RICARDO GRAHAM FERREIRA
LEGENDARY INTERVIEW
Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Ricardo Graham Ferreira ("RGF") for their original perspective and innovative approach to design as well as their creative lifestyle, we are very pleased to share our interview with our distinguished readers.
DL: Could you please tell us a bit about your design background and education?
RGF : I have studied Marketing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but later on, as I discovered woodworking, I chased woodworking schools and finally, after 4 years attending 2 different schools in Europe, one in Italy the other in France, I got, in 2006, my degree in cabinet making.
DL: What motivates you to design in general, why did you become a designer?
RGF : Designing is for me I way of transforming ideas into things. I'm not a scholar designer. I became a designer because of my work with wood. Something that happened through the use of the hands.
DL: What do you design, what type of designs do you wish to design more of?
RGF : Mostly wooden furniture. Objects as well. Sculptures now and then.
DL: What should young designers do to become a design legend like you?
RGF : Legend?! I prefere not focusing on that. I love to donate forms to wood using my hands, love the feeling of the wood, the use of tools. That's it. If we are really interested in something, we develope ways of expressign ideas, of learning, of increasing skills, of comunicating. To became someone known for your work is the result of being ones self into it, it's not a main goal.
DL: What distinguishes between a good designer and a great designer?
RGF : I don't know. Maybe is to be yourself. To love what you do. Meaning, to have interest to learn and to explore investigating ideas, encouraging yourself to being adventurous.
DL: What makes a good design a really good design, how do you evaluate good design?
RGF : Good design has a context. Is a design that meets needs. Be function, beauty, emotion... But, free from vanity.
RICARDO GRAHAM FERREIRA
LEGENDARY DESIGNER
WOODWORKING ARRIVED AS A JOYFUL ACTIVITY TO THE LIFE OF THIS BRAZILIAN ARTIST, BORN IN RIO DE JANEIRO. AFTER GRADUATING IN MARKETING AND WORKING A SHORT TIME WITH IT, RICARDO GRAHAM MADE AN IMPORTANT DECISION IN HIS LIFE AND GAVE HIM SELF A CHANCE TO LEARN WHAT HE HAS LOVED SINCE A LITTLE KID: WOODWORKING. IN 2002 HE WENT TO ITALY. MORE PRECISELY TO THE BRIANZA REGION. AND THERE STAYED FOR 3 YEARS LEARNING "EBANISTERIA" IN MEDA, "THE CITY OF FURNITURE MAKING". AFTER THAT WENT TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE WHERE HE OBTAINED A HIGHER DEGREE IN WOODWORKING, AFTER ONE YEAR ATTENDING THE ÉCOLE SUPÉRIEURE D'ÉBÉNISTERIE D’AVIGNON, A PRESTIGIOUS SCHOOL LOCATED IN PROVENCE. HIS WORKSHOP, KNOWN AS “OEBANISTA”, WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2006, AND IT'S LOCATED AT NOVA FRIBURGO, A CITY FOUND ON THE GREEN MOUNTAINS OF RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL. NOW, AFTER 14 YEARS OF WOODWORKING, RICARDO CAN SAY THAT WHAT BROUGHT HIS WORK TO LIGHT, WAS THE LOVE FOR THE PRACTICE.
