Xavier Zhagui Designer Interview

We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Xavier Zhagui ("XZ").

Designer Profile of Xavier Zhagui

Xavier Zhagui is a first generation immigrant. His family brought him over with them to the United States from Ecuador to find their American dream. After graduating high school he decided to pursue a degree in architecture since it aligned with his interest in creativity and art. During college he found a deep appreciation for the creative design process and the limitless amount of exploration concept design brings. After graduating he became a premier design leader at Blue Heron working on modern residential homes valued up words of $150,000,000 and over 100,000 square feet. His side projects include founding a 3D printing initiative and designing a $70,000 sculpture for a client.

Xavier Zhagui Designs

We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Xavier Zhagui.

Xavier Zhagui Design - Plan Ta Modular Vase

Designer Interview of Xavier Zhagui:

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?

XZ : Ever since I could pick up a pencil, I have been drawing and creating imaginary worlds and objects. I knew from a young age that I wanted to find a career in the arts. As I entered college, I enrolled in Architecture School at UNLV since it met both of my creative interests, designing and building. I love the abstract and iterative thinking that architecture school taught me. During my time there, I was involved in various types of projects from abstract concepts, to constructing your design. I discovered a passion for digital fabrication in my time at school and decided to pursue it in my spare time after school. After graduating I lead a very successful design career in residential architecture. I lead design in over a dozen luxury homes valued upwards of $150,000,000, and over 100,000 square feet in the Las Vegas Valley. While attempting to create physical models of the homes I designed, I started to experiment and play around with 3D printing. That’s when my passion for digital fabrication through 3D printing began.

DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?

XZ : I started Dezign for X as a creative thought process that I wanted to explore. Dezign for X is a play on words for “solve for x” where you use math to solve problems, but instead you solve problems with design. You take two simple but distinct ideas or objects and you use design to add, subtract, divide, or multiple them together to create a new solution.

DI: What is "design" for you?

XZ : Design is an exploration of an idea, and through hard work, creativity, passion, and refinement, you construct and mold it into reality.

DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?

XZ : I like designing works that anyone can interact with. I love it when an artwork or product engages you immediately and allows you to experience the act of play regardless of age.

DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?

XZ : My favorite design is the Spun Chair by Thomas Heatherwick. It a chair in the shape of a top, which acts as normal chair that you can comfortably sit in but by leaning to side it spins you around like a top on its side. I enjoy how the design took the idea of a stationary and ordinary object of the chair and merged it with the dynamic and fun idea of a spinning top. I love how the design engages the user to experience the fun of spinning around in circles, engaging in the act of play and feeling like a kid again.

DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?

XZ : The first thing I designed was sculpture that would sit in the middle of a roundabout for home they were building for a client. The client requested he wanted a sculpture that resembled a globe and the idea of connectivity. I was inspired by the Japanese folk take of “The Red Thread”. The tale talks about a red thread that leads us and connects us to another person who we are destined to meet and connect with. I took the idea of the threads and designed a Sculpture of Red Ribbons that twisted at certain intervals where when looked directly at creates the shape of a globe. It symbolizes how the world we live in is created by all the various connections that we have with each other, uniting us as humans and shaping our world.

DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?

XZ : My favorite technology is 3D printing because it allows me to quickly experience and test out my designs in the matter of minutes. Iteration, experimenting, and testing is essential to designing a product or object and the advances in 3D printing has eased this process by allowing you to manufacture and prototype in the comfort of your own home.

DI: When do you feel the most creative?

XZ : I feel the most creative when I’m daydreaming. It usually happens during long car drives, doing chores, and even showering. When my mind is allowed to wander is when most of the creative ideas or solutions to problems arrive. It’s as close to a meditative state that my mind can get to with out being disturbed by other priorities.

DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?

XZ : I find myself focusing most on the big picture and the story of the design. I ask myself what has been done and how can I do it differently, what excites me and how can I get other people to be excited about it too. I always think how can bring design to everyone and have them have fun with it.

DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?

XZ : I feel excited in the beginning of design, thinking of all the possibilities and opportunities that come with it. Once I enter the process of refinement and problem solving is where frustration can set in, but I never let it stop me because I feed off the joy and pride I get after solving a problem and overcoming an obstacle.

DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?

XZ : I feel pure bliss and pride for persevering and overcoming every obstacle. No project ever comes out completely perfect at the end but I’m able to see pass that and be proud of the end result knowing all the work I put in came to fruition.

DI: What makes a design successful?

XZ : I believe that a successful design is one that is true to itself and its purpose. When a design can accomplish what it was designed for and can express the ideas for its creation it is successful.

DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?

XZ : I look to see if the concept or big picture idea for design is clear and has been executed to the best of its ability. A design with out a clear concept or story cannot be considered good design.

DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?

XZ : We cannot see ourselves as an entity separate from nature and society, we are a force of nature, and we are a collective society. It might seem as an individual that we don’t have much impact on the environment or society but I believe we cause ripples that can turn into world changing waves. We are all powerful and we should be responsible for how we use that power to change the world.

DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?

XZ : I see the design field taking responsibility for its impact on the environment and also being vocal about societal changes and ideas. I believe the future of design will be collective and created by societies instead of corporations as future generations reject capitalistic design strategies for a communal sense of design and belonging.

DI: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?

XZ : My last exhibition was at the 2016 AIAS Beaux Arts Ball in Las Vegas. I would like to hold an exhibition by the end of the year or the beginning of the next year.

DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?

XZ : My inspirations come from my childhood and my enjoyment of exploration and play. I love trying new techniques and exploring new technologies and programs and I ask myself what I can do or make with this newfound knowledge.

DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?

XZ : I would describe my style as complex simplicity. I start with clean and simple forms but by multiplying these forms and uniting them together they can create something grand and complex. I find it to be a very natural approach to design, its how something as simple and small as cell when multiplied and united with many cells can create something as complex and beautiful as a human being.

DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?

XZ : I live in the United States in Las Vegas. I feel like the diversity of the people I grew up with and met in this country opened my mind up to be inspired by all the different cultures and practices. The con of living in the United States is that I feel like I’m not in touch with my own heritage as much but instead I’m a mix of different ideas and heritages that I grew around of.

DI: How do you work with companies?

XZ : I take the time to listen and research what their company is about and what their vision is. Working with a company is no different from working with a single person, it takes time and a lot of communication to build a relationship and an understanding of one another. Once you have a good grasp of that you can both work together on a vision that complements both your skills and brand.

DI: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?

XZ : I believe they should take the time to research and find a designer that fits the vision and goals you are trying to achieve. I strongly believe that companies should search locally first to try and support the local design community, especially if they are designing for a local environment.

DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?

XZ : My design process begins with conceptual brainstorming, we don’t dismiss any ideas and we pinup and document any weird ideas or experiment we are working on or what to work on. Once we find a clear idea or route we want to explore, we iterate and experiment until we find rough concept that we want to refine. The refinement stage is the longest and hardest stage because it requires making our concept a physical reality. At the end we have a finished product or design that we can be proud of because we know we put in the work and experimented util we found an answer that we love.

DI: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?

XZ : The AKAI MPK mini keyboard for its compact size, look, and features. The Lego Orchid Set The Ikea FORENLIG Plant Pot The Swiss Army Knife The Fractal Design North ATX tower pc case

DI: Can you describe a day in your life?

XZ : I start off the day with a quick breakfast and I’m off to work at my day job as an architectural residential designer. I spend the entire day working on concepts and producing models of high-end residential homes. After work I come home and eat dinner and unwind from the day. After I finished relaxing, I read a passage from “The Creative Act: A way of Being” by Rick Rubin. It helps me get my creative juices flowing, before I start working on my personal projects for Dezign for X. I work on those projects until I get tired and after that I leave for the gym. The gym helps me stay healthy and helps me get a good night’s sleep after my workout.

DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?

XZ : I would tell them to take the time to explore themselves and what creativity means for them. Design is an enormous field with my branches and opportunities, and I would advise them to explore as many of it as possible. Always stay curious and never stop being a student, the world is always changing and moving and there will always be something new to learn and explore.

DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?

XZ : I would say that the positives are that there is a lot of variation in the work you do, and you rarely get stuck doing the same thing. The feeling of accomplishment you get once you see your idea come to life is also incomparable. The cons are that it is very time consuming and that you can’t be attached to your ideas or creation because it can change direction throughout the entire design process.

DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?

XZ : The question I always ask myself is, is it fun? and can anyone regardless of age interact with it.

DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?

XZ : I use Rhino 3D as my main modeling tool. I have two Bambu 3D printers for prototyping ideas and products. A book I always come back to for inspiration is “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” by Rick Rubin.

DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?

XZ : I love working with new mediums and scales that I have never worked on before because it allows me to learn and expand my knowledge about what is possible.

DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?

XZ : Currently I’m working and developing design by myself, but I would love to develop a design team in the future

DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?