Thomas Thwaites

Thomas Thwaites, was born in London in 1980 and remains alive at time of writing this. He studied Human Sciences at University College London and then trained as a designer at the Royal College of Art. He now does speculative design projects that undertake to explore some odd societal impacts of technology. Two of his projects, The Toaster Project, and Goatman, he has written in to book form, so I suppose that makes him an author as well as a designer. The Toaster Project book is described by Michael Bierut (partner at the renowned design firm pentagram) as ‘the 21st century's first masterpiece of design writing’, with Thomas extolled by NPR as “a laugh-out-loud-funny but thoughtful guide through his own adventures”. It has been translated in to Korean and Japanese. The sculptural installation of the Toaster Project, consisting largely of his mother’s pots and pans, has been acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum for their permanent collection GoatMan, his recent second book, is about his attempt to take a holiday from being a human, by becoming a goat. The Guardian calls it “an enlightening and funny book” and Vogue calls it “charming, humorous and exceedingly thorough”. His design work is exhibited frequently and internationally, he lectures at various universities in the USA and Europe, and has spoken at a number of conferences across the world, including TED and Design Indaba (Cape Town, SA) as well as having presented a four part TV series for Discovery. www.thomasthwaites.com