Believe it or not, there's more than a chance that you've walked past one of René Linssen's designs.
The Canberra industrial designer is the man behind the bike racks that mimic the shape of Parliament House and helped with the sculptural tree canopy that recently found a home on Marcus Clarke Street. Most recently he's worked on the design of the cold brewing system, the Paragon, from Nucleus Coffee Tools - the brainchild of ONA Coffee's Sasa Sestic.
And that's just the local designs. Or some of them. So it's not surprising that 29-year-old Linssen has just been named as one of the Australian Design Review 30 Under 30.
Linssen is the only Canberran to be named as part of the inaugural program, which aims to celebrate young talent in the design and architecture industry, while also offering mentorships with some of the country's top designers in various fields.
"I knew as a product designer, I've done a lot because it's like a very niche field," Linssen says.
"I'm pretty lucky to work for a small business because I've been able to do a lot and given a lot of responsibility. A lot of other young designers my age, you're working at the bottom of the chain for a while. But I guess I've been lucky to work with my boss [at Formsell] Dan because I've got to get to the top quickly."
As well as being part of the industrial design company, Formswell - which has been responsible for designs including the Three Mills Bakery packaging for the Skywhale croissant - he also has a furniture brand Furnished Forever with fellow designer Elliot Bastianon.
Of course, every designer has a favourite design and for Linssen, the Parliament House bike rack is up there. Not only was the design part of a competition, but as someone who grew up in Canberra, it's always nice to have a Canberra story to go along with the design.
And then, of course, there is the Paragon. It looks like something out of chemistry lab, rather than at home on the kitchen bench, but Linssen says by running the coffee through the system - including over a gold metal ball, which when frozen acts in a similar way to a whiskey rock - it retains more flavour.
That's one of the perks of Linssen's job - the fact he gets to learn the ins and outs of topics that he never thought he would. And in this case, it was what's the best way to make a cold brew.
"It's been inspiring because it's cool to see someone so excited about one thing," Linssen says.
"I think that's one thing I like about the design. You meet lots of people that are really into something and then you jump into that world. You get to learn a little bit about it.
"Each project is so different. Whatever I'm designing, I try and look at things that are related to that thing. But the stuff that always inspires me, it's a bit cliche, but nature's always inspiring, looking at forms. For example, that tree shelter [on Marcus Clarke Street]. I feel like that stuff is always a good source of inspiration. And I feel like people can connect because they get it too. Nature is all around us."
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