The Shows, Scrolling and Books Fuelling David Caon's Curious Mind

The industrial designer, creative director of multidisciplinary practice Caon Design Office and talented all-rounder shares what fuels his curious mind.

The last movie I watched…

Dune. I think the director, Denis Villeneuve, very much captured the atmosphere that I felt in the pages of Frank Herbert’s book. Aesthetically it’s beautiful, too. I love that sort of sophisticated science fiction genre.

The last TV show I binged…

Brawn: The Impossible F1 Story. I’m a lifelong follower of Formula 1 and have vivid memories of the 2009 season, which is the focus of this series. The story is incredible, like many stories around F1 over the years. I didn’t love everything about it but it was the perfect thing to binge on a recent flight.

My favourite podcast is…

I listen to a lot of podcasts so this is difficult. My top pick is Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s a lovely blend of information, social commentary and history – and the hint of satire doesn’t hurt. One of the most memorable episodes is season two, episode nine – McDonald’s Broke My Heart – about how McDonald’s changed its French fries recipe in 1990. But all the episodes are great. I also like This American Life, one of the longest-running podcasts. Then there’s How Other Dads Dad with Hamish Blake, Broken Record co-hosted by [music producer] Rick Rubin and The Economist.

The person I follow on social media…

I always look forward to Simon Devitt’s posts on Instagram. He’s a talented architectural photographer from New Zealand and he has great taste in memes.

A book I read that I loved…

It would have to be 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, which is set in the year 1984. Like all of Murakami’s works, there is a strangeness to it that I find interesting. I love the way he describes Tokyo and the unnatural state of many of the stories.

My favourite piece of design is…

The 620 Chair Programme by Dieter Rams for Vitsoe. It’ll probably be the next piece that I buy. I also love everything by Achille Castiglioni, especially the pieces where he combines found objects with his design, like the Toio lamp. And there’s older cars – you can’t go past the Porsche 911 as an example of understated, timeless design. It isn’t my favourite car but as a design object, it’s a true icon.

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