Saïd Belmir

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Saïd Belmir ("SB") 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?

SB : I did a master of architecture in Brussels, where I had the opportunity to study design in several aspects: Social design in an urban scale, furniture design, graphic design, and webdesign.

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

SB : I find my motivation in the pleasure that I take when I create objects that express my ideas. Design is another form of communication that reaches users in a more implicit and sensitive way than traditional ways.

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

SB : I chose to become a designer and I had no relationship in this world before starting my studies in this direction.

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

SB : I like to design furniture that express purely physical balance and that have original structures. I like that the design object can express a concept, an idea.

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

SB : To become a design legend, you have to be able to create something that is iconic. I do not yet consider my work as legendary, it is still too early and presumptuous to award me this title, but I hope wholeheartedly to achieve it.

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

SB : A good designer does what we expected from him, and a great designer does what we expected of him and exceeds our expectations. The great designer adds to his products answers to needs that we had not yet identified as a user.

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

SB : I try to find out if the design is unreleased, if it responds ingeniously to a problem, and if by the answer it brings, it encompasses a broader reflection than the basic instructions.

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

SB : A good design is a timeless design, a design charged with intelligence, which expresses an idea, and which could become a source of inspiration.

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

SB : I would like to continue my research on assemblies that require neither glue nor screws, and create a whole range of furniture easy to assemble, without tool or special preparation. I would like if one day the opportunity presents itself, offer my services to brands of furnishings.

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

SB : It's a jealously guarded secret.

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

SB : It is still too early to define a miracle recipe that will work systematically. I will be able to answer this question if in the future I win prizes regularly.

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

SB : My references are mainly related to the world of architecture, such as Eero Saarinen, Kazuyo Sejima, Renzo Piano, Herzog & De Meron ... But I also appreciate some modern designers like Charles Eames.

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

SB : I am very proud of the table that I realized because it combines the structural and aesthetic aspect while giving a modern interpretation of a Moorish geometric motif.

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

SB : It is always necessary to continue learning, to experiment new things, to continue to collect references, to meet new people to exchange know-how.

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

SB : I have always imagined myself as an architect, I have never seen myself do anything else. As it is a multidisciplinary profession, the design aspect is included in this profession.

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

SB : My family, my close friends, the directors of the company Dutilleul-Industries who believed in my project and who produce my table, and my design teacher when I was studying Architecture.

DL: What helped you to become a great designer?

SB : I am persuaded that perseverance is the key to achieving any goal in life. We must not resign ourselves.

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

SB : Designers must be real communicators to convey their ideas, they must be pedagogues, they must be extensionists. They must take the reflex to contact the press, participate in exhibitions.

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

SB : If the table is well received by critics and specialty shops, you should expect the development of a broader range based on the same constructive system to complete the needs users.

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

SB : Being able to live thanks to my creations.

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

SB : We always have to live up to the esteem people place in you, to be able to surprise them pleasantly with new creations.

DL: How does design help create a better society?

SB : The design, in all its aspects, already contributes to the creation of a better society. Design always seeks to meet the needs expressed or not still expressed by the users. The design targets a situation where an embarrassment is identified, and proposes a solution to make this situation more pleasant to use.

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

SB : I am in direct contact with the company Dutilleul Industries for the creation of table XX. The next step is sales and exhibitions.

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

SB : The path followed by this table is quite atypical, this is the first time I develop this kind of project until in this level. I'm progressing step by step with this project, and I discover every day new fields to be developed, such as marketing and communication.

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

SB : I wish that the design, the refinement, the good taste in short, is accessible to the greatest number. With the democratization of fablabs, more and more young designers can build prototypes and realize their projects.

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

SB : It all depends on the clarity of the idea in my mind. Sometimes my mind is struck with a fulguration in which everything is clear, and it is enough for me to draw the object. Sometimes, the work can be very tedious, very blurry, without being able to produce anything concrete. From then on, the prototyping process can be very long.

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

SB : As soon as I have an idea that excites me enough to keep me awake all night, I begin to scratch the paper to keep a physical trace of this idea. The next day, I have enough perspective to review what I did the previous day, and judge whether it's really a good idea, or if it's shit. If it's a good idea, serious things start.

DL: What is your life motto as a designer?

SB : "Simplicity is complexity resolved." – Brancusi.

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

SB : It's hard to say, it can work both ways. Ideally, we would like to see design always the source of new trends. In this case it is an actor who has an influence, not a passive follower of the movement.

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

SB : Technology is paramount when designing an object, it is necessary to think about its manufacturing process, how it will be machined, with what tool, and what cost, if we wish one day to see it in reality. It's very frustrating to do extraordinary things that will never happen.

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

SB : I use most modeling and rendering software such as Sketchup, Autocad, and Vray. I also work a lot with laser cutters et CNC machines.

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

SB : Our relationship to color and different materials can vary from one person to another. To see more clearly how to deal with colors and materials, I use a lot of psychological studies such as Goethe's work on color theory.

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

SB : I would like people ask me to design more products, I would like them to be receptive to my realizations, and my artistic vision.

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

SB : That's really great! I share a kind of joy, pride, and I keep this project in a corner of my mind for a day to inspire me.

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

SB : My previous co-design experience was a real fiasco. It must also be said that the conditions of creations were quite limited, and contained enormous compromises, and problems of ego. In the end, the result is something sad, which is not the result of a bright and clear mind. My ideal design partner should not be a designer. Rather it must be a technician who works the material, and who has acquired an incredible know-how with the hands. If our knowledges can be associated, we will become complementary, and the result may be excellent.

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

SB : Technicians who work with materials, carpenters, blacksmiths, glass blowers ... in short, most people in the craft industry, who have a privileged relationship with the material.

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

SB : "Form follows Fiasco," by Peter Blake. A book-killer against modernism, which takes with humor and irony the famous formula of Louis Sullivan: "Form follows Function".

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

SB : It's a lot of time spent alone experimenting many projects, until one of them works. To become very good, at firstt you must love what you do, then do it regularly with the goal of becoming better than the previous day. Then one day, we realize that we are became is very good when we compare ourself to our peers.

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

SB : Averroes who is the father of modern thought in Western Europe, and Blaise Pascal mainly because he always despises the complicated speeches of an elite, he was used to vulgarize his knowledge in order to transmit them simply to everyone.

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

SB : I don't see much change for now. I especially hope this new notoriety will serve my projects rather than my person.

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

SB : I do not have a favorite color, each color has a role to play depending on the circumstances. I love the Mediterranean coasts, and I would love to live there. I like richly spiced food with a fresh soda. I love summer. And I like the sneakers and clothing with a fit cut.

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

SB : It was when I was a student, I had completely dried out the design courses because I had been taken by another design project outside of the cursus. When I came back after a long absence, I thought I was going to be sanctioned, but the teacher encouraged me to develop what I was doing. But this did not prevent me from a bad grade at the end of the semester.

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

SB : I put small intermediate goals to achieve each day, for sleeping with some satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment. When we have the conviction to have advanced in his work, one can resume with more vigor the next day.

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

SB : I always wanted to become an architect. The profession of designer can be included in that of the architect, because they have the same processes of reflection at the origin, although the architecture demands an even more important rigor.

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

SB : I am rather pessimistic for the distant future. I do not believe in the existence of perpetual progress based on our current way of life. All the civilizations that have preceded us, however developed, have finally collapsed. I think that we need a mind revolution to make the world a better place.

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

SB : Thank you very much for taking the time to read this interview, and I wish to see you again on my official website www.saidbelmir.com to find out more about me and my projects.