We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Martin Zouhar ("MZ").
Martin Zouhar worked for international clients (Nestlé, Heinz, Procter & Gamble, Molson Coors, Ahold, etc.) in various agencies in Prague, Bucharest and Moscow. He specializes on consumer packaging, branding and visual identity. For almost last three years is working as a freelance graphic designer based in Prague. His main client is currently the Green Tree Distillery, where his task is to redesign current brands and develop new ones.
Martin Zouhar Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Martin Zouhar.
Martin Zouhar Design - Heffron Spirits and Alcohol
Designer Interview of Martin Zouhar:
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?
MZ : I spent my early childhood in communist Czechoslovakia, but even then I got from my mom a can of Coca-Cola... I was wondering why we don't have something so amazing here. Fortunately, before I finished elementary school, a Velvet Revolution came, and at the age of 14 I began studying graphic design at a private high school equipped with Apple computers. I also studied design at universities in the Czech Republic and Germany, and a stay in the USA was a great experience (student program Work & Travel). I think that thanks to my childhood, I look at design more deeply and it is definitely not just a matter of consumption for me.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
MZ : I am a freelance for a relatively short time and I am just starting to build my name. So far I work from home.
DI: What is "design" for you?
MZ : From my point of view, design does not serve primarily to promotion and consumption. Design creates the environment in which we live. Of course, it should be attractive, but the joy of simplicity, functionality and honesty is important.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
MZ : Because I like to do nice things and I've always been attracted to packaging, I prefer to make alcohol brands. There is really a lot of opportunities to enjoy the work - premium look and feel, fonts, detailed crafting, materials, printing effects, naming, shape of the bottle and cap, gift boxes, key visuals, ... Importantly, alcohol design is not so subordinate to the competitive environment of fast-moving goods. Although I also do such work.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
MZ : The first was a leaflet for a jalousie manufacturer that I made at the age of 19. Nothing special, especially when I compare it with my first packaging, which appeared in all stores in the Czech Republic. It was a pack of crunchy corn sticks called Bersi. The funny thing is that this design is unchanged in stores to this day. Many of my packaging designs for large brands are already redesigned, but my first work is still in stores.