The Nomad’s Perspective

Vy Nguyen
Oct 16, 2025
2 min read

Updated: Dec 19, 2025

Long Phan is a co-founder of Vooc Design.

With a passion for wind instruments, Long Phan has honed his craft to become a master of his art. His Hmong bamboo flutes transcend boundaries. Not only through their distinctive sound and striking form, but also through a systematic way of thinking.

From 2019 to 2025, he dedicated himself to developing nationally recognized projects in performance art and puppetry in Hanoi and Nha Trang.

The BÚT technical knife is one of his most inspired projects.

born from the initial idea of creating a tool tailored for crafting musical instruments, especially Hmong bamboo flutes.

Two interpretations:

1. Creating application designs that balance aesthetics with value, grounded in small-scale artisanal craftsmanship.

We call this nomadic style product development.

2. Design is an open platform, with components that can be customized according to each client’s needs.

Product development is a process of experimentation, evaluation, and refinement—adjusting the dimensions and mass of each component. It was through this phase that we realized a crucial insight :

we needed to create a system. One that could interact, expand, or contract as needed.

" The nomadic mindset is about valuing the creation of tool systems more than promoting consumerism."

Developing products with a nomadic mindset is what we consider the hallmark of this project. A design for crafters, model making enthusiasts, and most importantly for ourselves. Long Phan drew on his years of experience to sketch a singular concept, shaped and refined using a lathe.

The open platform is rooted in flexible thinking, featuring easily replaceable knife blade holders to accommodate diverse usage scenarios.