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Interview with Edu Torres |
Home > Designer Interviews > Edu Torres |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Edu Torres (ET) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Edu Torres 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?
ET: I have many influences from designers who look for iconicity in their designs like Saul Bass. I have also learned a lot from designers whose maximum is functionality with a clean and precise aesthetic, such as Paul Rand, Dieter Rams, Reid Miles, and Massimo Vignelli. I think since childhood I have always had a concern for the arts and drawing. I didn't know until I tried other trades, and I realized that what made me happy and made me feel fulfilled was the design.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
ET: I work as a freelance, and I focus on creating digital imagery and visual solutions for brands, products, and culture. The good thing about being freelance is that I only need a PC to work remotely to worldwide clients. So you can be versatile and taking personal control of all you do.
FS: What is "design" for you?
ET: For me, the design is to materialize responses to needs in a functional and aesthetic way, and always looks for innovation.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
ET: I like projects where you have the creative freedom to contribute your vision about what is being created. I especially like to design projects with motion, because they are more fun to do.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
ET: I don't really have any favorites, and although it sounds cliché, I think the next one I do should be the favorite. Still, I'm satisfied with a small ad I created for the Wacom graphics tablet brand. It is an animation where we see the reverse process of creating works of art, where the elements come together in the pen, where all that creativity came from.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
ET: I don't remember very well, but I would say that while I was a student at the Faculty of Design, I created a logo for an electronic money institution. Nowadays I can see many mistakes there, but I was a student, let's be understanding.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
ET: I am specialized in creating digital images, so I definitely prefer CGI.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
ET: Generally when I am not overworked, or when I have more free time, it is when more ideas come to me. I guess being relaxed helps free your mind so you can think of other things.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
ET: I try to ensure that each element is in the place it should be. Finding a visual balance where everything is perfectly integrated, nothing should be leftover or missing. The image must be as clean, clear, and concise as possible for what you want to convey.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
ET: It depends deeply on the project. Projects that start out as fun end up turning into a nightmare. There are others in which as the project evolves you will be more captivating and exciting. But the best is undoubtedly being part of the creative direction of a project, it is there where you get more emotionally involved because the project becomes a little more yours. So you can get to feel many different emotions in the design process, and even with the same project.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
ET: Satisfaction. It's always fun to tell someone you know or family, hey look, I made this!
FS: What makes a design successful?
ET: A good concept and good execution.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
ET: Aesthetics is the first thing you see of design, as it is with the naked eye. Then you can judge if it works or not if the form goes with the function, but the first contact is always visual, so an aesthetic that is not consistent with the product is undoubtedly the first point to value for me in design.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
ET: Good design makes us all live in a better world. If we work on products that are increasingly efficient, more sustainable, and visually more pleasant, we will make everything around us a little better. As designers we have a duty to try to improve the way we see the world.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
ET: I think we are becoming more and more digital. So I think the future will be more and more digital. I also think we are going towards the exclusive and customizable.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
ET: My last exhibition was at a design festival in Barcelona. The next one will be soon, in Berlin, but I cannot give more information for now.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
ET: I love surrealism, the way they mix elements. The visual culture of cinema and photography helps me to improve the compositions, the light, and the way you frame an image. And all the organic textures, shapes, and movements of nature.
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?
ET: I like to experiment with the style and try not to typecast in one in particular. I always work to create iconic, clean and accurate images. They tend to have surreal and abstract inspiration.
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?
ET: I live in Barcelona. I am lucky that there is a good design culture here. Many design studios in the country are concentrated here, so the city regularly has many exhibitions, festivals, and general movement around the world of design. Obviously we are influencing each other within this area, also by proximity. But nowadays thanks to the exhibition on social networks, we can see the work of any designer around the world, and that is very enriching for the entire group.
FS: How do you work with companies?
ET: I have two types of clients in general, the companies themselves and the agencies. Sometimes the brand contacts me directly via email, although the most common is that there is an agency that is developing the campaign and it is the one that finally contacts me to execute the visuals.
FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
ET: I think that the projects improve remarkably when the companies trust the criteria of the designers when making decisions on the project. They know their product very well, and they know their audience and what they want to communicate very well. For the way of doing it, the designer's criteria should be very important. I think that companies can be successful selecting a designer seeing the projects that he has directed or the personal projects that that designer does, there you can see the good taste of each one.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
ET: My design process is quite traditional. It starts with the idea, reference searching, some quick sketches, modeling, texturing, lighting, refinement, rendering, and post-production.
FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
ET: My little collection of retro cameras, Reid Miles vinyl covers for Blue Note, turntable, a signature jazz guitar and a head massager that I love.
FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
ET: I get up, some coffee, I start working, eat, I continue working, a little leisure, and sleep. Turning back.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
ET: I would tell them to focus on doing something that makes them happy and, above all, takes time to do a lot of personal work. For me personal work is the most important thing for a designer since you can show what you are, it allows you to experiment and get to know yourself better, and you learn to know where your limits are and what you can do to continue learning.
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
ET: Positive there are many things. For example, each project is new, and you can be doing new things all your life, avoid boredom. As a "negative" part I would say that it is difficult to disconnect the mind, it is always working trying to find solutions or visualizing how you could do one thing or another. The design is always with you.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
ET: I don't have a golden rule, but I would say that you should always try to stick to what the project needs. Sometimes we try to design forcing to include what we want to add and that does not go at all with the essence of the project, so you have to be smart to know how to make what stands out is the project itself.
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
ET: Wisdom, visual culture, synthesis ability, good taste, and a point of intuition.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
ET: To search for references I use the internet a lot, you can find anything quickly and comfortably. Also what you find is found by many more people, so books are generally a very effective source of references and something more exclusive since they are not a click away. As for software, I use many programs, but the core is Cinema 4D, after effects and photoshop.
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
ET: It's hard. As a freelance, and designer you are always working, literally always. I try to find a balance but I always end up spending a lot of time on projects, it is the fact that your work is also your hobby.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
ET: It depends on every project, from days to months!
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
ET: The "how" you did something. I think that people are interested in knowing the process of the projects, how and what you did to obtain a concrete result.
FS: What was your most important job experience?
ET: I did all the branding for a top-level sporting event in Spain, the King's Cup in basketball. It was a very gratifying experience since I was working in the same stadium, creating all the necessary visual content, while watching the games at the foot of the track, sharing a hotel with the players, and with freedom to move to any corner of the stadium.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
ET: I worked for a bunch of clients, like Samsung, Google, Rimowa, Wacom, Louis Vuitton, Chaumet, Saks, Moritz, Pepsi, Seat, Munich, Bombay Sapphire, Desigual, Volkswagen, Audi, Stuart Weitzman, CFDA, Tommy Hilfiger, ACB...
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
ET: I love the motion design. I really enjoy the projects related to creating animated images.
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
ET: I would love to be able to work creating credits for movies or series. Credit titles are really nice pieces to work for people who are passionate about typography, design and cinema, as it mixes and synthesizes many disciplines in just a few minutes.
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
ET: I usually work alone, although sometimes I need to ask some colleagues for help and support to help me if the project is too big for just one person.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
ET: I currently have some projects underway, but they are all commercial and unfortunately I cannot speak about them because I am subject to confidentiality rules.
FS: How can people contact you?
ET: Via email at edu@edutorres.es.
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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