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

George Drakakis is an Architect / Designer from Greece that keeps practising serious fun. He designs projects at the border between art and design, constantly reminding that "Poiesis" and Poetry is one and the same. His inspiration is a mixture of every-day life events, feelings, emotions, music, visual arts, maths and science. His design studio, ICONPOETRY, solves problems through design processes and delivers concepts and solutions through an artistic approach and attention to detail, following one simple rule: Form Follows Satis-Function. oh yeah.

George Drakakis Designs

We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by George Drakakis.

Designer Interview of George Drakakis:

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

GD : Iconpoetry is a design studio that does exactly what it states: practicing serious fun. Because now-days being serious is not fun. It's not fun enough.

DI: What is "design" for you?

GD : Design is an on-going process. It's going through stages. It's about grabbing a word, a sense, an idea and mentally sculpt it till it gets a new meaning. It’s a non-stop procedure, but in certain moments, when the time is right, the process is materialized, a new product is made.

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

GD : Nothing specific actually. I would say the ones that trigger my imagination on first sight.

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

GD : My chair. i designed it 10 years ago as a coffee-dining chair. Now the prototype serves as my office chair.The cantilevered back creates a swing motion (like a rocking chair) and gives me a piece of mind so i can consecrate on my projects and it also calms my enthusiasm when a new idea comes into my mind and the time is right to move on form brain-storming to rational thinking.

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

GD : It was "Eighternity" an urban bench designed for a Spanish company called Escofet.

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

GD : Anything that can be used in liquid organic forms is most welcome. Lately i am also interested in 3D printing materials / technologies and ecological design as well.

DI: When do you feel the most creative?

GD : This is not a matter of timing, it's more like a matter of getting the right stimulation that will trigger the creativity process. Those "oh yeah" moments can happen anywhere, any time.

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

GD : Fulfillment. Each project carries a part of my myself, especially when we are talking about prototypes.

DI: What makes a design successful?

GD : The most successful factor is the one that will makes people smile and urge them to pay attention and interact with the design, that is, spend more time with it. Time is our most precious property. Designs awarded with the gift of time, are certainly the most successful ones.

DI: How do you work with companies?

GD : Interactively. Given the fast that the identification of the problem is the most critical factor in the early stages of the design process, crystal clear communication is essential for a successful design.

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

GD : Form Follows Satis-Function. Design side-by-side with emotions. That's my "golden paraphrase".

DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?

GD : I couldn't really answer this question. Mainly because the "end" of the design process simply doesn't happen. I could refine a project every time over and over again. Deadlines and time scheduling milestones, are "non-finito" moments.

DI: How can people contact you?

GD : Through my e-mail, george@iconpoetry.com and my contact form at www.iconpoetry.com

DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?

GD : Thank you for giving me the chance to communicate my thoughts to your readers.