Co-founder at MAIK
In January 2010, Andreas Sachse and I co-founded MAIK with the ambition to create a new kind of product brand in Vesterbro—one where we could sell our own designs while gathering direct feedback from customers.
At MAIK, I was responsible for product design, user experience, and factory collaborations in Shenzhen, China. With a focus on everyday design solutions, guerrilla marketing, and CSR initiatives, and with the support of a talented community, we pushed the boundaries of what a product brand could be.
Responsibilities
R&D, Industrial design, Customer feedback, Sourcing, Shop
Client
Self-owned
Year
2010-2015
Urban Mobility: From Bike Crates to Shenzhen
Our bicycle accessories were born from an urban transportation challenge.
The first solution? Handbuilt bike crates with a flight-case aesthetic.
As demand grew, we developed a second version—designed and sourced in Shenzhen, China.
Collaboration & Learnings with The Coffee Collective
Partnering with Klaus Thomsen from The Coffee Collective, we set out to design a series of coffee glasses that preserved aroma while enhancing the visual experience. Unfortunately, the project hit a roadblock—the MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) for tempered glass made production too costly for a startup. A valuable lesson in scalability and manufacturing realities.
MAIK No More – But Many Learnings
After a year in brick-and-mortar retail and four years running our webshop, we decided to close MAIK in 2015. The journey was full of insights, challenges, and invaluable hands-on experience in entrepreneurship, design, and production.
Production in Shenzhen
