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Interview with Luis de Arquer Recio |
Home > Designer Interviews > Luis de Arquer Recio |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Luis de Arquer Recio (LDAR) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Luis de Arquer Recio by clicking here.
FS: 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?
LDAR: My professional experience in the world of art is mainly related to music, - I am a composer and pianist - I have composed music for genres as diverse as opera, film, documentary, theater, concert music, as well as creating my own style that I called Pop-Class that unites classical music with pop. However, the influence of the world of painting and the aesthetics that I have lived through the figure of my father as a painter, has led me to get involved from a very young age and in the same way in other less intangible aspects such as the designs of the covers of my albums, designs of my programs, scenography of my opera, drawings and animations in theatre works, etc.I come from a family whose works constitute some of the most emblematic elements of the city of Barcelona, the Buigas family. In the field of architecture, my great-grandfather - Cayetano Buigas - was the architect of the monument to Columbus on the Ramblas, my uncle-grandfather - Carles Buigas - was a world-renowned engineer who created nearly 700 international projects and the well-known light sources of Montjuic. His brother, - Joaquin Buigas - was the creator of the T.B.O. first national children's magazine and my father, - Arquer Buigas - was a very reputable painter ... so there was only one musician missing, which is what I have dedicated my life passionately at a professional level.From a very young age, I had the good fortune of being able to use drawing and crafts, so I tried to put into practice those things that artistically completed the intangibility of music. I made interchangeable fabric belts for watches long before the Swatch brand existed and I loved the world of modeling in clay and other materials as well as the decoration and admiration for all kinds of products, motorcycles, furniture, cars and appliances. design called my attention, so today I can say that it is very possible that I also wanted to be a designer :-)
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
LDAR: In principle the company or brand The Frog, has been created around a gadget ... but I would love to continue with other projects related or not to the world of the helmet that gave the category of design studio ... :-) Ideas I have many and very good, so if someone wants to hear them always after signing a confidentiality contract ... it would be a pleasure to continue shaping new challenges. I believe that just as concepts and ideas that are still anchored in old designs are being updated, each need and or object created by man can find a shortcut to be more useful, more comfortable and offer advantages to its users. This would be the motto of our company.
FS: What is "design" for you?
LDAR: Design, is to find the perfect balance between art and utility.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
LDAR: My designs come from ideas to improve things, so in a way I'm interested in the invention first. The utility of the invention itself must generate its own design, so it could be said that I like to design innovative works that involve a complex process of creation.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
LDAR: A portable stand for grand pianos. After long hours of study in a grand piano, the cervicals are damaged because the high position of his lectern is not designed to study but to offer concerts. My design allows you to keep the lid of the closed piano by attaching a lectern of variable heights with which it is solved besides the problems of cervicals, the excessive sound and allows you to keep the piano with its cover so that it does not fill with dust.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
LDAR: I have never designed anything for any company except mine.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
LDAR: I love wood and metals, but logically each product claims the most suitable material.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
LDAR: I am a tireless creative and any opportunity to carry out a design grabs me from the beginning. Of course, as in music, apart from personal projects, it is very encouraging to find yourself in the situation of getting a commission that you also like!
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
LDAR: At the beginning I consider it essential to eliminate everything that is not absolutely necessary and useful, and then dedicate myself to achieving within those premises that aesthetic that makes me happy.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
LDAR: I have a lot of fun looking for what I have inside me. Sharpening intelligence to achieve the balance between aesthetics and utility is comforting. As in any creative process, you go from moments of euphoria to disappointments in tenths of a second ...
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
LDAR: Satisfaction or disappointment ... it all depends on the time you let your idea rest ... I have often had disappointments that in a very short time have been great satisfactions ... in every creative process you must learn to let the work be done herself.
FS: What makes a design successful?
LDAR: Believing in your design is what can make it more successful
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
LDAR: The first thing I notice is its elegance, since it is generally linked to its quality ...
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
LDAR: The main responsibility of a designer is not to deceive anyone disguising products with unnecessary innovations and poor quality. I think that those companies that decide to make products that abuse their users either through programmed obsolescence, bad qualities, constant changes of operating systems solely to generate profits will tend to disappear in the long run. I dream of a world where cars can easily be fixed again and a computer can be built that can accompany you for 30 years.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
LDAR: What is the future of design?In general I hope we are coming out of an "involution" and I also hope that the future of design is at the service of a much less consumer world and much more durable products, more natural materials and better quality.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
LDAR: My last exhibition was a concert tour: -) ... I have not done exhibitions of my designs ... yet! :-)
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
LDAR: From a prevailing need for elegance, beauty and utility combined ...I feed my creativity constantly, analyzing why I like or do not like the things I see, hear or touch.My sources of inspiration are the good things in life ... eating, drinking, smelling, nature, love ...
FS: 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?
LDAR: My design style is clean and elegant. It does not seek to impress, it aims to generate rest and enjoyment.It made me explore in my style the search for solutions to problems. I think my style is basically sincere with my aesthetic tastes and needs: Elegant, it has quality and usefulness.My approach to design is to combine simplicity and elegance in one.
FS: 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?
LDAR: I live in barcelona.Yes, Barcelona is clearly a city that has always been interested in design. That has given us the possibility to appreciate and learn.The pros are that ability that Barcelona has always had to be attentive to what is happening in the world as well as a large number of great independent designers who have fought hard for their projects. The contras are always the same in almost all countries, "no one is a prophet in their land" ...
FS: How do you work with companies?
LDAR: Well, I can only talk about my relationship with film directors, documentaries, theater, producers ... In all creative process I consider myself a person with a high level of performance provided that I have a lot of aesthetic freedom because I am very clear about where I have what to go On the other hand, I am very open in terms of technical aspects because I believe that everyone knows what they know as you do in yours and also deserves the same freedom as you in their field.
FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
LDAR: I think a good company "should" know what he wants to achieve ... this way he will know which designer he should hire. After all, a team creative process is almost like a marriage, so the more admiration there is between the two, the better. This will offer more freedom to each and above all, more confidence.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
LDAR: My design process is very intuitive since I have easy drawing, perspective and mechanical and technical aspects, with which I can quickly pose forms linked to logical mechanisms and functionalities.Then I refine and look for alternatives always within an aesthetic that I like.
FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
LDAR: The 5 favorite designs of my house are:The old golden Kaweco pen of my great-grandfather. The vintage Breitling chronograph 1942. A Thonet chair. Scissors solingen wasa. My bike Brompton.
FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
LDAR: A day in my life.I get up about 8 in the morning and after drinking a coffee with milk and play with my cat "Fluff" I give a good shower. Lately I listen to the radio for a while to know how the world goes while I do some Pilates exercises ...!I look at my mail and send the emails to clients and suppliers and then I work at the piano for about two hours composing and reviewing works for concerts. At the moment I am working on the design of the stand to market my product The Frog in addition to a new packaging in blister format as well as the design of the stand for some fairs that I have in perspective. As a late afternoon, as my wife arrives around 4:00 p.m. and at 6:00 p.m., I return to work on my designs again until 8:00 p.m. Every once in a while we go out for a drink with friends or just go for a bike ride when the good weather arrives. I have little dinner and if I'm inspired I usually write, draw or compose music until 24h ... or later ... I like the silence of the night. Before going to sleep, we usually go back to playing "fluff and me" and I can not tell more things because my wife would get angry ... :-)
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
LDAR: To the young designers I would say that in addition to training, they approach all the artistic disciplines that they can and as soon as they stop competing with others to find what they really like themselves ... and remove the complexes as soon as possible , because we all have something unique inside of us
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
LDAR: The positives are that you can live a life creating, full of illusions with which you can improve the life of others and yourself, the negatives are the same as in other professions ... competitiveness and not believing enough in oneself .
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
LDAR: As in everything, follow your instinct and be very demanding with yourself
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
LDAR: From my humble opinion, I think there are many types of designer.But to become the designer we all have in our heads we must keep our ideas free and clean and always defend them.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
LDAR: A pencil and paper ... :-) a lot of paper ... then come the materials such as plastelina or plaster molds ... later i have to pass the work to clean already entered in Photoshop, Indesign, ilustrator .. .
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
LDAR: For the preliminary processes I am very fast, I find the idea in a simple way so I do not use too much time. Then and at the software technical level, I'm much slower ...
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
LDAR: Without passing it to clean not too long, of course it depends on its complexity, but in general the definitive ideas come to me very quickly.
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
LDAR: What do you want to get?
FS: What was your most important job experience?
LDAR: The realization of the set design and decoration of my own opera
FS: Who are some of your clients?
LDAR: I am in talks to sell The Frog in Natura
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
LDAR: Anyone in whom I can feel free creating. Because freedomIt is one of the great things of this profession
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
LDAR: I hope to have the opportunity to bring another design to the world. Equal a new electrical product ...?
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
LDAR: I develop my own designs but I would love to find a good team and grow together.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
LDAR: Not right now
FS: How can people contact you?
LDAR: By email, on Linkdin, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube ... :-) and if you want by phone.
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
LDAR: Nothing more ... just a pleasure to have participated in this beautiful dream
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A’ Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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