NOTE: This text is the full-length version of the abridged article in the second issue of the ID Dispatch, IDSA Chicago's quarterly newsletter/poster.

This probably isn't the first time you've heard the name Donna Piacenza. After working in Chicago at firms such as PDT and Ignite, she spent some time out in San Francisco with One & Co. Luckily for us, Piacenza is back in the City of Big Shoulders running Studio 1a.m., a dynamic new firm in Ravenswood. Their work has already gained national attention from magazines and blogs, so as you can imagine, she's somewhat hard to track down and talk to. I was finally able to corner her through email.

Don Lehman: So what have you been up to over the past week?

Donna Piacenza: Well, it's been a very inspiring week of sketching, shipping orders, changing diapers, and not sleeping. Art school prepared me well for the sleepless nights!

DL: Just to bring everyone up to speed, last Thursday you and I were going to meet for the interview and that morning your husband gave me a call saying that you had just gone into labor! So first off, congrats on your first child!

What I love about the whole thing is I ended up talking to one of your studio mates who saw you that day and he thought you looked energetic and would be up for the interview a day or two later. Since we haven't met yet face-to-face, I am imagining you having enough energy to bench press a car and whistle at the same time. Is this energy where the name Studio 1a.m. came from?

DP: You're right on about the name choice--it comes from the thinking that design isn't a 9-5 job for those who are passionate about it. Whether we like it or not, we live and breathe it throughout every aspect of life and around the clock--it's a matter of thinking differently about things and not something that your brain can turn off and on. Then there's also the fact that as students we're conditioned to work throughout the night which is often when the best ideas come along.

DL: How did you and Jody Work meet and decide to work together?

DP: We met while employed at a design consultancy in Chicago and started working on projects together outside work. Our philosophies about design are similar so working together encourages us to build off each other's ideas.

DL: What’s the collaboration like?

DP: Jody and I take advantage of our training in different design disciplines. We look at projects not specifically as Interior, Graphic, Industrial Design, etc but as Design projects. We realize that the design process is the same no matter the project-- it's only technical skills that make people assign a specific discipline. Our diversity and open mindedness allows us to look at any project with this holistic approach to design.

DL: Studio 1a.m. is involved with a group of designers that shares a common shop space here in Chicago. How did this opportunity come around?

DP: The members of Studio 1a.m. and other independent designers in the area knew each other from previous work experience. It was a shared vision to explore the more hands-on aspect of the field which encouraged us to rent a space. We've brought together the resources we have to create a functioning space that allows both exchange of ideas among members and physical space to develop and realize concepts.

DL: Appreciation of materials seems to play a big role in your work. Do you design with a particular material in mind or do you come up with an idea and find the material after?

DP: Exploration in materials and processes inspires our work throughout the entire process. We challenge what people consider valuable and love to celebrate often overlooked resources.

For the Pek folding chair, first came the idea of literally "folding" the object to achieve a compact form. From there came polypropylene as a solution to realize the concept. The use of cork for our Cork Cuff came up more early on in the process as an unexplored wearable material.

DL: What other qualities characterize your work as Studio 1a.m.?

DP: A combination of simplicity and cynicism. Good design doesn't need an instruction manual--it's intuitive, timeless and pared down to the essential elements.

At the same time, design should be fun. We strive to overcome assumptions about what people think an object, space, etc should be and start from scratch. We question each expectation and strive to understand the problem from its root. Our projects cause people to think differently which we hope goes beyond our work and reaches out at a broader level.

More of Studio 1a.m.'s work can be seen at studio1am.com.

Don Lehman is an industrial designer at Ignite USA and IDSA Chicago’s Treasurer.