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Interview with Nepto |
Home > Designer Interviews > Nepto |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Nepto (N) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Nepto 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?
N: I studied engineering and I used to work for a solar company. So my background is far from art and design. But one component of my life brought me to become an artist/designer/builder: my family. My grandfather opened a shop of tailor-made shoes in the '70s. He created the shoes from the beginning, selected the best leather and skin, designed the shoes for feet of anyone who wanted it. My father was an industrial designer, passionated by motorbike. He opened his own shop as well, motobel, and prepared motorbikes for competitions. He was really good technically and always cared about the design and the look of his motorbikes. The shape, the colours, the equilibrium in the design was always well selected. After my degree, I wanted to go to a design school in Paris but I chose engineering for job security. I don't regret at all my formation in engineering, it was pretty useful to understand the mechanical behaviour of material and how works a clock movement for example. So, yes I've always wanted to be a designer but it took time to really feel it and become one.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
N: We created the company one year ago in Paris because we are French and we had a better opportunity to plan the logistic from there. But we are working from Berlin and travelling through Europe. We are a really small and familial company and we are doing everything by ourselves. The design of the watches, the visuals (photos, videos, display etc...), the marketing and the distribution in shops. We already have 4 shops in France and one in Belgium to distribute our collections. We are currently starting to look for some shops in Germany and Portugal.
FS: What is "design" for you?
N: Design means for me to "take care of everything around us” and to make things beautiful to contemplate. I like the sentence of Charles Eames: The details are not the details, they make the design. But a good designer should never forget that the design has two components: esthetic and usefulness.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
N: Everything related to interior design (chair, table, lamp, mirror etc...), design of accessory (watch, jewellery, pencils, book, cup), mechanical design (motorbike, bike), fashion design.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
N: To be honest, I don't have a most favourite design. I think, it is monomaniac to have a most favourite design and it stops your creativity. I like the designs of Frank O’gehry in architecture, I like the design of Aston Martin when it comes to cars, I like the Bauhaus style for interior design. But I don't have a most favourite design. I am trying to stay open-minded about every kind of design around me to keep my creativity.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
N: The collection Numero 1 from my current company, NEPTO watch.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
N: I don't have a favourite material. I know that I like to work on a design which has a human size. I don't have the capacity to work in architecture or where you need a huge platform and structure. But again, I stay open about materials and technology.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
N: I feel the most creative when I'm alone in the evening, from 18h to 23h. I'm definitively not efficient in the morning and I need to stay alone in a quiet place to be creative. I like to talk with people around me to see if my creativity make sense or not.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
N: I studied engineering and I used to work for a solar company. So my background is far from art and design. But one component of my life brought me to become an artist/designer/builder: my family. My grandfather opened a shop of tailor-made shoes in the '70s. He created the shoes from the beginning, selected the best leather and skin, designed the shoes for feet of anyone who wanted it. My father was an industrial designer, passionated by motorbike. He opened his own shop as well, motobel, and prepared motorbikes for competitions. He was really good technically and always cared about the design and the look of his motorbikes. The shape, the colours, the equilibrium in the design was always well selected. After my degree, I wanted to go to a design school in Paris but I chose engineering for job security. I don't regret at all my formation in engineering, it was pretty useful to understand the mechanical behaviour of material and how works a clock movement for example. So, yes I've always wanted to be a designer but it took time to really feel it and become one.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
N: I'm often excited and impatient. I like to be efficient and go fast in my design.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
N: I feel unsecured and stressed because I miss a bit of experience and even if I like what I did, I really want that people like it too. And you are never sure about that.
FS: What makes a design successful?
N: Nothing. We have thousands of examples in the history of design showing that designers can have success one day and not any more the next one. You also have designs from the '60s or '70s that no one wanted ten years ago and which are now really successful. Design is subjective and it is difficult to say if it is successful or not and somehow it depends on the trends.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
N: When judging a design, I think that you have different steps. The first step is the first impression when you arrive in front of the object. This first impression is really important and that's why you have to present your design in the best condition. Then, I need a bit of time to really observe it and see how I react on the design, more in the details. And finally, I need to touch it, to understand how it was made and why.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
N: A designer has a huge responsibility for society and environment because in an architectural project, for example, he is the one who will be responsible for the integration of his design in the environment around it. He is the one who has to think about the relation and the integration with the nature around it. But it depends on what kind of design we are talking about. If we talk about accessories then the impact is less important according to me.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
N: I think that the future of design is what I call " the hybrid design". We have recently such development in materials, digital technology, and AI that designer will be able to mix all of that. We will be able to mix plenty of materials with an integration of digital technology. The designer will have to drive engineer, digital engineer and craftsperson at the same time to bring the design to another level.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
N: My last exhibition was at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, one month ago and I would like to make the one about Picasso in Berlin the coming month.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
N: I got my inspiration from the coat of arms of Paris for the collection SHIELD. It shows a silver sailing ship on waves of the sea in a red field, with a chief showing the Royal emblem of gold-on-blue fleur-de-lis. Originally introduced in the 14th century, its current form dates to 1853. The city motto is Fluctuat nec mergitur. The second collection, the numero 1, with a water droplet shape comes from the dome of the DZ bank of Berlin designed by Frank O'Gehry. I feed my creativity everywhere and every day. I don't close myself and I don't look that much the design of my competitors. I like to get inspiration about things which are necessarily related in the first look. For exemple, the straps of some of my watches were inspired by the belt of a friend.
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?
N: I think that my design style is close to neo-retro. I like to mix the modern/Contemporain/industrial with a touch of classic. I like minimal style but I'm not able to do it. And I don't like when things are too simple. I like that people tell: "oh, that's original, I've never seen that before."
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?
N: I have been living in Berlin for seven years but I'm originally from the suburb of Paris (Maisons-laffittes). Maisons-laffittes was a royal city and Paris kept its historical architecture. In opposite, Berlin was fully destroyed after WWII and has this heritage of the communist time. It reborn after 1990. Berlin is really underground and the nightlife has a huge impact on the city. I used both cultural heritage, the Parisian one for the SHIELD and the Berliner one for the NUMERO 1. I think that anyone who is creating used unconsciously his cultural heritage, the best example is a writer.
FS: How do you work with companies?
N: We have a single supplier for the watches because there are extremely competent and we wanted to minimize the logistic. About the distributors, we have 4 shops in France, one in Belgium and we want to deal now in Germany and Portugal.
FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
N: The basic things are of course the formation and the experience of a designer. But I think it is important for a company to not stay focus only on that. I think that it can be really interesting to select a designer who comes from another area to have a different point of you. If you select people who have the same background, you will have the same result on a paper.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
N: My design process is quite basic. I always start with some scratch on paper to see how I feel my design. Then I make my design a bit more structured with proper dimension and eventually in 3D with different material. Then I use Illustrator to make a clear 2D design and to integrate colours. In the end, I finalise my design with CAD software and the exact dimension.
FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
N: lamp, mirror, table, pencil, ashtray
FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
N: I studied engineering and I used to work for a solar company. So my background is far from art and design. But one component of my life brought me to become an artist/designer/builder: my family. My grandfather opened a shop of tailor-made shoes in the '70s. He created the shoes from the beginning, selected the best leather and skin, designed the shoes for feet of anyone who wanted it. My father was an industrial designer, passionated by motorbike. He opened his own shop as well, motobel, and prepared motorbikes for competitions. He was really good technically and always cared about the design and the look of his motorbikes. The shape, the colours, the equilibrium in the design was always well selected. After my degree, I wanted to go to a design school in Paris but I chose engineering for job security. I don't regret at all my formation in engineering, it was pretty useful to understand the mechanical behaviour of material and how works a clock movement for example. So, yes I've always wanted to be a designer but it took time to really feel it and become one.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
N: I am a young designer, not in age but in experience. I think that the most important is to stay open. To make an exhibition which can be far from them specificity. Get inspiration from everything around them, in the street, at a place of a friend of them, in nature.
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
N: The most positive is clearly creativity. Starting from nothing and bringing a project to life. It is really challenging and exciting. The negative point could be not being understood by your boss or the people around you. You have to be able to support failure.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
N: Being sure of where you are going, get a plan in your mind and keep on going. Not losing time of trying and trying and trying.
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
N: It's hard to answer. I think someone who can bring on a paper what he has in his mind quite quickly is a huge skill. Having a global and clear vision of what you want to do, being able to visualise is important. In the end, having a good knowledge of materials and their properties.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
N: I studied engineering and I used to work for a solar company. So my background is far from art and design. But one component of my life brought me to become an artist/designer/builder: my family. My grandfather opened a shop of tailor-made shoes in the '70s. He created the shoes from the beginning, selected the best leather and skin, designed the shoes for feet of anyone who wanted it. My father was an industrial designer, passionated by motorbike. He opened his own shop as well, motobel, and prepared motorbikes for competitions. He was really good technically and always cared about the design and the look of his motorbikes. The shape, the colours, the equilibrium in the design was always well selected. After my degree, I wanted to go to a design school in Paris but I chose engineering for job security. I don't regret at all my formation in engineering, it was pretty useful to understand the mechanical behaviour of material and how works a clock movement for example. So, yes I've always wanted to be a designer but it took time to really feel it and become one.
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
N: As I said before, It is really important to have a clear and global vision of your design. You gonna save a lot of time with it. But in the end, the design of your product is the most important. So it is better to have a short night and postpone some other tasks to focus on it. Sometimes I end up at 2h or 3h at night just watching things to find some inspiration. But if you like being a designer you have to do that.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
N: Depends on the complexity of the object. But I would say between one and four months.
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
N: About the Collection SHIELD, it is: " where did you get your inspiration from?»
FS: What was your most important job experience?
N: My most important job experience is the current one as I started from nothing and I created my own company and learned without formation. It is really challenging but really exciting at the same time.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
N: My clients are random customers who bought our products online via our online shop and distributors (Parrenin bijouterie, Ochrono Paris, Dessange, Mr.Ego Brussels)
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
N: I enjoy the most the first view of the prototypes because you see all the work behind you and you see also the final product. I enjoy also because you can change some tiny details and it is extremely important to do it.
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
N: We want to design two new collections in 2020. One automatic watch based on the SHIELD but with a new shape which will bring event more fineness. The second model will be a watch with some other accessories which will be part of the watch. And then, we would like to make other design products but we have to think about it more in detail.
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
N: I develop my design on my own but I have some external support for the conception of it because I'm still learning some step of the conception as the CAD for example.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
N: We are currently preparing some other models for our two collections, the SHIELD and the NUMERO 1.
FS: How can people contact you?
N: You can reach me by email at this adresse: v.ifrah@neptowatch.com or by phone at the 004917631324844
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
N: No, it was really well covered and I tried my best to answer properly.
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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