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Interview with Frédéric Gooris |
Home > Designer Interviews > Frédéric Gooris |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Frédéric Gooris (FG) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Frédéric Gooris 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?
FG: I have always been a tinkerer, taking things apart and try to put them back together. After my Design studies in Antwerp, I obtained a Master-in-Design at the Domus Academy [Milan] in 1999. My working career started at the studios of Philippe Starck [Paris] and Stefano Giovannoni [Milan]. In 2004 I founded Studio Gooris in Milan and in 2010 I moved family and office to Hong Kong.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
FG: Studio Gooris is originally founded in Milan and now based in Hong Kong. It has built a reputation of fusing innovation with narratives. Our clients vary from global multinationals to innovative start-ups that work in a vast array of different sectors. Rather than specializing in a specific area, Studio Gooris prides itself to be a design studio at 360 degrees that is active in aviation, sanitary, illumination, health and wellness, eyewear, watches, baby products, retail and interior design.This is a conscious choice: it allows us to think from the user’s point of view rather than from an industry’s perspective, doing things the way they have always been done. By being exposed to a large variety of typologies of products and production techniques it is easy to do the cross-pollination of ideas and technologies to foster innovation and be disruptive, always mindful of the user as the protagonist.
FS: What is "design" for you?
FG: A dream turned into a reality.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
FG: I design all sorts of products. In general, I love the type of products that haven’t really evolved for a long time. Kids furniture is a good example, so we really have a lot of fun reinventing these.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
FG: My favorite design is probably TinTin’s rocket. Very iconic and it made people believe anything is possible.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
FG: A chair for a Shanghai company.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
FG: No particular favorite, but what we learn in one field we try to apply in other areas. Crosspollination is the catalyst for innovation.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
FG: In the bathroom or during running.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
FG: The concept! If the concept is not a bullseye, the project will run into trouble further down the line.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
FG: It’s a rollercoaster of frustration and excitement.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
FG: Mixed emotions. Happy, proud and relieved the design is finally there, but also a bit sad as the excitement of the unknown is gone. I am always attracted to what hasn’t been done yet.
FS: What makes a design successful?
FG: A successful design is able to reach a wide audience and makes a tangible contribution to society by solving real issues.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
FG: Does it serve a purpose? Does it have a reason to exist compared to what already exists?
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
FG: We tend to think that the world will not change, that evolution stops with us. Truth is that we are just a tiny step in an evolution that has been going on for millions of years. The responsibility of a designer is to provide dreams of how society could evolve, and back it up with valid proposals. Put very simply, the designer must facilitate society to evolve for the better.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
FG: I think the design field will broaden. In a world where many jobs will be replaced by AI, design thinking will be more important than ever.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
FG: My last exhibition was in Shenzhen with IDA (Italian Design Association) during the Shenzhen Design Week.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
FG: Curiosity feeds my creativity. It’s the little things that surprise every day where I find inspiration. To most people, these little things often pass by unnoticed, until you point it out. When they stop and look, they are equally surprised! I frequently use these little “discoveries” and make them more evident in my designs.
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?
FG: My design language is versatile and eclectic. It will adapt to the DNA of the brand I design for and to the narrative I want to transmit. I don’t focus on a single style to build my portfolio. That is why we make it a point to truly understand our customer’s brand experience. For Alessi you’ll see a very playful language, while for Rollogo it is very minimal and elegant. I feel more like a translator rather than someone who imposes his personality onto his customers.
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?
FG: I am from Belgium, studied for a while in England, did my master in Italy, worked first in Paris to later return to Milan and now it’s Hong Kong. Being exposed to a multitude of cultures is a must to able to identify narratives that will work for various markets. And if you want to create a truly global product you need to transcend cultural boundaries. From that perspective, to end up in a global metropolis like Hong Kong is an enormous added value.
FS: How do you work with companies?
FG: We work very closely with the companies, almost like if we are a part of them.
FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
FG: As the designer I have no idea of what I will deliver, but I know what I will cost to the company. It is a big leap of faith for the company. The professional track record and a good personal relationship provide good guidance for choosing a designer. A good relationship is very important to help overcome the difficulties which will surely emerge along the product development process. As for the track record, a friend once told me that if you think a professional is expensive, try an amateur.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
FG: We generally start from the utopia or what the ideal product should be. Once the goal is fixed, we break it down in steps on how to get there, a roadmap if you will. We also look different narratives, so the product can “talk” to the public. The right narrative is the onethat blends seamlessly with “ideal product”. It sounds quite easy, but in practice we start from lots of “half ideas” that then through many iterations slowly merge together into different concepts.
FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
FG: The ’64 VespaThe electric carThe crystal glasses from my grandparentsThe coffee mokkaThe Mah-Jong Sofa
FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
FG: In the morning, I put on my jeans and t-shirt to go the studio. After an hour or two of tedious emailing, I get to do what I love to do: dream up stuff and figure out solutions. With music in the background of course. Towards the end of the day I go home to spend time with my family. After the girls go to bed most of the time I go back out to sport or to do networking.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
FG: Don’t be afraid to fail. You only have to be right once to make a real difference, and maybe be successful.
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
FG: The positive thing is that I am always doing my hobby and never at work. The negative side is that it not easy to make a living as an independent designer.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
FG: Never fall in love with your own ideas.
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
FG: To reset your mind every single time you start a new project. Forget the preconditions in your mind and in the industry, to be ready to question everything.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
FG: Adobe package, Alias design, hammer, Dremel, paper (a lot), my library…
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
FG: Reduce the presentations to a bare minimum and go after proof-of-concept as fast as possible through quick-and-dirty prototyping. Understanding what is important at which stage of the development is crucial not to lose time with things that will change anyways.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
FG: It depends. It can range from 6 months to 5 years.
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
FG: Where do you get your inspiration?
FS: What was your most important job experience?
FG: Probably the food service for China Southern Airlines. It was such a complex project because of the multiple end users (the cabin personnel, the cooks, the catering personnel and the passengers), the complex infrastructure (base station and outer stations). There were just so many variables that it took me 3 months to wrap my head around the problem, and still we had to maintain a coherent brand feeling from economy all the way to first class.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
FG: Alessi, China Southern Airlines, DeSter, Ferrero, Sun Hing Vision Group and Seiko to name a few. Then there are the edgy startups like Rollogo, Ave Concept and Bombol.
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
FG: I love to do product design, preferably the most ordinary objects that have the potential of touching the lives of millions of people. It gives true meaning to what we do.
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
FG: We are moving more into the entrepreneurial direction, “Business Design” if that is how you can call it. We look at opportunities in the market by dreaming up hypothetical ideal products and figure out if there are better business models together with experts in the field. It is more work up front, but it gives us very clear goals and guidelines for the creation of disruptive products, rather than looking how to simply improve existing products. Our company Bombol is the first project of its kind, and the next brand is already in the pipeline. It is very exciting because it pulls us out of our designer comfort zone and it enriches our team with so much experience that is very valuable for the daily design consultancy jobs as well.
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
FG: A mix of both actually. When we get a brief, we all recluse ourselves in our cocoons for some time. After a while we show each other what we came up with, mostly “half ideas”. Through the discussions it becomes clear which half ideas/ideas move people the most and puzzle them together into meaningful concepts.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
FG: I want to talk about all of them, but I can’t…
FS: How can people contact you?
FG: E-mail (info@studiogooris.com) or phone (+852 3462 3504)
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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