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Interview with Andrea Grosso |
Home > Designer Interviews > Andrea Grosso |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Andrea Grosso (AG) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Andrea Grosso 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?
AG: My initial training was partially divergent from the world of 3D design, despite having had a technical training. I always cultivated a deep artistic spirit, which materialized into illustrating, cartooning, and later also a teacher of design for children. My approach to design, and its extraordinary world, has occurred almost as a natural evolution of my artistic passion, through the influence and growing interest in my teacher's work, engineer Marco Naccarella. It is him to whom I owe completely every aspect of mine professional growth process. I have not always cultivated the idea of becoming a designer, yet it was an opportunity to translate art into something fantastic being modeled by digital hands.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
AG: The ANGROS Formula Design Studio was created to give an identity to my passion, and what I want to become my profession in the future. It all started at the end of 2021, when I began to approach the world of design with total self-sacrifice and dedication. From the first projects and drafts I wanted to create something unique and recognizable, which materialized in my logo, one A and a G stylized, which represent my name, with an F hidden within them which identifies the term “Formula”. Formula recalls almost an alchemical term, which symbolizes the form of design as much as its creation, structure and definition. Above all, however, F is the initial of my mother's name, “Francesca”, whose death has marked a rite of passage for me. For years now, it has had a profound meaning for me, and I chose to take her with me in this travel because she herself was passionate about cars, thus making sure that her omnipresent spirit in my logo accompanies me in every present and future work experience.
FS: What is "design" for you?
AG: Innovation, utility and simplicity of use.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
AG: I have always been linked for better or for worse to the automotive field, so anything that has to do with public or private transport always attracts my attention. But it never disdains new challenges, the design does not put limits and not even I put myself, hugging with open heart every new challenge.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
AG: My favorite design does not yet exist, because there is always something new that attracts and captures my interest. Focusing on a single design would be regressive. Looking around, you can design worthy of note, and I want to focus solely on what the future has to offer me.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
AG: On behalf of my teacher, I co-participated in the realization of the hypercar Intrigo, which participated in the A'Design Award Competition in the year 2021/2022.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
AG: Copper is the material I know most without a shadow of a doubt. My training and my past work experiences have led me to know this material in its most varied forms and uses, especially in transportation.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
AG: At night, when the surrounding silence is total, and I can lock myself in my creative bubble to embrace the solitude that gives my work its maximum expansion potential.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
AG: The most diverse, as there is no single aspect on which I concentrate, on the contrary, I always consider a multiplicity of factors that influence the project based on the individual case, depending on the field of reference and especially the utility that a certain project must have.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
AG: Joy, excitement, enthusiasm and happiness. Creating is life and giving life to something new is always an exciting journey.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
AG: Satisfaction, as it is incomparable satisfaction that makes me proud of all the efforts and hours spent studying and carrying out the project I was working on.
FS: What makes a design successful?
AG: Its usefulness. A project is successful when he answers the demand that the market needs, the expectations that users have in a specific field of application.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
AG: Its exploitability. A design is good if it is exploitable, useful and easily usable. It makes no sense to make something aesthetically pleasant if in the end it is not useful or easy to use for those who will then use it.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
AG: The responsibilities that a designer has in this sense are manifold, but all equally important. The designer builds the future, and building the future is already in itself the greatest responsibility of all.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
AG: Because design being a constantly evolving field, I cannot give a certain answer to this question, since the future has not yet been written. I could determine momentary trends, but the future is not trends, the future are the ideas that have not yet been born and that will change forever our way of living and approaching us to everyday life, I can only say that in each case will be an interesting journey.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
AG: This is the first time that I participated in an online design performance and I must admit that it is a great turning point for me. This showcase is an important stage where I can demonstrate my qualities and passion, my iron intention is to pursue this path in the world of design.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
AG: Everything that surrounds me can inspire me. Every single day at every single moment can make that spark that feeds in me that desire to take notes or make sketches to marry ideas to be translated later into useful forms and tools for my projects.
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?
AG: Simple, minimalist, but at the same time with a retro note derived from the style of the 80s/90s. I would call it a modern-retro style, but that would not be correct because I always try to evolve my style based on my continuous experiences. This style with clear and tendentially aggressive lines was born in me from the shapes of the cars of the great masters of the past, such as Giorgetto Giugiaro, Nuccio Bertone and Marcello Gandini, and lately the words of Horacio Pagani have been of immeasurable inspiration to me. In addition, by osmosis, I have also assimilated part of the concept and approach to design by greatly simplifying the complexity of my projects, thanks to the great experience of my master: engineer Marco Naccarella, the catalyst and moderator of all my experiences and a careful critic of all my projects.
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?
AG: I live currently in what is called the city of flowers, Sanremo, a splendid city of the ligurian riviera, famous for hosting the National Festival of the Italian song and as a historic stage of rally championships. I always think of the place where I was born and raised when I project my design, because the roads here are a mix of everything that can test a vehicle, and this helps me to understand the possibilities and exploitability in different conditions. Furthermore, having a temperate climate, mitigated by the presence of the sea to the south and protected by the mountains in the north, I can boast an enviable landscape wealth, which feeds my creativity exponentially.
FS: How do you work with companies?
AG: Responding to their requests in the shortest possible time with maximum efficiency and professionalism, trying to integrate their requests with my professionalism in order to work in synergy and produce something unique and special.
FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
AG: Believe in their work. Believing in the work of a designer means looking at what the designer can do and give him the opportunity to try himself in the eyes of a company that can support and expand his qualities. Fixing itself on the standards does not make sense. The designer is an artist and as such a single picture can hide an unparalleled complexity and strength, we must try to trust the right design.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
AG: Usually it all starts from the association of minimum two ideas and then discuss, often with my mentor and our project consultant, of the usefulness and purposes that that particular project must have, subsequently to these issues begins a continuous brainstorming process that grows off away with the forms that the project assumes and that is gradually completing itself as the various design phases are completed.
FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
AG: A conical coffee cup, simple but of great capacity, black outside with the interior and some external graphics painted yellow. At first glance it looks like a trivial object, but the contrast between the black of the drink and the yellow inside always creates an additional sense of heat in me, and it always gives me the idea of at what level my coffee is when I drink it. The color makes the difference by playing with the senses. Another coffee cup in the shape of a heart lacquered of red and blue externally and in white ceramic inside, with lots of handles also in the shape of a heart where the fingers are perfectly stuck in the two rounded parts of the heart that acts as a handle making the grip pleasant and comfortable. Another small brilliant idea given to me by my sweet half. The two chandeliers I have in the kitchen and in the dining room, consisting of two aluminum pipes folded in a crescent with arrangements with couples of two directable spotlights useful to create dynamic light points depending on their positioning. A shiny black hexagonal jewelry that my mother owned; Simple from the opening lid that contains a deck melody inside it. Inside it is covered in red velvet and contains a small mirror, also hexagonal, which reminds me very much of the shape of the traditional Chinese hexagonal windows. And finally, I would like to mention a glass vaporizer for vinegar. What makes him so special in my eyes is its elongated and curved neck to form a spiral that composes a source of greater grip for his hand and his ending in a chromed hood that harmonizes the shapes by revealing, once removed, the button that allows the vaporization of the seasoning.
FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
AG: I get up early in the morning and get to work on my projects, I drink a coffee until lunchtime where I make a slight snack, drinking a second cup of coffee. In the afternoon, I resume working until evening. Often, during the night, thanks to the insomnia or the mass of ideas that move incessantly in my mind, I get up, and I work at night until the early hours of the morning, enjoying silence and peace granted me from the night and sweetamaro taste of the coffee that accompanies every creative moment of mine.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
AG: Be humble and never give up. It may seem obvious, but I live on my skin today these maxims that I made mine. When your projects are discarded, criticized, even destroyed at a functional level, it is always difficult to accept. But if there is a constructiveness in the criticisms received and there is love from those who teach you the art of design, there is no reason to surrender. I recommend to all young designers who have brilliant ideas to try and try, to create and create. An artist will never become famous just splashing badly on a canvas without a sense, there is a need for profound conscience, practice and study, of dedication and commitment, on every single front, to achieve their goals. For this reason, the word surrender must be banned from the vocabulary of any good designer.
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
AG: Being a designer certainly gives the opportunity to create. Creating, giving life to something, anything, is undoubtedly the most exciting and illuminating thing that the world of design can offer, together with the passion for research. However, this often leads to isolation, to detachment from the social -looking because of the profound commitment that serves to complete projects and studies with competence and seriousness. If you do not have a special team to be able to divide the workload that a designer often face, the risk alone is to find themselves submerged by an excessive workload.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
AG: Simple and functional.
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
AG: Ability to adapt, technical skills and fantasy.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
AG: As a 3D modeler I use Rhinoceros 7, and for rendering I use Keyshot 11. As of today I am in possession of a Ryzen 5700 x equipped with 32 GB of RAM, the only thing that limits my graphics development potential a lot is my video card, one of the next upgrades that I will surely address in time., but compared to the old core duo quad Q9550 with only 8GB of RAM that I owned before it is a substantial step forward that results in a wider range of possible results to express my capabilities to the fullest. As a screen I own a respectable 27-inch monitor (a Samsung Space Monitor) that I explicitly purchased to work with Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint (as a hobby I am also a cartoonist and illustrator), but its color rendition and dynamic tilt make it a now inseparable extension of my work for me. Often the use of Photoshop CC or CLIP Studio Paint allows me to edit and enhance my work in post-production, and I used to pin everything to OpenOffice text files and to the evergreen .txt files.
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
AG: Once my teacher said, "you, you have to become time." These words have rooted in me, making me understand that, being alone in my ride against the gigantic windmill of the world of work, I can only be I and I only the ultimate limit that will determine my success in a company or not. So I always try to dedicate the maximum time possible to every design phase, also sacrificing aspects of my personal life to achieve my goals. Working alone imposes priorities and sacrifices, I have transformed my job into my passion and fun, so I don't get anything away and I get the best.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
AG: It depends. In my precarious experience, I had the opportunity to complete the project of my modular bus in exactly two months, but I managed to finish the conception of a project for a hybrid supercar even in less than a month. It all depends on the complexity of the concept that we set ourselves.
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
AG: I always answer that I spent months of my life to commit myself only on this front, spending every moment of free time to study forms, concepts, ideas and train in the creation of shapes and structures. In the world, there is nothing that cannot be learned with the practice and help of someone capable of teaching you the job.
FS: What was your most important job experience?
AG: Definitely in my youth. I was the technical manager for the installation on trolley buses operating in Sanremo of a security, telecommunication, and central location system via GPS and GPRS connection. This system was able to geolocate the cars in the local public transport company's fleet by associating the location with any georeferenced advertisements. It was a task of responsibility and I felt valued both in my office and on the shop floor. Unfortunately, the project was then left in a state of total abandonment by the said agency which, no longer, saw me as a useful professional figure for the purpose. In fact, to this day, these vehicles still run with outdated and non-functioning monitors, equally dated systems and left in a state of total disrepair, which certainly does not benefit the publicity of our area and does not correspond to the immense potential it could really offer.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
AG: At the moment, I am searching for work. I try to build a professionalism through this showcase which is the A'Design, trying, thanks to the collaboration with my teacher, to show off my qualities to have access to a possible landscape of work in this field.
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
AG: Working in the automotive sector is obviously my biggest dream. Both for formamentis and by personal attitude, I find myself extremely comfortable in the conception and design of innovative solutions and ideas that have the purpose of the most desperate features dedicated to vehicles on a wheel and rail. However, I do not preclude anything, I love to create, and I do not place limits of any kind.
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
AG: Affirming myself in the world of design and making me a reputation are the first step in order to obtain validity and recognition to be able to access the world of work that this field offers. Having a recognition by the A' Design Award Competition would confer my person not only prestige, but competence and professionalism capable of acting as a business card in the world of work. I want to establish myself in this field with all my strength.
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
AG: Both things. For better or for worse, we are always three to work. Being part of the Human Museum entourage as a designer and pupil of my teacher, the engineer Naccarella, he and I are always in contact and with us our consultant works: Alex de Jong, who participates in our creative process when we discuss Of any project we have in mind to carry out. Subsequently, there is a phase of profound dedication and creation that is entirely dedicated to the design and realization of 3D projects in which they are completely alone or, in part, assisted by the guidance of my teacher and by the advice of Alex who never forgets to warn me if something is not convincing.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
AG: At the moment I have several projects in the realization phase, but undoubtedly the project I most dedicated myself after the Nera Asimmetrica is my "Rascassa". A retro style three-wheeler with a modern reinterpretation of a Flex boxer engine, fully modular with a variable front axle wheelbase system.
FS: How can people contact you?
AG: Via Instagram, Facebook and by email. I publish my designs on social media but I have also opened a website. I have also a showcase even in the Art Station site.
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
AG: I think the questions I answered are enough, but if there were others I would have replied willingly!
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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