Following the launch of The Yoyo Book – A Spin Through Creativity, PHOENIX is turning the page to a new chapter in this 38-year tradition. The iconic yoyo challenge is being explored through the timeless craft of Ceramics and Graphic Combination, blending material tradition with fresh, individual artistic expression.
In both Stuttgart and Shanghai, this season's interns have been challenged to explore the Yoyo, their brief:
"Design a ceramic yoyo base together, then make it uniquely yours."
Working as a collective, the interns shared a structural design that ensures balance, playability, and a distinctive character. Once the base form was complete, each Yoyo became a blank, white ceramic canvas awaiting a personal artistic touch.
Drawing inspiration from traditional blue Delft ceramic painting, each intern is crafting their own decorative motif. The choice of blue pigment is deliberate, a nod to centuries-old ceramic art, from Ming dynasty porcelain to Delftware, and an opportunity to reinterpret it in a modern design context.
The results are as varied as the people behind them. Each design, though different, remains tied to the shared base, symbolising the balance between collaboration and individuality; a core PHOENIX value.
Moritz Nussbauer's graphics represent the path of growth; not aligned, beginning and finishing without exactness; a beautiful metaphor, where the lines find their space around each other, complementing themselves.
Julian Oberenzer decided to pay homage to his next phase, and inspired by the tiles of Lisbon, where he will be for his exchange program year, Precision was key. With baroque ornament and a touch of gold, his Yoyo became Royal.
While Sina Buchal reminded us about the fragility of the ceramics, using a special lack, she was able to create a yoyo that was "neither broke nor whole, but something in between", emphasising fragility and creating awareness in people playing the Yoyo by invoking caution.
Andrea Weingrill combined her passion for photography with the playfulness of the Yoyo. Making it a simple graphic that became whole with the Yoyo motion. With the powerful quote: The Yoyo is my canvas and the motion is my brush, Andrea inspired us all with accurate simplicity.
But they went further. After presenting their final results to the team, the interns also built a small workshop, where we could paint our own ceramic Yoyo in one of the many extra yoyo plates they created.
As with every Yoyo created at PHOENIX since 1987, these ceramic versions are more than playful objects. They are living archives of creative thought, technical problem-solving, and cultural storytelling.
By incorporating ceramics, a medium that requires patience, Precision, and an understanding of material behaviour, the project pushes interns to consider durability, texture, and the dialogue between craft and innovation.
While these ceramic yoyos won't be part of The Yoyo Book, their spirit lives in its pages. The book is a celebration of 37 years of creativity, showcasing the incredible diversity of ideas sparked by one simple object. From recycled plastics to pasta, wood, and now ceramics, every design tells a story about innovation, play, and the joy of making something familiar feel new again.
If you haven't yet explored this one-of-a-kind design collection, now is the perfect time — The Yoyo Book is available on the AV Edition website.
Like every Yoyo before it, each piece will return to the PHOENIX archive, ready to spin the imagination of future generations.
