We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Phebos Xenakis ("PX").
Phebos Xenakis (1994), a young Belgian designer with Greek roots recently finished his Bachelor in Industrial Product Design. At a young age he decided to pursue a rather artistic career. In high school he studied architecture. By the time he was 21 he graduated as an Industrial Product Designer at Howest University. Still having the urge to learn more he recently finished a postgraduate involving Brand & Packaging design. Now he systematically explores the possibilities within the furniture and packaging design sector. Having a rather small portfolio he makes up for it with his extraordinary designs.
Phebos Xenakis Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Phebos Xenakis.
Designer Interview of Phebos Xenakis:
DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
PX : From a young age I used to admire the aesthetic beauty in nature and practice drawing and prototyping. My father was an architect and I always looked up to him, that was an important factor regarding my later life. High school was never really my thing and failing many of my theoretical exams didn't help either, this was the final sign I needed to change directions and enter an art school. There I studied architecture for the last 3 years of high school. Architecture was really interesting and fascinated me, but eventually I discovered there was a different field of studies that in my opinion offered more possibilities towards developing my creative side. It was product design. The possibilities were endless. I discovered you could design everything if so desired, from a small object like a pen to a complex hypercar. This is what attracted me the most in design, the vast variety of things that can be designed.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
PX : Currently I'm a graduated design student specialized in furniture design. With a new course involving packaging & brand design I hope to expand my knowledge around the subject. A design studio has not been established yet but I'm thinking about it. Of course this does not mean that as a young designer I don't accept projects.
DI: What is "design" for you?
PX : Personally, I think this is a question I cannot answer yet. It is suffice to say that I am too young and too unexperienced too already have an answer ready for a question like this.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
PX : I am currently focusing on furniture and packaging design. Furniture design is still my favourite design practice.
DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
PX : Trapesi, the work I entered for A design competition is one of my latest and most favourite designs. It illustrates how an everyday object can evolve into a completely new design by making a few minor adjustments to the functionality and aesthetics.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
PX : The first piece I ever designed for an extern company was a stool consisting of UHPC and thermo ashwood. I named it Vemu, this project is currently exposed on my website.
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
PX : My internship at Sixinch brought me in contact with polyurethane coated furniture. For me, this was a whole new technology never seen before. The vast possibilities that can be achieved using this production technique are immense. It was the same production technique used in Trapesi.
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
PX : Allot of people think the best way to get creative is to sit behind a well organized desk with lots of paper and markers. I disagree, you can't always force these things. In my case most of my ideas are created when going out for a drink, when sitting on the train or going out with friends.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
PX : When designing a furniture piece most of the time this piece will contain a basic function. So it is easy to say that every piece from a certain sector will have the same basic function (like a chair and its function to create a sitting surface). It's my responsibility to manipulate the aesthetic and functional aspects of this piece to make it stand out from the rest.
DI: What makes a design successful?
PX : I am not one to judge. A design can look succesful in the eyes of one but look like a failure to the other.
DI: How can people contact you?
PX : I can be contacted through my email info@phebos-xenakis.be