T J O K E E F E is an American design company established in Chicago, Illinois in 2010. With an emphasis on integrity and efficiency of both design and fabrication, we strive to create powerful objects through compelling minimalism. Driven by philosophies in architecture, industrial design, and graphic design, our office applies the merit and parameters of all three to every object we produce. We aim to achieve the greatest effect by the simplest means.
Designer's statement: Although I work in the realm of objects, my interest is void. I am a designer of the negative. Rather than using material to craft something, I use it to craft nothing, and I believe that this nothing is as important as the something that defines it. The intent of my practice is a continued pursuit of crafting potent space using matter and light in order to facilitate introspection and thought. I believe the simplest things have the potential to be the most powerful, and––following nature––that logic begets beauty. Nothing compares to the beauty and wonder of nature; I try to make the next best things.
TJ O'Keefe was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1982. He received a BFA in industrial design and graphic design from the University of Michigan in 2004, followed by a master of architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008. O’Keefe’s furniture and lighting has been featured in numerous publications including Frame, Wallpaper, Details, Elle Decor, and the New York Times, and is represented in showrooms in both Chicago and New York. He has exhibited in Chicago, New York, London, Berlin, Paris, and Basel, among other cities. TJ is currently a clinical assistant professor of industrial design at the University of Illinois at Chicago. CV