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

Ioannis Solomozis is a designer and entrepreneur, based in Athens, Greece. His work has been featured in Pantone's catalog of trends for 2018. Awarded with German Design Award and A Design Award for his “Jungle” Pattern. Collaborated with Paola Navone on Erosantorini project. From 2015 is showcasing his work on international exhibitions in Athens, London and Paris. His latest collaboration is with Christou company which he designed medical supply products.

Ioannis Solomozis Designs

We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Ioannis Solomozis.

Designer Interview of Ioannis Solomozis:

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?

IS : I’ve been raised by a mechanical engineer (my father) and a passionate merchant of home linen and textiles (my mother). Both of them are lovers of design. Design has been all over around me since I remember myself. However, I became a designer only when I realized that I was looking for things that I couldn’t find.

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

IS : SØLØ is made up by designers and makers. Our workplaces are a studio/showroom as well as an in-house design factory, both based in Athens-Greece. We produce everything from scratch while taking part in every step of the creative process. Currently we are a group of 8 extremely different people, working together by sharing the same mentality.

DI: What is "design" for you?

IS : something that works well in a set

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

IS : diverse and difficult

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

IS : My sofa, which is inspired by an 80’s cartoon-car of ThunderCats. It was Panthro’s car thunder tank which was wide and spacious while it had two big arms on each side.

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

IS : a pattern

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

IS : i love fabric and the ways you can manipulate its form

DI: When do you feel the most creative?

IS : when i am happy and not hungry

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

IS : the concept and the materials

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

IS : While I design, I feel cool to welcome any possible and creative emotion. I actually don’t rush it during the design process, it just comes out; so I think that I’m in a state of meditation by watching my emotions come and go.

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

IS : fulfilment

DI: What makes a design successful?

IS : Its utility

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

IS : If it has a purpose to serve

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

IS : to educate and preserve

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

IS : I cannot say but what I hope; and I sincerely hope for design industry to believe more in designers’ visions as well as to reduce and eventually stop producing copy-paste low quality products for no reason.

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

IS : The latest exhibition was about hospitality and design and took place in London. The next one will take place in Dubai and one more about hotel design follows in Athens.

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

IS : Inspiration could be found in any place. Several Ideas are coming by my integration with environment. I travel a lot, mainly for business and I love it so far. I might say that all I do is connecting the dots, so I can show off the whole picture which I have in my mind.

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?

IS : I don’t believe that I own a recognizable style of design in terms of first sight. My approach to design is the Change and the diversities in and around it. My designs have stories to tell; a different one each of them.

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?

IS : I live in Athens, Greece. The cultural heritage of my country is a heavy one and it motivates me to create long-life products, but not in a way that determines my design style

DI: How do you work with companies?

IS : with pleasure

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

IS : Companies that are willing to get to know better the designers as persons and have an actual knowledge of all of their skills, are always able to select the right person to design for them. So, what I suggest is communication.

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

IS : Research , concept, food, music, utilisation

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

IS : my batman egg holder is the ultimate design item i can think of right now

DI: Can you describe a day in your life?

IS : a Tuesday, 7:30 gym 10:00 factory 12:00 studio 14:00 lunch 15:00 plans of design world domination 20:00 family 23:00zzzzzz

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

IS : do not criticise other designers, focus on your domain, work and do not do drugs

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

IS : I can make my own stuff but I cannot easily communicate with people, I might say

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

IS : make something epic

DI: What skills are most important for a designer?

IS : Work hard and be humble

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

IS : the adobe suite, paper, water colours, drone, camera and burgers

DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?

IS : I am terrible when it comes to follow an agenda. Next question please!

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

IS : Once a concept is decided, it might be a matter of hours.

DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?

IS : did you design anything that you use?

DI: What was your most important job experience?

IS : ... is yet to come

DI: Who are some of your clients?

IS : marriot hotels, ibis hotels, como hotels, gervassoni spa, sylloges, paola navone

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

IS : The cool ones; when I design for cool clients, I enjoy the design of a small object, a pattern or a sofa, equally. I also enjoy cool client’s desire to hug me afterwards.

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

IS : i am designing a hotel concept from top to bottom

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

IS : Both work. I’m blessed with team mates that got it and I’m very pleased that we don’t need to say much to each other in order to communicate.

DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?

IS : Now I’m working on a Greek oriented concept to be applied in a hotel of Athens.

DI: How can people contact you?

IS : via Social Media

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

IS : I cannot believe that I have answered to all of your 40 questions... Thank you for asking!