Some people look a little weird when we tell them that we started designing urns. Many have a vase-like shape in their head and can often attach a very specific color to it. But there are also many people who have never seen an urn and others have just had to look for one. But sometimes suddenly there is someone who can express very nicely and precisely what an urn actually is.
It is a rainy day and those are not the best days for football boys. Gaming is fun for a while, but they never last very long. So I am actually not that surprised when I get home and find plenty of football playing going on in the living room. Everyone knows that’s not allowed.
“Ah come on mum, it’s only the soft football, we’re being really careful”, says Seger, my 8-year-old son, with a big smile on his face. This is followed by a loud “keep it low!” which is meant for his friend. Things seem to go well for a while, but when his friend wants to show off a new “move” he has taught himself, he loses control of the ball and Seger screams: “careful with the urns!”.
Yes, because in the middle of our living room there is an open cupboard containing all kinds of urns. There’s no ashes in them, they are prototypes and samples we use for photography, for example. Tanja and I promised each other when we started Bye that we would only make things we really like ourselves. So it is actually very nice to have our urns in the middle of the living room, because I think they are all beautiful and I can look at them endlessly. But it also has a certain risk, because even a soft ball can hit hard.
His friend looks up: “Urns? What are those?”. Then comes a wonderful answer. “An urn is where you put someone you love very much so you can always keep them close by”. He conveniently omits the fact that that person has to be deceased or, in his words, dead, for that to happen. However, it turns out to be an answer that his friend immediately understands and is satisfied with and he replies, “Oh that’s nice.” And then: “who’s the goalie, you or me?”.
So beautiful how he conveys our vision in his own way, because with the design of our urns that is certainly the thought. Keeping memories of someone you love close.
Author: Desiree Vernie
