The agency door opens to a lived-in space: pinned sketches, prototypes on tables, materials waiting to come to life. Margaux Keller, designer, welcomes us to her showroom in Marseille. It is here, in this workshop where everything begins and takes shape, that she designed the BINI products, from the Binikit to the Binimug, including the Binibox. A collaboration that has lasted since 2020 and which, clearly, is not about to end.
From specifications to object: how is a product born?
To start a project, Margaux Keller always begins with a set of specifications. Not as a constraint, but as a compass. "We analyze consumer needs. We ask the right questions to define what kind of product we want, what needs we want to fulfill, and in what direction we need to design."
Next comes a phase of complete freedom, before gradually narrowing the scope with industrial partners. "We try not to set too many limits, to be very creative at the beginning to gradually arrive at the right idea, the right concept."
But what distinguishes Margaux Keller's approach is what she calls the "soul supplement": that extra emotion, that captivating and endearing quality that makes an object desirable. "This is also the specificity of the products I design, this somewhat endearing side of objects, which will make the product desirable and make us want and need this product."
And with BINI, that's exactly how it happened.
Margaux Keller Collections: ethical design as a commitment
Beyond her collaborations, Margaux Keller also has her own creative territory: Margaux Keller Collections, the design publishing house she co-founded in 2019 with Anaïs Frattini. Series of objects, furniture, and lighting fixtures manufactured by partner factories mainly located in France and Europe.
"We have a real ethical commitment through this brand. The idea is really to be in a short circuit, with products going directly from the factory to the customer."
At the heart of this approach: emotion, durability, transmission. "We always have this idea of a timeless and durable object that will stand the test of time, that can be passed down from generation to generation. The idea is really to recreate a connection with the object, with the pieces that surround us."
It is precisely this philosophy that made her sensitive to BINI's approach: reinventing everyday objects while maintaining an ethical and local approach.
The meeting with Alice and Perrine: an obvious choice
In 2020, BINI contacted Margaux Keller. Alice and Perrine arrived with a clear idea: to create a nomadic, committed cutlery set, manufactured locally in France, with durable and as natural materials as possible.
"I really liked their approach, their desire to innovate while maintaining this intention to manufacture in France, which is rarely the case."
What also immediately attracted Margaux Keller was the question of accessibility. BINI arrived with a deliberately low target selling price, the idea that anyone could afford these products, collect them, adopt them. "I was sensitive to the idea of being able to make this design, these beautiful, well-made pieces manufactured in France, available at very accessible prices. Which is beautiful."
And beyond accessibility, there is also a deeper conviction: that design can be used to serve a cause. "What I liked and was interested in your approach at the beginning, when you contacted me, is the democratization of design which is always essential at the heart of my work." And more broadly: "This is also what made me sensitive to BINI's approach: reinventing everyday objects while having this ethical and local approach." In short, to make people switch to reusable not out of guilt, but out of desire. That's exactly the role of design at BINI.
Together, they first designed the Binikit. Then the Binibox "a kind of hybrid between Tupperware and a portable plate, a somewhat new and innovative UFO" and finally the Binimug, the latest one Margaux Keller speaks about with pride: "It's a real research effort of several months with industrial partners to develop this small mug."
A design recognizable among all
From the outset, the challenge was to create a strong, recognizable visual identity. Not just to sign a range, but to establish BINI's visual DNA.
"My goal is to deconstruct archetypes. As if these products didn't exist on Earth, as if we had truly invented them from scratch. This allows for a design that is as close as possible to the reality of the need."
The result: shapes worked in roundness, very ergonomic, very tactile. "There's a sensory, somewhat playful side. We have the work of the material with these striations that are quite redundant in the different products." A coherent language from one product to another, which makes a BINI object immediately recognizable.
And then there's the color, perhaps the most striking signature of the range. "We worked on a color palette that is completely unexpected compared to what plastics manufacturing usually does. Colors inspired by natural things, nature, natural foods. This gives a rather soft, timeless color scheme that you can appropriate, that you can mix. We are very far from the harsh yellows and reds. Here, we are really in a subtlety of colors to create beloved products."
From prototype to production: the challenge of plastics engineering
Once the design is validated, there's still a lot to do. Because BINI represented a new territory for Margaux Keller: that of industrial plastics engineering.
"Thanks to BINI, I've reconciled with the world of plastics engineering. I usually work with manufacturers who have expertise in natural materials, wood, blown glass. So, it was a challenge to approach industrialists."
The method: first, design freely, almost naively, without worrying too much about molding constraints. "It was in a second phase, with the design office and the industrialists, that we confronted these constraints and adapted the design."
The process involves 3D printing "a first step where it's a bit like Christmas" before arriving at the functional prototype. For the Binimug in particular, it was a long series of trials and tests: "To be able to offer you the most suitable mug possible, the most solid, the most waterproof, the lightest, and also the most pleasant to touch."
What definitively convinced her to go all the way? The bio-sourced plastic. "That's where the girls finally convinced me. Plastics made from natural materials, wood chips. A new way to reinvent plastic, and to reconcile with plastics engineering."
When the product is finally here
"The day the product is finalized, well that day, it's really Christmas. It's the culmination of a whole lot of work by many hands with the brand, with the design team, with the manufacturers, the design office. It's truly a festive and proud moment."
And after? We live with it. "I have my Binimug in my bag all the time. It's great to be able to live with it too, to use it every day. It's a real satisfaction, a real pride."
What's next?
The collaboration with BINI does not stop there. Alongside the original range, there is already the Signature collection, a collection that Margaux Keller discusses in detail: "We wanted to think about a slightly more upscale version called Signature. The idea was to work on a transparent, slightly smoked lid color, which gives the object a much more elegant look and, once again, deconstructs the archetype of the plastic box." And Margaux Keller is already working on the next members of the family.
"Each product, each time, gives rise to a new desire and a new product. We want the range to expand because the need is immense, the cause to support is immense. So we're not going to stop there."
And the conclusion can be summed up in one sentence, perhaps the best summary of five years of collaboration:
"What I love about what I do is that each product is a little story that takes shape, from sketch to reality. And with BINI, that story is shared with thousands of people."
