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Interview with Mario Mazzer |
Home > Designer Interviews > Mario Mazzer |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Mario Mazzer (MM) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Mario Mazzer 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?
MM: I decided to take up this profession when I was very young after having seen the Splügen Bräu brewery designed by Achille Castiglioni. That atmosphere, that ability to control the space fascinated me.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
MM: I founded my company in 1980 near Venice. Today it consists of several architects, designers and engineers and we carry out projects in product design, interior design, architecture and urban planning. It is a dynamic place where the continuous exchange between different fields feeds new ideas.
FS: What is "design" for you?
MM: Design is an instrument that must be useful to its time.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
MM: The works I like designing the most are always the ones I’m working on. Maybe because they represent the way I am in that time.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
MM: My favourite is Rita chair I’ve designed for Zanotta and with which I’ve won one of my first design awards.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
MM: The first thing I designed for a company was Clino table for Magis in 1984, the perfect combination of function, form and movement.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
MM: Wood, because it is a living material.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
MM: In the early morning, when office is quiet and half of my mind is still dreamy.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
MM: When I design I focus on how a design works, it has to be appropriate and reflects the way it’s made.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
MM: Happiness
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
MM: I'm happy to share them with the world and curious to know how they will be perceived by their users.
FS: What makes a design successful?
MM: Designers are artisans of the aesthetics that, with love and dedication, try to give answers with concrete solutions. Sometimes the market likes these solutions so they become a success and sometimes that does not happen.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
MM: I ask myself these questions: Does it improve the quality of life? Is it honest?
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
MM: Designers have the responsibility to understand how the society evolves, to understand its needs and to give solutions.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
MM: 14.Very interesting question for the time we are living. Covid-19 has accelerated phenomena that were already underway towards a new domestic nomadism. Design will have to give answers to new needs as home working, rethinking of fluidity, importance of outdoor spaces.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
MM: It was last year at Salone del Mobile in Milan.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
MM: Sometimes the necessities of architecture inspire me to develop design projects. Other times inspiration can be triggered by everything that can strike my chord as nature, art, food, a book,…
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?
MM: I think my design is very influenced by the function-form relation but I find very important also the psychological aspect that a product transfer to its user.
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?
MM: I’ve been very lucky to study and grow professionally in Milan during the magic time of Italian Design. I’ve studied and worked with designers and architects who have made the history of Design in the world like Achille Castiglioni and Marco Zanuso.
FS: How do you work with companies?
MM: 19.With companies I work in two ways. Sometimes they have a specific need and they call me to develop a project according to the briefing. Other times I work on a product that I think may be interesting for them and I propose it.
FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
MM: I think companies and designers need to share same goals.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
MM: My design is thought, weighted through drawings and then corrected and improved through prototyping.
FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
MM: An Art Decò table lamp I found in a market in New York, a Cini Boeri lamp by Tronconi, Rita chair I designed for Zanotta, Atollo lamp designed by Vico Magistretti and Ola dining table I’ve designed for Martex.
FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
MM: When I am not travelling I arrive at the office at 7 am because there is still no one so I can concentrate and think serenely. From 9 am till 9 pm I have continuous checks with my collaborators. Is it clear that I love this damn job?
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
MM: 24.The only advice I feel to give to young designers is to think of what the purpose of a designer is. Today I see a lot of attention to the form and less to the meaning. Design is a tool that improves the quality of life and where aesthetics has functional roots.
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
MM: Being free to think is definitely the positive aspect. The negative is that sometimes designers are bound by the mechanisms of marketing.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
MM: Design functional products able of moving.
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
MM: The most important skill is the same for every job: curiosity.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
MM: 28.Pencil and crayons to make sketches; cutter, cardboards and styrofoam to make the first handmade maquettes; 3ds Max for 3D modeling.
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
MM: There’s no way, that is way you have to do this job only if you love it.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
MM: The product design process, from the concept phase to the commercialization of the product, is quiet long although in the past was even longer. Nowadays, with 3D modeling, the step from design to industrial production is very quick as the mathematical model for the mold is provided by us and sometimes the time for meditation that should be made on prototypes is even too quick.
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
MM: Where I get my inspiration from.
FS: What was your most important job experience?
MM: The one I begun more than 30 years ago.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
MM: 33.In product design our clients are the most important design companies as Minotti, Zanotta, Bonaldo,… In architecture our clients are very different, sometimes young couples who want me to design their first house, sometimes entrepreneurs who ask me to design their new headquarters.
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
MM: 34.I enjoy every design work because it allows me to express my self.
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
MM: In product design we are working on some projects that should give concrete solutions to everyday life changed by Covid19.
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
MM: Sometimes as a team sometimes by myself.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
MM: We have many work-in-progress both in design and architecture.
FS: How can people contact you?
MM: They can call me at the office, write me an email or through my Instagram page.
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
MM: I think we have covered every important topic, thank you!
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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