Hunter Craighill Makes Affordable Design Products That Solve Everyday Problems

January 03, 2024

Hunter Craighill Makes Affordable Design Products That Solve Everyday Problems

From a fireplace blower to a sleek task chair, Craighill’s favorite home goods are as well considered as they are practical.

The third time’s the charm for Hunter Craighill, founder of the Brooklyn-based objects brand Craighill. Before launching his namesake company in 2015, Craighill had two other "semi-failed efforts starting my own studio and design projects," he says, after leaving a job at Best Made where he got the opportunity developing products and "making a lot of mistakes on their dime and learning a ton." Shortly after founding Craighill, a business partner offered his expertise with sales and marketing and the company has stuck around to release an array of practical, playful, and design-forward lifestyle products. "We have soft goods and mechanical puzzles and folding knives and lamps… I feel like it may be a little confusing to first-time visitors at our site but hopefully there's a commonality with customers’ approach design and our approach to color and materials," says Craighill. "I feel very lucky I get to design things that excite me."

A category of home decor that Craighill is increasingly known for are its lineup of metal puzzles that take final form as geometric or ornamental shapes. Designing them also requires problem-solving from a manufacturing standpoint. Craighill, who grew up with a collection of Japanese wooden burr puzzles as a child, was inspired to make his own puzzle shortly after launching his brand—the first puzzle release was the Jack, made with rounded and smoothed-out metal bars. "Surprisingly, it sold well and we started playing with other puzzle designs but it was hard to get those complex metal forms produced at low volumes at reasonable prices," says Craighill, who ended up launching the second puzzle on Kickstarter because of the high tooling and high production run costs. "I didn’t think there'd be a ton of people that would pay a hundred bucks for a mechanical puzzle but there‘s surprisingly a huge audience for it," he says of like-minded puzzle solvers like himself.

Although much of the brand’s lineup consists of small objects made from a limited color and materials palette, the Clinton Hill, Brooklyn home that Craighill shares with his wife is outfitted with more colorful, offbeat finds. His latest acquisition is a "pretty wild, bright blue chair that's basically a shag carpet with an upholstered skirt" that he found on a furniture auction site. "It's a little insane but I increasingly find myself gravitating towards bolder selections." The couple also loves collecting items that are meaningful to them, whether it’s furnishings that design friends have made or art that belonged to and had been passed down from their respective grandparents. "Ultimately, I am a sucker for any object that I can talk, like, ‘This is my grandmother’s, or this we accidentally bought at an auction, or whatever.’ This may be a universal feeling but I love objects that have a story."

Brass Match Striker

The Match Striker is destined to become central to your combustion-focused rituals. Whether you're setting a mood with incense, creating ambience with candles, or building a mighty blaze – it all starts with a flick of the wrist. Crafted from solid cast iron, the Match Striker is surprisingly dense and serves as a nice anchor against which to create a spark. The exterior surface features a deep knurling pattern, which provides the necessary friction to bring it all together. Note: Works only with strike anywhere matches (not included). Matches will leave residue after use, which can be easily removed with a damp cloth.

"We’ve had the black steel for a long time but we've had a lot of requests for one in brass. A match striker feels celebratory and cozy, such a simple and antiquated kind of thing but it makes a place feel like home."

Twemco Flip Clock

Dimension: 305 x 216 x 78 mm Readability: Over 12 meters Power supply: 1.5V alkaline battery Size C (LR14) Made in Hong Kong

"I’m going through a yellow phase and I bought this clock for my office. My understanding of this old Hong Kong company is that they’ve been making these flip clocks for 70 years or something, and it’s been unchanged and timeless."

Bestcase Task Chair

Introducing our Aluminum Task Chair - the perfect solution for those who demand the best in both style and functionality. Made from 1/4" thick aluminum, this chair is not only durable but also lightweight and easy to move around.

"Bestcase is doing cool things with simple technology and materials. It feels very approachable with the colors and construction. This type of design makes me envious. I wish I could design these things."

Teenage Engineering OB-4 Portable Speaker

OB–4 is our portable high-fidelity bluetooth loudspeaker featuring a 40 hour rechargeable battery. listen using line input, bluetooth, FM radio or disk mode. OB–4 memorizes everything you play on an endless looping tape, so you can rewind the radio and remix anything, all in OB–4. features a folding handle that doubles as a stand and extended antenna.

"Teenage Engineering are my industrial design heroes. Their approach to form, color, and interface is inspiring. We try not to reference their design too heavily because we don’t want to copy their work but they’re always on our inspiration board."

Seki Magoroku Bottle Sealer

The most functional 3 in 1 bottle opener you will ever come across. This special item serves as a bottle opener, a bottle sealer, as well as a lid opener. Its compact design allows it to easily be stored or brought with you wherever you go

"This is one of those products that’s been unchanged for 60 or 75 years, and it solves a common problem in an efficient and elegantly engineered way. Small product, too. I like a good small treasure."

Marble Facet Bowls

We’ve designed the Facet Bowls to accommodate a variety of needs: a centerpiece display, an elegant fruit bowl, a tray to help style your coffee table.

"We spent a lot of time iterating on the edge profile. We landed on this faceted bevel that runs around the perimeter that gives it a sharp, crisp profile and transitions into this very smooth, soft sculpted interior. It’s the first stone product we’ve ever made."

Veark Bread Knife

The BK22 bread knife compliments our fully forged collection, but with its own signature design. Made in Solingen, Germany, the blade is laser cut from high quality stainless steel and sandblasted with our signature, matte finish. It is equipped with 6mm teeth for a smooth cut. The blade is not flat, but has a very subtle curve which makes cutting bread effortless all the way through.

"I love this bread knife. The blade is a little cartoonish with a super blunt nose and big, scalloped teeth, but the handle is so clean with a bevel detail and a blue rivet that’s easy to identify and grab in my knife drawer."

The Cloudspotter’s Guide

he Cloudspotter’s Guide explains in an entertaining way that is accessible to everyone how and why clouds form, but it also explores our curious relationship with clouds, showing how this has been expressed over the centuries in literature, art and film. After all, these "patron goddesses of idle fellows", as the Greek playwright Aristophanes described clouds, have been the ever-present, subtle backdrop to the whole of human existence.

"I went through a tree-spotting phase, then I went through a bird-watching phase, so getting into clouds felt like a natural progression of me getting older. I think it keeps me curious. It feels like a nice pastime or trick to be able to identify clouds and then talk about why they are that way."

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