shireen (February 24, 2023). "Inside Qantas First and Business cabins for A350s". news.com.au. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  19. ^ Dominguez, Lorena (2020-02-10). "New David Caon by Noritake!". Noritake Australia Pty Ltd. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  20. ^ "Qantas has launched a new designer tableware collection". Vogue Australia. July 21, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  21. ^ Noble, Dimity (2017-07-24). "Qantas takes high design to the skies with new tableware range". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  22. ^ Booth, James (2020-02-01). "Qantas Cutlery: The One Thing In Qantas Business Class I Will Never Understand". DMARGE. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  23. ^ Nunes, Ashley. "How long-haul travel will change post-Covid". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  24. ^ Pascual, Levy (2022-04-10). "Margaret by CAON Studio and ACME – The Commercial Project Feature". The Local Project. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  25. ^ Nash, Brad (November 5, 2019). "Take A Tour Of Qantas' Sleek New Singapore First Class Lounge". GQ Australia. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  26. ^ Huynh, Mike (2019-03-07). "Difference Between Business & First Class Lounges". DMARGE. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  27. ^ Jen, Virginia (October 26, 2022). "VL50: Australia's top 50 interior designers, architects, product designers and artists". Vogue Living. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  28. ^ "About Laker". Laker Studio. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  29. ^ "David Caon and Henry Wilson debut jointly designed storage system under Laker brand". DAN | Daily Architecture News. 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  30. ^ "David Caon Archives". DAN | Daily Architecture News. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  31. ^ Tomic Hughes, Dana (October 5, 2022). "Laneway Glass House: The project hidden in an unloved Darlinghurst street". www.domain.com.au. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
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