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Interview with Que Shebley |
Home > Designer Interviews > Que Shebley |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Que Shebley (QS) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Que Shebley 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?
QS: I always loved the idea of creating a physical design out of a thought or idea, that fascinated me. Growing up around my father an entrepreneur who specialized in importing and selling high quality leather shoes in his small shops, my mother worked as a jewelry expert. I always knew i wanted to bring my ideas to life and fashion design became my route of self expression and the tool to bring my visions to life.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
QS: The Q brand uses 3D technology to help you design the perfect shoe or bag, with millions of customization options. By combining high quality materials, simple technology, old world craftsmanship, and the perfect fit i knew that you will only need one brand, designed for you by you. We house some of the most talented artisans in the world, specializing in hand made shoes and leather goods as well as patina maestros.We than create seasonal collections & use our advanced 3D technology to give you the option to customize and redesign those collections, than it is hand crafted and shipped to you anywhere in the world.
FS: What is "design" for you?
QS: Design is self expression, not just for self but everything around us in the world. Nature expresses it self through design, it communicates our wants, needs and desires, same as a person would, we all crave to self express through design.Design is art.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
QS: I love designing menswear in general, especially working with leathers and different textures and hardware. Footwear is the current route i toke on for design as i believe shoes are one of the most important self expression tools in an outfit.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
QS: So hard to choose one, but if i had to choose one i would say its my latest creation called “Arabic Matrix patina wholecut”. This design was created with different arabic typography from different eras, it starts with ancient typography, than it is combined with a futuristic symbol like form of the arabic typography, and finally it ends with the most recent modern form of arabic typography. Laid out in a matrix like code, engraved into italian crust leather, we than apply a unique patina method that gives a brush stroke like effect to bring out the beauty of the engraving.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
QS: Mens tailored shirt
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
QS: My favorite material is genuine leather & python leather.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
QS: When i travel, i get inspired by the world around me and that motivates me to create.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
QS: I focus on details that bring out unique effects in each design, i than build around it the silhouette.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
QS: I can have many different emotions when i am designing, usually it is derived by an emotional story in history that i can connect to than it is combined with something current or futuristic.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
QS: I get very excited when i envision something clearly and i know exactly what it should look like.
FS: What makes a design successful?
QS: Uniqueness, practicality, and boldness.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
QS: How virtually appealing it is in terms of lines, shapes and silhouette, than color than the materials.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
QS: The responsibility of a designer is to constantly break boundaries, never settle for good enough and reach for excellence in design.They are also responsible to use their design to create awareness or to somehow symbolize something significant in the world for a good cause.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
QS: The future of design is bespoke. The world will be driven more toward personalization and customized designs as the technology is advancing and it is already possible to create something truly unique for every single person.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
QS: My last collection was showcased in New York Fashion Week fall 2020. My next collection showcase will be during Milan fashion week in September 2021 to showcase my 2022 spring/summer collection.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
QS: My inspiration can come from anywhere, but mainly i am always inspired by history, different events or eras and than combined with a futuristic vision of current events or future projected events.I always try to travel often as nature and the world around me and different culture feed my inspiration.
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?
QS: I would say my design style is old world elegance with a modern twist, it is bold elegant sophisticated and witty. My style of design usually represents my way of thinking and different characters in the world, i am inspired by certain personas and characters and i envision how their lifestyle would be wearing my designs. My approach towards design is to redefine what luxury is.
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?
QS: I currently live in united states. I believe there is some effect in my designs because of my surroundings, mainly due to the type of customers i design for and what they would like. The pros is the united states is pretty diverse and there are so manu different types of styles and desires to be fulfilled so this gives me as a designer the options to constantly change styles and inspirations. As for cons in menswear it is still pretty limited in terms of what is accepted, it is still more of a conservative country when it comes to menswear style but it is improving slowly.
FS: How do you work with companies?
QS: Sometimes i world in collaboration with other company where i create small capsule collections for them or we design and produce a collection for them.
FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
QS: My suggestion would be to not limit too much the creativity of the designer, understand the designers style and aesthetics before you approached them to work with them. Companies can select a good designer but understanding their wants and needs and how this designers can fulfill without too many constraints, otherwise your looking for a manufacturer not a designer.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
QS: I start out with an idea or persona, i than look for inspiration built around this idea, usually from past eras combined with modern events, than i create a mood-board or vision board. Create either some sketch concepts of the design on some models or just create the design it self, than i refine it again for the final draft, choose the top designs of the collection, than i take it to the team and we create the additional complementary styles, colors, shades finishes and so on to finalize the collection, we produce prototypes, finalize the last styles for approval and launch the collection.
FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
QS: My double monk dress/sneaker style called the Q1, my patina briefcase i carry everywhere, two sneakers from the last collection and finally
FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
QS: Each day i review my calendar for the day, either to follow up on pending project deadlines with the team, work on a new collection, meet or setup meetings with new clients, start idea for new technology based services to further enhance our products, and other operational related duties.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
QS: I would say think business first before art. As an artist you can always be as creative and expressive as you like but in the end of the day without a business mindset your art or work may never be seen or supported without keeping in mind and having a business base mindset in order to reach these customers. Business psychology is important for any designer/artist, as it is the medium to reach your next client.
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
QS: Positives would be working your passion and being able to self express through art and design to others. To reach the world and even change their lives with your art is so satisfying. Some of the negatives would be the self sacrifice at the beginning, the time consumer hard work it may take for you to even reach any sort of success can be very over baring both on your professional and personal life. It is not a life for everyone and one must truly truly love and choose this lifestyle.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
QS: Never be mediocre
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
QS: Technical background is important. You can’t design a tangible sellable product without understanding the real life technicalities for it to become physical first in order to create a successful product
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
QS: Illustrator, photoshop, CAD, ipad, sketch book and pencils. Different technical design books such as pattern making, sketching, grading. Software books for 3d rendering. Inspirations come different everyday, i like to let it happen naturally, i keep photos backed up to always look back on them as well for inspo.
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
QS: I try to break it down into times in the day, usually my inspirations comes late at night when im relaxing so i try to remember it the second morning and work on it. Than i finish the details on another day.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
QS: It varies on the complexity of the product, but i have created a full system over the years to make it alot more efficient and less time consuming. For the everyday products such as my shoes and bag, it is almost as a template style ith specific materials and patterns to be used to make them consistent and allow the system it self stay efficient. If it is a completely new product it can take from 3-6 months for prototyping, sampling, approval etc..
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
QS: How do you come up with these ideas and make them actually tangible? The answer can be long, but to summarize it, i would say resilience to be mediocre, and challenge your own ideas to create the perfect balance of creativity, originality and tangibility.
FS: What was your most important job experience?
QS: Working and being around my father as a child.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
QS: It started out mainly business professional men between 23-45 who enjoy the finer things in life. It did grow after entering women’s wear with also business professionals and fashionistas 24-40 all around the world who enjoy high quality unique products.
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
QS: I love the prototyping faze. Its so satisfying to create a brand new design and see it come to life just like you imagined.
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
QS: Near future plans is to expand the product line in my brand, making it a truly one stop shop for bespoke luxury for the modern man and woman. On a longer goal, i would like to expand the company into luxury interiors, art & sculpture, and beauty products.
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
QS: Both, sometimes i create the design completely my self and sometimes its with the team. It varies on the product as usually the new product lines are created by me but than further developed and tweaked for more commerciality by the team.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
QS: Yes im excited to talk about my new collection im working on which is bespoke suits. An entire new experience of custom made luxury suits for me (women in the future) to give you the ability to have a fully bespoke look from head to toe, suits, shoes belt and bag.
FS: How can people contact you?
QS: Info@shopqbyqs.com
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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