Designing dream products

SO you already have a bottle opener, a salad bowl or two, and more than enough lamps for your home. Do you need more? Giovanni Alessi Anghini says yes, and this is not because he is a product designer.

"Products don't just solve needs. They are the main channel by which we communicate our personalities," says Mr Anghini, who hails from the famed Alessi family, best known for producing quirky designer kitchen and desktop accessories.

Unlike most designers who would go to design school from the start, Mr Anghini chose to study cultural sociology and anthropology, because "I had a strong interest in human behaviour".