An interview with product designer Enguerrand Poncelin

Enguerrand Poncelin has been a product designer at onomao since 2023. Together with the founders, he develops new designs and ideas for the onomao range. As part of ATELIER onomao, he has now created the RIZOMA vase collection. In this interview, he tells us about the creation of the edition and his creative work with ceramics.

How did you start off as a designer? What fascinates you about the work?
I think my path to design started with curiosity—I’ve always loved making things, sketching, and creating little experiences for people. As a child, I dreamed of being an inventor, and that sense of wonder has stayed with me. I studied design in Cologne and Melbourne, traveled extensively, and worked on several collaborative projects that gave me diverse cultural and aesthetic insights, while also allowing me to make incredible design friends. What fascinates me most about design is that a designer’s job—and I would even say responsibility—is to make life better, whether through creating something beautiful that brings joy or something practical that makes everyday life easier, especially in a world that isn’t always easy or joyful. I love turning ideas into real objects that people can interact with, where each piece becomes a small experiment in form, function, and storytelling. In many ways, being a designer today feels like the real-world version of that child who wanted to invent, and I feel deeply grateful to have transformed my passion into my daily work.

The new vases are organically shaped and notched with patterns. What was the inspiration behind them?
The inspiration for this collection came from nature and the idea of growth and connection. I wanted the vases to feel alive, almost as if each piece had its own rhythm and story. The organic shapes reflect the unpredictability and fluidity of natural forms, while the notched patterns add texture and invite interaction. In a way, each vase becomes a rhizome itself—a living network of roots that bridges the energy of nature into your interior space. I’m fascinated by how ceramics can capture movement and texture in a permanent form, and with this collection, I wanted to explore that balance between structure and spontaneity, making each vase unique while still part of a cohesive family.

You are also the in house designer of onomao. Lead us through the design process of new pieces. 
When we have new pieces in mind, it usually starts with discussions across different departments to figure out what makes sense for the brand. From there, I get hands-on, exploring various ideas for the new year. I start by creating a mix of mood boards, colors, textures, forms, and shapes with specific functions, which I then present to onomao’s founder. Once the final design is approved, I narrow down the ideas with detailed sketches, 3D models, in-house prototypes and send the technical drawings to our producers in Portugal. From there, we enter a sampling phase, with 1-3 rounds of iterations. These rounds are always exciting because ceramics and glazes can be unpredictable, and occasionally we discover some unexpected but wonderful surprises along the way. The design process isn’t linear—it’s iterative, looping back to refine ideas and explore new possibilities.

When we collaborate with people from other industries, my role is to translate their ideas into tangible concepts that are feasible with ceramics. Often, this means pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and even developing new manufacturing processes to reach the desired result. What fascinates me most isn’t just the final product—it’s the whole journey. Every step, from concept to production, is full of experimentation and discovery, and that’s what makes this work truly exciting.

How do you experience the creative work with ceramics? 
Working with ceramics has been an incredibly rewarding experience—probably the first time I’ve worked at such a high level with this material, since joining onomao. I had some prior experience with slip casting, the same technique we use to make the RIZOMA vases, but most of my background as an industrial designer is in materials like wood, metal, and plastic, where manufacturing allows for millimeter-perfect precision.

Ceramics is completely different. From shaping to the final glazed piece, the material is alive— clay shrink and can slightly warp. We also work notably with reactive and translucent glazes, which always display interesting variations that we embrace, making each piece unique. Even at the scale at which we produce at onomao, every object is handmade by passionate and talented artisans, full of character, and carries the human touch. That’s what fascinates me: working with a material as ancient as ceramics that still manages to surprise you and create something truly one-of-a-kind.

What is a product you would love to see at onomao one day?
I would love to imagine a ceramic lamp at onomao, with both the base and the top made entirely of clay, so you can truly see and feel the richness of the material. I love the idea of light dancing across the surface, creating a warm, enveloping glow. Just like in photography, painting, or cinema, light is essential to bring a scene to life and evoke emotions—that’s why I would like to explore how a ceramic lamp could create the same atmosphere in an interior.

It would be an object that is both beautiful and functional, something you’d want to place on a shelf or table and interact with every day—almost addictive, with a tactile, sensual quality that irresistibly makes you want to touch it.

Kollektion RIZOMA Enguerrand Poncelin x onomao