Oleh Syrbu

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Oleh Syrbu ("OS") 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?

OS : I have the highest Polytechnic education; I am the engineer-constructor. However, I was drawn to applied arts; I have always loved to create something with my hands. It happened that I started to get into blacksmithing by my own, in which design is an indefeasible part of the process. After some time, this hobby started to generate income and became my business. I have no education as a designer and my skills in this area develop on their own.

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

OS : The wish to create is haunting me since childhood. I have a constant wish to change things around, give them a unique shape. It applies to clothing, furniture, car, motorcycle and so on. All this is my world in which I live, and this world is transforming at my request. It's very cool.

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

OS : I want to note that I am a designer and manufacturer. And so that the produced products are sold well, we need, among other things, good design. That’s why my development as a designer is an indefeasible part of my professional growth. Here, everything is connected, because the final result of my design activities are physical products .

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

OS : I create the objects of interior made of stainless steel. Furniture, lamps, chandeliers and art objects. Stainless steel as the material really attracts me. Any product made of this material looks luxurious. It's hard to say what type of construction I am drawn to more, but in general this is beautiful products with difficult shapes from natural materials.

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

OS : You need to find and develop your own style. The good master always has brightly expressed style, and that's what makes it unique. You should not engage in copying, follow fashion trends and so on; first of all, you need to be honest in his work. And, of course, you have to work a lot.

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

OS : I think that good design is perceived generally at the level of general emotional feelings. In other words, it is harmony. Design can be challenging, stylish, aggressive, but in any situation harmonious.

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

OS : With great pleasure I would develop the house with an autonomous software system based on green technology. In this house with unusual shape will work unusual system that produces the necessary for comfortable habitation of human types of energy from natural sources such as sunlight, wind, cold of soil. The design of these systems will be a harmonious part of the natural landscape around the house. I would like to build such house for my family.

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

OS : It is compact and economical vehicle in which the best sides of car and motorcycle are realized, with the unique hybrid engine system. I intend to create a working prototype of this project in the nearest future.

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

OS : I never limit myself in the content and size of my ideas. As for me nothing is impossible or inaccessible. I am sure that human develop his possibilities just as much as he have enough courage to afford .

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

OS : The works of Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi undoubtedly influenced most strongly to my vision of design. Every time I come to Barcelona, I immerse myself in the images of his creations. In my opinion, Gaudi’s works is an example of a design that is timeless. His works today is as good as a hundred years ago and in a hundred years from now they will look the same brave and gorgeous as today.

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

OS : First of all, it should be your way. And if it is, you need to submerge in this process with the enthusiasm of a child who builds his tower in his favorite sandbox. Everything else will come.

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

OS : Design is one of the ways of exit to the surface of my creative potential. Maybe I could become a good musician, artist. I believe that there is not a big difference in how a person realizes his wish to create beautiful products, spiritual or material, it is important that people in general found this path.

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

OS : This is my wife, Elena. She was always inspired by my work and helped to get out of a creative depression. And she lowered me to the ground when I rose too high in my fantasies. We work together for many years and I can't imagine my development without her participation.

DL: What helped you to become a great designer?

OS : I don't think that I am a great designer. However, I am confident that my works deserve attention and can be very interesting for a certain audience.

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

OS : You need to declare yourself. Participate in competitions and exhibitions, create pages and blogs on the Internet - anything, just do not lie on the sofa. And be discreet and honest in your presentations.

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

OS : I think that I will be able to answer this question when I will become a respected designer.

DL: How does design help create a better society?

OS : The space that surrounds us determines our emotional condition. This condition predetermines our actions and the content of our thoughts. If we fill our environment with beautiful objects, we, in the long run, will improve the quality of our life in all its aspects.

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

OS : Now I'm busy with preparing a platform for my own European enterprise. Me and my wife are developing several collections of premium quality products made of stainless steel, crystal and artistic glass for interiors. And of course, our dream is to move to our favorite Spain.

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

OS : Maybe this is my subjective valuation, but the design industry currently tends to minimalism. Simple forms begin to predominate. I'm rather sad to watch this and I reminisce the luxurious forms of objects of the past. Maybe, after a while we will see the renaissance of these traditions in modern design.

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

OS : Everything depends from the inspiration and scale of the project. For example, the design of Nereida was made in two months and after four months the customer received the finished product.

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

OS : I make many sketches with my hand. When I draw, new ideas start coming, and I'm doing new sketches. In the end, a concept appears which I clearly imagine in my imagination.

DL: What is your life motto as a designer?

OS : I’d like to cite Pablo Picasso’s saying: “Everything we can imagine is real”

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

OS : If we talk about design as a service that we sell, then in this situation the trends will determine which design will be better bought as a service. However, I am confident that the brave move of a talented designer can give birth to a completely new direction.

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

OS : Technology is the rope that binds our hands. That’s why I distinguish industrial design and exclusive design. In my practice, I solved this problem, because I develop my own technologies, which allow me not to limit myself in design solutions.

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

OS : Usually it is AutoCad and Adobe Photoshop. I'm more practicing person, it's much more interesting for me to create a physical object than the 3d model.

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

OS : Everything matters. Moreover, the harmonious combination and interaction of all these aspects determines the quality of the design.

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

OS : I'm happy when people ask me: How did you do this?

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

OS : I have a wish to begin to work.

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

OS : This is my wife, Elena. We have been working together for many years, and I am infinitely grateful to the fortune for the happiness of having such partner in creativity and in my life. Elena is the source of my inspiration and an impartial judge, who at the right time will direct my thoughts to the right direction.

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

OS : I think it’s too early for me to talk about this. Since participation in A ‘Design Award & Competition is my debut. But for me, as probably to all creative people, it's nice to receive recognition of my achievements and this is one of the human weaknesses that I want to afford myself.

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

OS : Humanity is falling into the abyss. We consume bad food and water; produce beautiful, but poor quality products for everyday life, unreliable cars. We pollute the environment with waste from synthetic materials, which we use in production instead of the natural materials that nature gives to us. All this is very sad, but I would like to see the birth of a new civilization that will choose a creative way of its development, with a beautiful and ergonomic architecture, with life support systems that work on the basis of natural processes. I endlessly believe in this rebirth of human values, such a child believes in the most incredible tale.