If you ask Dương Gia Hiếu, the multidisciplinary designer behind Ném, there’s probably something in your trash that could be turned into a beautiful object. Maybe it’s a broken fan or foam packing materials, or perhaps it’s fruit netting, which is what he wrapped around a jar to create his first vase. Hiếu makes much of his work from found objects collected around his home in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, something he started doing after he left his career as a graphic designer.

During this past NYCxDesign, one of his lamps—made of polarized film taken from abandoned TV screens—was featured in the Head Hi Lamp Show. It can be rolled up into a tube and easily sent off for delivery. His goal was to “bypass all the barriers of shipping.”

Work aside, Hiếu improves his community on a daily basis through his hospitality project, Ném Cà Phê & Bar. Locals can come by and check out his studio and showroom, enjoy a coffee, and hang out. According to Hiếu, there isn’t a huge product design scene in Vietnam, but cafe culture is booming, so he used this project as a bridge. “People don’t really get what I’m doing here, so I want to show them that my design can be normally used in everyday life,” he says. A customer coming in for a hōjicha pandan latte might leave with a new lamp.

You can learn more about Ném by visiting the studio’s website or on Instagram.

Top image courtesy Ném

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