Overview
WNDSN is a Berlin-based small research & design shop developing and selling limited edition, locally manufactured runs offering original products on a monthly schedule.
History
Founded in 2014, WNDSN started with a single morale patch and an exciting vision to provide adventurers with tools to find their way, as well as bold means to tell their story during and after the voyage.
Background
WNDSN is the passion project of German designer and scientist Alexander Becker. Growing up in the maelstrom of 1980s Berlin, he observed unprecedented historical events at first hand. An understanding of data networks, secure systems, satellite communication, and the power grid emerged from the spirit of the city of tradecraft as essential knowledge and a never-ending field of research and study. Having the cold war ever clear and present fostered an ability to adapt and prevail in hostile and challenging environments. Designing miniaturized evasion and escape kits, as well as ingress and egress tools, honed his ability to combine style, detail and function. A fascination with unique locations, and adventure both at home and abroad, and an extended study of historical navigation techniques and the underlying mathematics, enhanced his perspectives further. He brings an obsessive intensity to the WNDSN project which means each and every item is unique, multi-faceted, and original in style and concept. Every product undergoes systematic and rigorous design and action testing, so you can be assured it won't fail you in a crisis.
Alexander collaborates with a diverse range of scientists, strategists, adventurers, and other makers and designers.
Behind the scenes
Designs take hundreds of hours and dozens of physical iterations to create -- drawing, shaping, and ever refining delicate vectors with a precision exceeding the finest tool tolerances; a common theme, challenging production tolerances and exploring and exploiting the limits of the selected materials.
- Extensive product research and material testing in the applied science lab.
- Original thinking shaping products and doing pioneer work in collaborations behind the scenes.
- Rapid prototyping and optimized processes enabling short product development cycles.
Data points
- Thousands of metrology instruments sold.
- Thousands of morale patches sold.
- More than 20 new products in 2016.
- More than one new product every week in 2017.
- Several new flagship products in 2018.
- Extensive development and release of new products and educational materials in 2019, with all documentation available both in English and in German.
- Continuous extensive research in various fields preceded and accompany the creation of unique metrology and related products.
Flagship products
Tool Making
WNDSN instruments are the real deal, they are NOT cast or struck -- WNDSN instruments are engraved, milled, and cut to the highest precision using the finest tools available, pushing the boundaries of both tools and materials with every scale mark optimized for the size of the instrument in the specific material. WNDSN instruments are NOT replicas of existing instruments, the Telemeter nomograph is an original WNDSN development, and the quadrant elements are assembled based on ancient designs and constructed and calculated using in-house computer-generated tables from historical and contemporary mathematical formulas resulting in unique, original tools that are built to withstand the tests of time.
WNDSN creates all instructions, teaching, and learning materials in-house and also develops systems with which measured and computed data can be stored, processed, and analyzed.
About WNDSN
Based in Berlin, WNDSN's Applied Science Lab develops and manufactures low-tech, high-utility tools and instruments with the objective of providing or enhancing "that, which can’t be improvised" in low-probability, high-impact scenarios where it is most needed, yet usually unavailable or non-permissive. The resulting products are measurement, calculation, and exploration instruments informed by the motto "Ex Mensura, Scientia" -- knowledge from measurement.
Mission
WNDSN [ˈwɪndsən] provides knowledge and tools for educating and training professionals and enthusiasts in the mastery of time and space.
WNDSN is devising instruments to measure values in the real world, calculate meaningful results from the acquired data, and process the insights as input for various problem solving tasks.
Products
WNDSN produces archival quality products that are designed with intent by combining techniques proven over centuries, bringing together the early history of science with cutting-edge, contemporary methods, resulting in iconic, timeless, high-utility designs in the spirit of the Renaissance.
WNDSN creates custom-built instruments and multi-purpose tools, metrology and illumination solutions with applications in urban reconnaissance, hostile theaters, disaster areas, and outdoor exploration.