Designers of the new millennium are no longer relegated to clothing. Hedi Slimane delivers cover art. Charles Anastase draws our graphics, and Karl Lagerfeld designs our coke bottles. The new generation of ones to watch branches out, reminding us that design itself is a vaster schematic than hemlines and handbags. Artist Jono Pandolfi is a force to be reckoned with. Trained in metal work, an expert potter and top designer of home wares, Pandolfi takes the time to talk with LookBooks at the ultra-chic ABC Kitchen in New York’s Flatiron, and speak about his extensive work with New York’s top restaurants, his work with Calvin Klein, and what it means to start an empire.

“The reason I wanted to come here,” Pandolfi begins, referring of course to the exquisite restaurant and home store around us, “I’m actually working on new plates for them right now. “ Indeed, next to the artist is a bag full of samples for the it-restaurant, samples that today Pandolfi will be presenting to renowned chef Dan Kluger for approval. “We kind of made the shapes together, collaboratively” Pandolfi says of Kluger, “and now I’m just working on getting the color exactly right.”

From our vantage point in the corner of the restaurant, we have clear sight of the open kitchen, with dishes stacked a dozen high. “You can see the stuff they have is very hand made looking.”  For Pandolfi, who manufactures locally in his own New Jersey studio, this is an enticing proposition. “I generally I do more tighter, geometric shapes--cleaner surfaces and lines--but the hand made look has been getting really hot in house wares. Hand thrown-looking stuff has come back into fashion. “

But hand-made dishes don’t provide nearly the insight into Pandolfi’s dynamism to do him justice. From successful collaborations with the likes of Anthropologie and MoMA, the artist’s capabilities far exceed the particular project that has brought us to the hit venue today.  His background, his training, have all helped shape an artist who, in just a few short years, has begun to command the respect of the industry he so admires…

After Graduating from Skidmore College in 1999, Mr. Pandolfi taught ceramics for four years before moving to New York in 2003. “I started working for Dransfield and Ross, and I learned a lot from them. I learned a lot about working with overseas, learned a lot about designing home accessories… how to take a look and translate it into throw pillows; bedding; accessories…whatever you want.“ Any gaps in formative training Pandolfi filled in on the job, and after a year with Dransfield, a more seasoned Pandolfi moved shops to Cambridge Silversmith--the country’s largest manufacturer of flatware—assuming the role of Senior Designer.

“I knew nothing about flatware,” Pandolfi admits,  “but they’d seen my work, knew I was a go-getter, so they hired me.” And the synergistic experience added tremendously to the artist’s artistic vocabulary, while the design powerhouse profited from Pandolfi’s eagle eye. “I’m a 3D thinker, I design by hand. Not enough people do that. I’m trained in metal smithing, so when I design flatware I thinking of it from a metal smith’s perspective… Not that [Cambridge’s] stuff was handmade, but that’s how I think as a designer. Some designers don’t understand materials the way that I do.” And as a result, it wasn’t long before the designer’s patterns found their ways into stores nation wide, from Crate and Barrel, to Costco to HomeGoods.

While handmade looks--like his current project for ABC--appeal to the designer’s aesthetic, his expertise is in precision. “Cambridge works in mega millions of units; you can’t mess around.  I would spec drawings for my flatware designs within a 10th of a millimeter; samples come back and I’m checking with my micrometer,” a particular diligence that has carried through to today. “Now I keep a ruler by my wheel. And when I show someone a design I know already how many I can make a day, how many I can make a week.” And when asked about how he grew from his time as a corporate designer? “I’m way more empowered,” Pandolfi tells me. “This is Jono Pandolfi 2.0.”

It’s not just precision that defines the designer Pandolfi, but also versatility. From his formative years at Dransfield and Cambridge, the now sought-after designer knows how to turn any look inside and out.  “As a designer my mind’s been exercised, I’ve done bottom of the barrel stuff, but it forces you to learn so much. You dissect every look and ultimately you become extremely picky. If the tines [of a fork] are a millimeter too long, to me it’s glaringly obvious. I analyze every curve and proportion. It’s like the way a musician listens to music. I don’t try to do it, I just do it.”

This preternatural aesthetic sense carries over into Pandolfi’s research as well. His well-trained eye not only spots design elements, but couples brilliantly with his knack for staying ahead of trends. “I know the market very well. I shop. I hit the stores, I know what I’m looking for, I know what I’m looking at; you have to. It’s one thing if you’re designing for a store that’s behind the curve, but if you’re designing for Athropologie or Calvin Klein you have to know what’s next.”

And Pandolfi does know what’s next. As we scroll through portfolio images on his iPad--I’m blown away by the designs he shows me, from the teapots he designed from Anthropologie, to chairs he designed for Barney’s--the designer elaborates on his process. “A lot of times I’ll have a simple idea, barely anything to it, and I’ll throw a little suite--a vignette of pieces--I trim them then stamp them all with the same number on the bottom, and they just go together. And I can pull these 4 out and it’s a good starting point. In my studio I’ve got like 20 little sets that can spur a client in any direction. You never know what someone’s gonna pick up on.”

One of the designs the artist shows me as we sit at our corner table, a tea service made for Daniel Humm’s 11 Madison Park. “They have a tea master—like a tea sommelier; they called me up and were like, ‘we need tea pots’…Three types of tea each with its own service! I had to learn all of that.” But his diligence paid off in kind, as Pandolfi created a gorgeous and intricate arrangement, complete from the gaiwans to the whisk holders and sharing pitchers. “People that eat at 11 Madison Park are obviously very discerning. It can be intimidating to make something they’re going to be getting so intimate with. But that what I get off on, this is the level of quality and detail that I put into a project. It’s not easy to offer someone that and be able to reliably manufacture it for them.” Jono Pandolfi is obviously up to the task. 

“Function is really at the root of what I do,” the designer tells me. “I love functional objects, making things that people use. That’s why I like doing the restaurant stuff.”

As our conversation turns from tea-pots to food, I ask Mr. Pandolfi about the future of Jono Pandolfi 2.0. What’s clear from our conversation is that while designer couldn’t be happier with his current life—impressive clients, exciting projects, creative freedoms that most designers would kill for—Jono Pandolfi has bigger plans for the coming years of his company. “Someone I really admire is Jonathan Adler. Deep down I’m a potter. I have a really different sense of design from what he’s got, but I’ve been following him since I was in high school. When I was in high school throwing pots my mother was sending me news clippings of Jonathan Adler, and he was probably where I’m at now. I would love to be doing throw pillows. Flatware. More dinnerware. I can design all that stuff. I’m a pretty aesthetically opinionated person, and I’m on the verge. So basically the plan starts today and ends with me totally dominating.“ Pandolfi laughs modestly, but we at LookBooks have no doubt that there are big things in store for this designer. Be on the lookout for Jono Pandolfi, a LookBooks pick for ones to watch.