We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Gloguu Ltd ("GL").
Gloguu persist in carefully considering pet daily necessities like designing furniture. They take the unity of function and art as their design motivation. They return to using materials that evoke the physical feelings of animals, , turn complexity into simplicity, and use art to wave out the beauty of the materials themselves, and integrate the poetic light into the rational structure. They believe that pet products are not only selected by pets according to their feelings, but also daily necessities serving people in the home environment. They should serve real life for a long time like furniture. Therefore, they insist on considering pet daily necessities as rigorously as designing furniture, and set up such aesthetic principles, materials are loyal to the feeling of the body, adhering to the cooperation of form and function, and designing natural and pure product modeling. Furthermore, Gloguu insists on using environmentally friendly materials. Team members have won various awards in China and the world, such as iF, Golden Pin and Contemporary Good Design Award.
Gloguu Ltd Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Gloguu Ltd.
Gloguu Ltd Design - Scratch Cave Cat Scratcher
Designer Interview of Gloguu Ltd:
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?
GL : After four years of study in industrial design at the university, I graduated and became an industrial designer of a leading design company in Shanghai, China. I always dreamed of starting my own design brand, so after resigning, I put into action and founded GLOGUU company together with several partners. For me, it's the desire to get something straight, to have something better, or to have the freedom to pursue something beautiful and a more imaginative life that drives me to design. I grew up in an era in China where design went from unpopular to emerging, and the concept of design has taken root since my childhood.I have always liked drawing since I was a child, but I didn't want to pursue a career in pure art.The profession of a designer has artistic attributes and can solve problems rationally, which perfectly fits the role I want to be.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
GL : I love designing cute things! If a design work can make people feel some warmth, some emotional resonance, or a knowing smile when watching, touching, or using it, it is also a very abstract and beautiful connection for me.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
GL : It is a commercial desktop interactive robot that gives some intelligent guidance to people handling banking business through the touch screen. This design was about to go into mass production, but in the end, the company told us that they chose the wrong plan and rebuilt a standing robot.
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
GL : I really like materials that are environmentally friendly and can bring intimacy to people or animals. For example, coffee grounds, tea leaves, recycled paper, soft cloth, composite materials made of wood chips, etc.
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
GL : I am most creative when I wake up in the morning after a good night's sleep, or when I am dreaming about a design.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
GL : In the design process, I pay more attention to whether the design really solves the problem, whether it makes proper use of resources without causing waste; In addition, I pay more attention to the details of the design, which shows whether a designer really pays attention. God is in the details.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
GL : What emotion I feel in my design depends on who I'm designing for. Sometimes it is rationality, sometimes it is tolerance and care, sometimes it is excitement and passion, and sometimes it is sorrow that I have to rack my brains to find a solution.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
GL : There's a sense of accomplishment, like watching your child be born or grow up.
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
GL : The first thing we have to do is make sure that we're not doing harm to society. For example, some products designed for mass production waste a lot of resources but do not work well, and eventually become stacked in the landfill; Or unsafe products that cause harm to users or relationships between people.Every design work should be responsible for the society and the environment, and make a problem have a better solution, make a system have a better operation mode, and rationally convert resources instead of creating waste，and guide all citizens to enhance the awareness of environmental protection, guide to create a high-quality social environment.
DI: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
GL : The last exhibition was in The Shanghai venue of The Milan Satellite Exhibition in 2019. The next exhibition can be the time when products of our brand have been polished and completed, and can be richly displayed and systematically express our design concepts and thoughts to everyone.
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?
GL : I was born in the central plains of China and now live in Shanghai. It is just the collision between original ecology and developed, tradition and modern, and I also get a lot of nourishment in it. China has a brilliant and diverse cultural heritage and a long history of civilization evolution, which has influenced my design, and I am very willing to show the culture and characteristics of our country to everyone through design. In the design environment of China, due to the large population, it is more difficult to change the overall consciousness and improve the public aesthetic appreciation. The benefit is that people are gradually paying more attention to design, and the masses and enterprises are also willing to follow the suggestions of designers, which gives designers a relatively comfortable creative environment. The number of people engaged in design is also increasing year by year, so the competition in the industry will inevitably spur every designer to strive to improve their design capabilities.
DI: Can you describe a day in your life?
GL : My day starts at 10 am. I am a typical owl personality. I prefer to start my morning with exercise and then do a lot of reading and keep abreast of the latest design trends in society. In boring working days, I like to draw sketches and clear my thoughts. What makes me happy and excited during working days is that to have brief but enlightening exchanges with people from different professional backgrounds.
DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
GL : Designing fuzzy front-end is unavoidable in design. If the thinking is not clear enough, it is easier to fall into confusion. The way I manage time is to try to distinguish the nodes of each part of the project and execute them on time and in stages.
DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
GL : I like designs that are challenging，which are to explore a better life for people and a better environment. Such as social innovation design and sustainable design.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
GL : We work as a team. As a designer, I will first emphasize teamwork, and the latter is individual talent. When I was in college, I was the main member of the school basketball team and also the lead guitarist of the band. These experiences have helped me to see different ways of working. Both basketball and the band require teamwork. Also, I think making friends with different backgrounds has also helped me become a T-stylist.