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Interview with Ian Wallace |
Home > Designer Interviews > Ian Wallace |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Ian Wallace (IW) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Ian Wallace 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?
IW: What always fascinated me was having the satisfaction of being able to offer something that people would die for. My purpose is to sell to the mind, not to the people. I'll become the designer that change the way of thinking, to communicate the subjective objectively, to make people understand that things are worth more for what they mean than for what they seem to be. I'll activate the emotions of the human being, I'll feel how the client feels, I'll use action verbs and I'll always have a smile on my face.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
IW: I'm a freelance designer with 23 years old. I've been working and delivering confidence in my designs from so far to great countries such as France, England, Italy, Dubai, China, Egypt, Belgium, Holland, Thailand, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru and all of Chile.
FS: What is "design" for you?
IW: Design is science, it's projecting. It's to convey emotions and reach the user's heart.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
IW: I love to create packaging designs and transmit emotions with it.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
IW: Actually I don't have favourite designs. All of them have a different history to tell. That's the purpose of a good design.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
IW: My first project was for the school where I was studying. I had to make a poster to promote a sport competition that took place there. At those times I thought it was the best poster in the world, because as the first job you get that's what you think ... Today, when I see the poster I want to mourn for how bad I did hahaha
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
IW: My favourite platform now is Pinterest. It's a good source of inspiration.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
IW: I think that if you don't have references and you don't find it you will never be creative. The moment when creativity take place is when you are working for it.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
IW: First of all you must fall in love with the brand you are working with, feel how the brand feels and then begin the process of insights, value propositions, target audience and start to exploit the creativity to finish with the best project.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
IW: The emotions I feel when I design are many, it's like when you eat your favourite dish and you feel all those emotions of love, passion, happiness and you don't want it to end.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
IW: Satisfaction doesn't end when you finish a design project, but it ends when the client loves what you did and that bond of trust is generated.
FS: What makes a design successful?
IW: When a design is successful is when you leave a mark on the user. That he feels identified with it, generate canvases of fidelity and love for what he sees.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
IW: All designs have their purpose. If you hit the nail on the head and you reach the desired audience the design is well done. The problem is when you made a great proposal but your target audience is different from the brand.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
IW: There are many reasonable reasons to take environmental aspects into account in the design process. These aspects help us meet the client's requirements. They place us in a stronger competitive and commercial position. They are an important factor for us to maintain an innovative credibility. But above all, they help us achieve our goal of reducing the total environmental impact of our products throughout their life cycle.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
IW: You can only live in the present, both past and future don't exist and never will. What these two aspects of time are, is electricity in our brains, and the use we give them is determined by our personal perception, serving both to justify a series of choices we make voluntarily in the present, and to convince ourselves of the reality that we are interested in living, whether it is creative or destructive. Interest derives from how we have learned in our childhood and youth to experience the present.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
IW: My last exhibition was at the Andres Bello University, in chile, where I exhibited and presented an original and creative design of carpooling (shared vehicle) app. This exhibition was successful and I won the first place award for the best technological innovation and design. My next exhibition I would love it if it were in a museum where I could have the opportunity to show my best works and that people could comment and debate about them.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
IW: The best moment to feed creativity is looking for references and filling with different ideas. Many people say that creativity comes to you when you are in the shower, when you play guitar or when you go out to get some air, but I am not very partisan of that since they are unconscious things. As Picasso said: Inspiration comes, but it has to find you working.
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?
IW: My design style is based on minimalism. I believe in less is more. To bring so much information to a synthesis that really meets the objective.
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?
IW: I currently live Barcelona. I came to study a master in advertising design and creativity in a city where creativity flourishes every day. It's a spring that never ends. Barcelona is known for its biggest and most influential artists such as Picasso, Gaudí, Dalí and Adriá. The whole history that this city transmits leads me to breathe new ideas every day.
FS: How do you work with companies?
IW: Most of the time I usually work as a freelance designer from my home studio. I have a view in front of the sea in my house that inspires me, relaxes and gives emotions to be able to transmit them in my designs.
FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
IW: Showing attitude and passion in front of things makes you interesting. If you love what you do, that will translate into your results. The great designer is not the one behind a screen designing all day, but the one who feels like the client does it, the one who looks for new ideas day by day and the one who wants to transmit emotions to touch the hearts of people.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
IW: My design process comes from falling in love with the brand for which I am going to work, then generating a series of insights, seeing what the value proposition is and the audience that you want to reach and finally generating a powerful concept to carry it out in the best project.
FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
IW: My favourite design items at home are my electric Fender Stratocaster guitar, the terrace with the great view, my
FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
IW: Usually in the morning I go to the gym about 3 hours where I'm very happy. In the afternoon I love sharing with my brother and mom where we play guitar, we laugh and ask for sushi to share. Many times we also share with my girlfriend and go out to explore new places or go to the beach to spend the afternoon and see the beautiful sunset every day. At night we always share a movie together or play table games eating some snacks and drinking a spritz aperol.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
IW: To the designers who are just starting my advice is to work hard and propose dreams, not goals. Whatever you do, the design is a beautiful creative environment where there are no limits of expression. Dare to face new challenges every day and dream, always dream of being the best.
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
IW: The negative and positive is chosen by oneself. Many people talk about that designers make few money. But that's the designer who doesn't try hard, who doesn't look for opportunities, the designer who doesn't motivate himself and who doesn't love what he does but takes it as an income to survive. Money doesn't fall from the sky or by magic, you have to make the most of your life and sacrifice some things doing what you really love. I love designing and because of this I have been presented with very good job opportunities.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
IW: To be professional and work with effort.
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
IW: Be a leader, know how to work in a team and never say that something is wrong. All ideas are good, you just have to work on them and know how to create a powerful and original concept.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
IW: My inspiration comes from many sides. Pinterest is an excellent inspiration tool. Reading design books, packaging, advertising, strategy is also filling you with information and new points of view already experienced by professionals. And finally, seeing what happens on a daily basis is the best tool to solve the problems we have today in society.
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
IW: With organization everything is possible. There is always time for something new if you know how to organize and you have your methods ready. I used to be super disorganized but with the practice of new ways I was able to overcome it.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
IW: Speaking of time in a job is relative. If the client needs your work urgently you do not have so much time to get a really original job. That is why I am from the idea of working hard every day and trying to do the best job possible to fulfill what they ask and never leave aside the creativity of the work done.
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
IW: People always ask me which is the area of design that interests me the most.
FS: What was your most important job experience?
IW: My most important work experience was at Tierra Vientos Winery where I got to know what packaging design is, working as the sole designer of the company and falling in love with it. He also brought me 4 international awards for the best packaging design which opened many doors for me in the next projects I developed and where they started asking me to do work for several countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
IW: In this last time I have had the opportunity to work for several countries in the world working in very different design environments, from designing clothes for brands in my country to helping agencies with my designs in Dubai.
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
IW: I love the packaging design area. Now, when carrying out these studies in Barcelona I am very interested in advertising and branding.
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
IW: My plans are to continue dreaming and facing new challenges. Be with the greatest in the world of communication and be able to learn from the best.
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
IW: I'm currently working as a freelance designer.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
IW: Not yet. I'm dedicating most of my time to the master I'm doing in Barcelona.
FS: How can people contact you?
IW: People can contact me via e-mail: iwgdisenos@gmail.com and instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ianwallacedesign/
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
IW: Love what you do. Follow your passion and you will reach success.
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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