Davide la Locomotive

A clocktopus. A thousand magnets. A light no store sells. What’s my favourite brand? Let me explain.

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The things I own that I most love are the ones I designed and made purely for myself.

Everyone has their favourite brands—Apple, Sony, Rolex, Greggs.
When you buy something from a brand, you’re buying into an identity they’ve carefully curated for you.

I wear Rapha cycling kit. I guess I’m buying into their “true grit” nonsense. I just like their clothing! But I also know: I’m buying something mass-produced, marketed, pre-approved. No matter how much I like Rapha, the kit’s the same as everyone else’s. It doesn’t say anything unique about me.
Half the phones in the US are iPhones. Nothing unique about owning one.

When I make something with my 3D printer, I don’t put a logo on it. Why would I?
Wearing a jumper with a big logo, turns people into walking billboards.
Logos feel… tacky to me. I’d rather have something that doesn’t need to tell you what it is.

You just like how it looks.

People love “limited runs.”
Everything I’ve made is a 1 of 1.
There’s only one in the world.
And I’ve got it.

Last winter I wanted new lights for my office. I looked online and couldn’t find any I liked.
So I thought: I’ll design some.
Then I realised most lights all look the same.
I wanted something different.
So I made some.

I wanted to give someone a Nixie clock—but with a case like nothing else.
Their favourite animal is an octopus.
Weirdly, no one sells octopus-shaped Nixie clocks.
So I designed and made one. Behold, the Clocktopus.

Designing, making, gifting something like that?
It’s special. Way more meaningful than just buying something pre-made.

I’ve got a lovely fridge.
But it was boring.
I wanted to add some fridge magnets to make it more interesting. But not just any magnets.
A few months of tinkering (and about a thousand magnets later)…
and I’d accidentally turned my fridge into an art installation.

Maybe you don’t like the things I’ve designed.
That’s great! If everyone liked them, they’d be… bland.
Something that truly sparks delight wouldn’t be bland.
Some people won’t like that.
It’s part of the joy.

That’s the thing about uniqueness:
it’s not mass-produced.
It’s not pre-approved.
It’s not “on brand.”

Our quirks, our weirdness, the things that don’t fit—
they’re what make us interesting.
They’re what make us us.

I don’t want to lose that, just to belong.
I want to celebrate it.
I want to make things that couldn’t exist anywhere else.

Someone once asked if I had a design philosophy.
I’m not an artist (though people keep calling me one).
I’m not a designer (though people keep calling me that too).
I can’t draw. I don’t know design.

I think I said:
“I just want to make something that works.”
That’s hard enough.
Turns out, that’s a philosophy too.

I make things I love.
Things I want to own.
The only person who needs to like them… is me.

Even the things I buy, I buy because I like them.
Not to impress anyone.
Not because someone told me they were cool.

I don’t brand the things I make.

I don’t want to be “on brand.”

So I guess my favourite brand… is null.