| THE AWARD |
| CATEGORIES |
| REGISTRATION |
| SUBMIT YOUR WORK |
| ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS |
| TERMS & CONDITIONS |
| PUBLICATIONS |
| DATES & FEES |
| METHODOLOGY |
| CONTACT |
| WINNERS |
| PRESS ROOM |
| GET INVOLVED |
| DESIGN PRIZE |
| DESIGN STORE |
| THE AWARD | JURY | CATEGORIES | REGISTRATION | PRESS | WINNERS | PUBLICATIONS | ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS |
Interview with Corona |
Home > Designer Interviews > Corona |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Corona (C) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Corona 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?
C: The Corona design team has a wide range of design backgrounds, including architects, engineers and industrial designers. The combine experiences allows the team to see design from different perspectives and tackle every opportunity from different points of view.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
C: Corona is a multinational company based mainly in Colombia, but now operating through out the Americas. It was established more than 130 years ago with the design and production of ceramic table ware, it expanded to sanitary ware and now it includes in its portfolio a complete range of solutions for the kitchen and bathroom, including construction materials and plumbing solutions.
FS: What is "design" for you?
C: Design is the process through which we provide long lasting solutions for every family; Design allows us to translate insights into tangible products that are fun to use, easy to assembly and affordable for all.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
C: Kitchen and bathroom ware are our specialty; sometimes it is hard to imagine what could come next in terms of innovation and attractive designs; most people think shape follows function, but we are always challenging the current technologies and processes to push the industry forward and try to make a long lasting impact in every aspect of the product design and development.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
C: Without any doubt, our favorites designs are those that make a true difference in the market place, those designs that defy all standards in terms of function and aesthetic, pushing always forward and pushing us to become better in what we do.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
C: We base our design process in a wide range of technologies and techniques; we do our ideation process in digital sketching and then quickly move to a 3D platform, this allows us to be very precise and minimize uncertainty regarding design feasibility, here we can have a one to one conversation with engineers and technicians to find the best solutions and find a common ground to set our goals and challenges.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
C: everybody on the team has a different way to get inspired. However, our design process begins with an ideation session and there is when designers come up with several creative ideas. This moment is when creative thinking is most demand.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
C: This is a hard question; In the business we are in, we have to be aware of design trends and at the same time, we have to keep up with new technological developments in order to be competitive in the market place. During the design process, both aspects come into play to set boundaries and objectives, at the very beginning, the aesthetic and trendy aspect of the product takes the wheel, and as we move forward, the technology involve withing the development starts to shape the final outcome.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
C: Dedication and passion. Design is what we breathe every day, and it is as a responsibility as an amusement. We take design seriously and everything is carefully thought, and at the same time, we enjoy doing what makes us happy.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
C: Satisfaction and proud are the elicited emotions when we see our product at factory and market. It is like having a child in which we work carefully, going out to achieve its aim.
FS: What makes a design successful?
C: Success can be measure in many ways, depending on where you stand in the process; A design is successful when it has positively changed the way we did things. Meaning that it has shaped us to be more efficient, creative and analytical.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
C: There is an aesthetic aspect to design that is impossible to dismiss, a design should be pleasant to the eye and should play with the surrounding environment it has been designed for. A design is good when it plays along with the environment from an aesthetics point of view, but it also serves a purpose and communicates this purpose to the user in an intuitive manner.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
C: The designer has the responsibility of seeing the big picture, not only in terms of the product but also in terms of the user and the place it is going to be, these means a designer has to take into account the unspoken language that could either seduce or repeal the user; the product should serve a noble purpose and perform as it is expected and as it is promised.This big picture also includes the materials and processes that will shape the design, a designer has the responsibility of seeing beyond what's there and predict the environmental impact it may have.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
C: With the digital age evolving rapidly and the world connecting in a more efficient way, the design field will undoubtedly become a multidisciplinary filed, it already is, but this time it will consider the management of data, energy deficiency, environmental impact and multicultural markets. The future of design lays at the very bottom of this, interconnecting different technologies to come up with innovative ways of solving every day problems and moving human boundaries further away, questioning what has been settled.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
C: Inspiration can come at any time in any place and from anything, most of the time we look for inspiration in nature, where millions of years have optimized organism to survive the harshest conditions; This lead us to base our designs in already optimum systems and take only the best of them. We stay up to date with world design fares, not only from our industry but feeding our creativity from different points of view, blogs and magazines play an important role in our inspiration resources.
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?
C: Our design style tends to be more fluid and organic than most of the companies in our industry, this style has been shaped from two different perspectives; from one side, we want to reflect the brand values in a way that the user can connect shapes in the object and the brand promises; on the other side, the nature of the materials we use, hints us towards a noble use of them, the heritage we have in the company, the nature of our existence in the ceramic business demand maturity and serenity in the design style we have adopted.
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?
C: Our design team is based in Colombia, a very vibrant country with a beautiful heritage and a rich palette that enriches our inspiration. The culture mix we experience in an every day basis help us feed our creativity from different points of view, the indigenous patterns from the south, the Caribbean colors from the north, the never ending biodiversity from the west are just a small glimpse of the resources we have to differentiate us from the rest.
FS: How do you work with companies?
C: We are part of a company, Corona. Working in a large size company implies synergy between multidisciplinary teams. Each team is an important organ in a whole body, so it is relevant the relationships, communication, relevant insights and accurate guidelines.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
C: We begin our design process by inquiring about the problem that is presented to us, is very important to understand the origin of the problem and question the goals and reach of every project, this will indicate us how we should approach the product and also help us define priorities.After having this things settled, we moved to the ideation stage, where we sketch as much as possible, we explore mostly the aesthetics and look of the product, slowly hinting towards functionality and integrating basic concepts of technology, materials and processes in 3D. Once the final look is settled with the stake holders through prototypes and renders, we pass the design to the engineering team, where a continuous conversation and iteration begins and we find a common ground where the design intent is feasible in mass production.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
C: cultivate friendships, weave a large network of contacts and friends. Sharpen eyesight, a designer is a context reader and problem solver. Be persistent, sometimes to achieve a goal will take more than one attempt. Specialize in a topic, try to get out of the pile and stand out. And be a great team player.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
C: We believe we must go from content to form, from idea to concept, from passion to expression.Design must be honest, truthful and meaningful. It must speak the language of the people it serves, it is convincing in form and functionality, it must show respect towards the user.
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
C: good context understanding, it means consumer´s needs to be translated into feasible and relevant solutions; representation skills which could be express by sketching or CAD; and aesthetic feeling, a good understanding of surfaces and how light plays with them... it is a hunt for a high-quality fit, feel and finish.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
C: We use hand sketch combined with digital sketch using sketchbook pro, Photoshop and sometimes illustrator, for 3D development, we use CREO 4 for creation and KeyShot for rendering, we do quick prototyping on a makerbot and more serious prototyping on a CNC machine using PU foam as raw material, and PU paint to simulate some finishes.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
C: Design not always ends with the product itself, the design process also includes communication and additional media material; It usually takes from one to two years from the very first brief definition to the product launch in the market, this duration varies depending on the amount of products to be develop in the collection.
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
C: We always work as a team, always sharing ideas and concerns; these give our design strength in character and help us being more critical and filter our thoughts towards really meaningful solutions. Our different backgrounds complement each other in a way that allow us to build ideas constructively thus giving every product a true meaning.
FS: How can people contact you?
C: Design Director: Nicolas Ochoa nochoa@corona.com.co
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.
Press Members: Register and login to request a custom interview with Corona.
| SOCIAL |
| + Add to Likes / Favorites | Send to My Email | Comment | Testimonials |
