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Interview with Doug Garven |
Home > Designer Interviews > Doug Garven |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Doug Garven (DG) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Doug Garven 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?
DG: I have been an Industrial Designer since graduating from Kent State University in 1992. As a kid growing up, my mom was an artist and my dad was an engineer, so I had an affinity for both drawing and problem solving. Knowing this, my dad was the one who thought Industrial Design would be a great career choice for me. I thought I wanted to be a Mechanical Engineer and spent two years in that program which I was not enjoying. So, after two years I switched majors and have been a designer ever since.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
DG: Permobil, a Swedish company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Investor AB. Permobil was founded by Dr. Per Udden in 1967 and was built around the idea that every person has the right to have his or her disability compensated as far as possible by aids with the same technical standard as those we all use in our everyday lives. Today, Permobil is present in more than 17 countries around the world and has over 1600 employees.
FS: What is "design" for you?
DG: Design for me has several meanings, both functional and aesthetic. It represents the essence of something, the heart and soul of what something is or does and how that is communicated and interpreted by an individual.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
DG: I enjoy problem solving, taking a need and creating a functional device that solves that need in a visually pleasing form.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
DG: My most favorite design that I have created has been the CR1. It was a unique project that doesn’t come around very often for designers, the opportunity to create a flagship product, from the ground up, with the only limits being your imagination. It represents everything I’ve learned in my professional career and showcases many ideas and concepts I’ve had over that time but didn’t have the opportunity to try.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
DG: One of my first design projects were some hospital bed control panels. I did pages and pages of different button design concept sketches, different shapes and layout configurations. To this day, if I’m ever in a hospital or see a bed on tv I’m looking at their sideguard control panels to see how they look.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
DG: My favorite material is carbon fiber. It has an unmatched strength to weight ratio and can be created in almost any shape or form. My favorite technology is manufacturing and in terms of product applications is automotive.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
DG: I would say I am most creative in the late morning or early evening hours.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
DG: Functionality, always making sure it works first, a true believer in form follows function. That doesn't mean that aesthetics aren't as important, I believe they are. But, you can have the most aesthetically pleasing design and if it doesn't function the way it is supposed to you will eventually be disappointed.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
DG: I have never been asked that before, I would say mostly a calm, analytical, relaxed feeling, not really an emotion I realize. At least at the early stages of a project, that can turn to frustration and stress as a project progresses, or doesn't progress and deadlines approach!
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
DG: Satisfaction and pride for sure.
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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