We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Vulca Studio ("VS").
Vulca Studio is a design studio that finds beauty in every day objects and nature, activities and spaces, and must of all in the well done and thought things. They think that multidisciplinary teams makes the must nurished projects and believe that every person, regardless age, profession or preferences, can contribute to enrich every problem that is trying to be solved. They also believe that design is a tool to improve the world, and that through a conscius design mindset, a lot of good can be made.
Vulca Studio Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Vulca Studio.
Designer Interview of Vulca Studio:
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?
VS : Ever since i was a little boy I remember I was always building and destroying things, playing with toys I used to make for myself, and by the time I had to decide what my profession would be, I ve decided to become an industrial engineer, but before that, my parents gave me the opportunity to spend a year living with my uncles in the USA, and in the school I was, I took this art appreciation class, and had me convinced to study something more creative, and that’s why I ended up in the school of industrial design.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
VS : Vulca Studio was founded in year 2006, with my ex business partner and i, and it was born with the purpose of making great Mexican design. It began as a product design studio but one of our first clients asked us to help him design a drug store concept, from the branding to the furniture and interior design, and since then our clients have asked us for the same services, and we started making a multidisciplinary team, from marketing, graphic design, industrial design, architecture, and more specialized members. We have had the opportunity to work from worldwide brands to local brands. The success of our designs has always been a mix of research and a proper aesthetic dictated by our clients expectations.
DI: What is "design" for you?
VS : Design is a process of thinking, and from this point of view, design can be use to design your ideal life, or to create great experiencies for the people, or make great cities, or putting together a play for a football team etc, for this I consider that design is the most powerful skill a human can develop.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
VS : The ones that our clients respects our decisions and gives us full trust and control of the process.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
VS : Our very first design as a company was a series of cover pages for a photograph albums, and it was terrible, thanks for reminding me
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
VS : Right after getting full clarity, I mean when I clearly understand my clients needs and business and when I understand the users needs, that’s when the ideas starts flowing.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
VS : Understanding the big picture for me is critical, so the most important part of the process for me is research.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
VS : Excitment, Uncertainty, despair, stressed, euphoric and happy, in that specific order.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
VS : Thankfull, happy and impress of how a simple thought becomes a reality and at the service of the people.
DI: What makes a design successful?
VS : The approval of the users and reaching the goal set by the client.
DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
VS : What they were trying to achieve with that design.
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
VS : We are responsible for making things work in simplicity and harmony, we have to be smart enough to make the must out of the least, we have to provoke a mutual symbiosis through smart design.
DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
VS : My inspiration comes from the research, but must important, of how we abstract this information to a useful concept, always trying to return to the origin of the concept, as Gaudí said.
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?
VS : I´d like to say my design is functional since all we try to achieve is to create a unique experience that results in more sells and a satisfying experience for the users.
DI: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
VS : . I would say that it is key to understand what drives the designer to do what he does, in order to know if his ideals align with yours. And of course the quality of the portfolio.
DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?
VS : It’s a simple 4 step process, research, abstract information, design, deliveries, but I think the real juice is in the abstract stage.
DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
VS : Be clear with your purpose as designer and go for it, embrace your responsibilities as designers and say yes to all great challenges, even if they look impossible at first. And the most important of all, remember design is about others, not about your designer ego.
DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?
VS : Say yes to every challenge, and surround myself with better designers, and since everything is connected, trust others disciplines to give a different point of view of the design.
DI: What skills are most important for a designer?
VS : The skill of abstraction, excellent aesthetic taste and good representation of an idea.
DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
VS : The best way to manage the time is to have a reliable design team, that helps and is responsible for its own work and is better than you.
DI: What was your most important job experience?
VS : . It was an internship for a company dedicated to the development of automotive assembly line, where they trusted me with the development of one work station, it was shocking for me how the trust they put on me, made me want to thank them with a high quality useful result, and ever since, that´s what I do with my team, I fully trust them even if they have never done that task that I am asking for.
DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
VS : My plans are to keep doing different, bigger and worldwide projects, and to spread the design seed through exemplary work
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
VS : As a team, the different opinions makes every project better.
DI: How can people contact you?
VS : You can contact me via e mail jorge@vulcastudio.com or find our website www.vulcastudio.com