Designer Interview

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Interview with Bram Kerkhofs at Wednesday 27th of February 2013

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?
BK: I am trained as a jewellery designer and always liked the concepts in art, jewellery and design. Thats why I always search for an extra benefit in the things I design. Mostly this benefit is situated in the use of the product.

FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
BK: Bram Kerkhofs Design Studio produces, communicates and distributes his own products. It is settled in Leuven, Belgium. The Design Studio is part of Stadsgasten, a collective of creative organisations and companies.

FS: What is "design" for you?
BK: Designing is a way to offer solutions to a problem. Parallel, a design is a way to give insight intp concepts like form and technique to the public.

FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
BK: The complexity of lighting fixtures in which the design has to meet more needs satisfy more.

FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
BK: The techniques I use rest on gravity and friction.

FS: When do you feel the most creative?
BK: When I am working concentrated over a longer period.

FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
BK: The form in function of the technique

FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
BK: gratification

FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
BK: enjoy

FS: What makes a design successful?
BK: Giving an answer to a problem, a concrete situation or need.

FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
BK: The application, the form and the quality.

FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
BK: Helping the public to give answers and solutions to a specific need.
Giving the public insight to the concepts of form and technique.

FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
BK: The design field will evolve into many directions. One is designing peer to peer. An other is open source designing, ...

FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
BK: My last exhibition was as a participant in Set off. A group exhibition in an old factory in Leuven. I showed a various installation of 7 of the same lightning fixtures in an orderly and a disorderly composition.

FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.

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