TOMI WORLD

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer TOMI WORLD ("TW") 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?

TW : My graduation background is at communication design and early after i went studying computer engineering. In my teenager path the goal was to be an architect but things get blurry in my head and i finally went to graphic and communication design fields.

DL: What motivates you to design in general, why did you become a designer?

TW : I became a designer because i was good at finding bad things and get solutions to solve them. I was very curious and i was deeply in love with fabrication and building from the scratch.

DL: Did you choose to become a designer, or you were forced to become one?

TW : I choose design between other options i had in mind when i was a teenager art student.

DL: What do you design, what type of designs do you wish to design more of?

TW : I love to design experiences and build consumer journeys in order to improve the impact of the products in people's awareness.

DL: What should young designers do to become a design legend like you?

TW : I don't see my self as legend and the best advice o can give for a young designer is to never thing about that because it can blurs the real goal. In the end of the day what matters is to work hard, think harder, and get some pleasure in the process.

DL: What distinguishes between a good designer and a great designer?

TW : Good designers solve problems, great designers they don't just solve problem, they also avoid future ones.

DL: What makes a good design a really good design, how do you evaluate good design?

TW : I think a way to measure design e to measure the bad faces it can take from the world. A good product design solve problems but also upgrade the user overall experience in a fullness way.

DL: What is the value of good design? Why should everyone invest in good design?

TW : Because good design is good for everyone.

DL: What would you design and who would you design for if you had the time?

TW : I would love to design for the bands and musicians i love most, or in other hand to design a house for the older days of my live.

DL: What is the dream project you haven’t yet had time to realize?

TW : I would love to design a electric bike.

DL: What is your secret recipe of success in design, what is your secret ingredient?

TW : Bold Details.

DL: Who are some other design masters and legends you get inspired from?

TW : Raymond Loye, David Carson, Peter Saville, John Maeda, John Ive, Dieter Rams.

DL: What are your favorite designs by other designers, why do you like them?

TW : The one that pops up in my mind are the first color collection of iMac from John Ive. I really think they are very edgy for his time and even before his time they were a truly timeless design peace.

DL: What is your greatest design, which aspects of that design makes you think it is great?

TW : I cannot elect a single one but i can remember one in particular that i can highlight because it is related to a great experience i had working with some great team. The work was a film poster for "ANA" short film, and it was done during a film festival weekend.

DL: How could people improve themselves to be better designers, what did you do?

TW : Read, sketch, think, read, observe, absorve, listen, listen, read, sketch, think, repeat, try, build, try, repeat, sketch again, listen, read, observe, go out, go cinema, go music, repeat, get feedback, give feedback, sketch, build, repeat, sleep, capuchino, repeat...

DL: If you hadn’t become a designer, what would you have done?

TW : Buildings Engineer.

DL: How do you define design, what is design for you?

TW : Design is about improving life and get things easier or simply funnier or even just cheaper.

DL: Who helped you to reach these heights, who was your biggest supporter?

TW : One art professor i had in my teenager time. He was engineer and was giving classes in design at my school long ago.

DL: What helped you to become a great designer?

TW : I like to see my self just as designer because "great designer" is for the ones i love most and inspire me.

DL: What were the obstacles you faced before becoming a design master?

TW : Maybe the biggest one we can face is the infinity of choice. Today we have millions ways to do things and one of the biggest challenges we have is to decide which ones to take. Sometimes the thing is not to have something in the but in the other is to have thousand paths to follow.

DL: How do you think designers should present their work?

TW : They do not just need to design the product they should design also their presentation to all the stakeholders .

DL: What’s your next design project, what should we expect from you in future?

TW : For now my biggest project on the pipeline is to improve UX design for the touch less experiences.

DL: What’s your ultimate goal as a designer?

TW : To improve people's Life.

DL: What people expect from an esteemed designer such as yourself?

TW : To puch forward the limits of what we can accomplish.

DL: How does design help create a better society?

TW : Design is all about that.

DL: What are you currently working on that you are especially excited about?

TW : I'm now working on the long run projects and that's always exciting.

DL: Which design projects gave you the most satisfaction, why?

TW : Or very little things minimal improvements or large experiences that impact tens of thousand lives. The special thing is to get exited about the challenge and just like Forrest Gump would say "..we never know what we gonna get".

DL: What would you like to see changed in design industry in the coming years?

TW : I would like to see more design to have a bigger role in the C-level on the vast majority of the companies. I see big opportunities for the executive boarders to enrol designers to the big management decisions.

DL: Where do you think the design field is headed next?

TW : I think the next level for design field is the C-Level. Design must be addressed to the every long run decisions of every company.

DL: How long does it take you to finalize a design project?

TW : It all depends of the challenge it runs for. Different kind of objects results in different amounts of time to designing it.

DL: When you have a new design project, where do you start?

TW : I start always listening.

DL: What is your life motto as a designer?

TW : Design must improve.

DL: Do you think design sets the trends or trends set the designs?

TW : Design the way i see it is not about following but about timeless.

DL: What is the role of technology when you design?

TW : Big role because tech is the ultimate human factor in everything we do since we leave the cages.

DL: What kind of design software and equipment do you use in your work?

TW : iMac, Adobe CC, Wacom Pen, Sketch, Hype...

DL: What is the role of the color, materials and ambient in design?

TW : They are tools and ingredients we must use wisely having the final goal in mind and not letting the part be more important than all the rest.

DL: What do you wish people to ask about your design?

TW : I would love to people don't talk about my design and talk about the great experience they had instead.

DL: When you see a new great design or product what comes into your mind?

TW : I always try to pursue the path before that result in order to learn something from it.

DL: Who is your ideal design partner? Do you believe in co-design?

TW : Yes i really thing co-design could be a bold move for getting things done in a better way. My ideal partner is someone that listen to the same frequency but in different tone in order to get friendly fights in the process.

DL: Which people you interacted had the most influence on your design?

TW : My colleagues, my friends and my students.

DL: Which books you read had the most effect on your design?

TW : Emotional Design book by Donald Norman (2003).

DL: How did you develop your skills as a master designer?

TW : Just like a sports athlete you should practice every day, as much as you can.

DL: Irrelative of time and space, who you would want to meet, talk and discuss with?

TW : Steve Jobs.

DL: How do you feel about all the awards and recognition you had, is it hard to be famous?

TW : It's always a good feeling to have our work being recognised by others but in the end of the day what matter is the day after, and for that we must always be focused on the "Next".

DL: What is your favorite color, place, food, season, thing and brand?

TW : White, India, bread, spring, camera, Apple

DL: Please tell us a little memoir, a funny thing you had experienced as a designer?

TW : My first work was to design a cd cover for a girl i was trying to impress.

DL: What makes your day great as a designer, how do you motivate yourself?

TW : Everyday should be great, the way to accomplish that is to pursue it in a very bold way.

DL: When you were a little child, was it obvious that you would become a great designer?

TW : I don't think so, but i was clear that i always had a critic vision about everything.

DL: What do you think about future; what do you see will happen in thousand years from now?

TW : One day everyone will do just what they want because everything else could be done already by non-humans.

DL: Please tell us anything you wish your fans to know about you, your design and anything else?

TW : Don't look for designers they should be as invisible as possible.