Philosophy and Background

tät-tat is playful Swiss design that charms the eye and delights the mind – properly thought through, beautifully packaged and crafted with a socially responsible commitment.

The design workshop tät-tat has been working hand in hand with social institutions since 1994. Their concept is a simple one: the facilities available to the workshops and the skills of the people employed there are taken as a source of inspiration to create high-quality products, which are then marketed through conventional commercial channels. Not appealing to the buyers' compassion but rather trying to be innovative and creative oneself: that's the motto. – Turning round a seeming weakness to make it a genuine strength: this is the aim.
 
What started as a project in the 90ies has developed into a complex little company. Through distributors in America, Australia, France and Japan the products are made available worldwide to customers of museums and design shops. At the same time, the items appeal to the buyers who value fair production standards and sustainable trade.

Inside the institutions, a certain dynamics has developed over the years which has benefited its people and has enabled them to structure their working days in a lively and meaningful way. At present, the growing social network offers 200 to 300 jobs in 15 to 20 different institutions in Switzerland, and more are being created with new partners in Germany. This has also widened the scope of the tät-tat online-shop and it has stretched the area of actual production to Europe.