Paulo Jorge Faias Pereira

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Paulo Jorge Faias Pereira ("PJFP") 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?

PJFP : As a child I used toys that the other children threw away, spoiled and broken I pick them up and restore and make up new toys with other pieces so in the end they came back to want the toys back. In my youth I lived for some years in jungle areas where there was practically nothing we had to create parts and repair machines for mining, between Venezuela and Brazil, everything had to be invented repaired and improvised until the houses where we lived had to be made as the Indians built them. After a few years when I decided to go to college, the arts already strolled in my veins, I did the equipment design course and then I did architecture.

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

PJFP : First, I like to draw and how throughout my life I always had to create things through my drawings and think how to solve situations, this made me a designer and so I also like design.

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

PJFP : In my opinion nobody is forced to be a designer by force, because it is an art that comes out of the soul and for that I believe it is only for people who hold this vocation.

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

PJFP : I do design projects for equipment and architecture, so my drawings cover a great field, I do not limit myself to certain tastes, I do everything I can, it's always an interesting challenge, which leads me to learn more about the art of design and of conceiving.

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

PJFP : I am not a legend of design, and I am far from being, but of course with a lot of work one day I can become. My advice is to believe in yourself, work hard, be sincere when you project, try to be original have your own language, put a lot of energy in your work, only then someone will realize how much you are worth and will be graced for it.

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

PJFP : A good designer and a bad designer will always be a designer, respect the environment, respect who will use your products and not copy the work of others, do everything thinking as if it were for ourselves the best we can.

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

PJFP : Produce useful objects to be functional, robust, have an interesting aesthetic aspect.

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

PJFP : The value of a good design can be translated into objects and design pieces whose function and appearance will be eternal, and make their creators recognized for eternity.

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

PJFP : My projects are intended for use by anyone, there is no distinction, only individual taste can dictate whether or not someone wants to have something created by me.

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

PJFP : Something that makes me fly, move through the sky for example, like a flying bicycle.

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

PJFP : I always do the best I can, inspire myself in organic forms, with movement and rhythm, contemplating nature.

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

PJFP : Leonardo da Vinci, Gaudi, Alvar Aalto, Ross Lovegrove.

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

PJFP : I like very much Leonardo da Vinci's drawings, they are studies done by his own hand with ideas that are simply brilliant for his time, and that today the great majority of his ideas work are done and working.

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

PJFP : It is a chair that I created for the final design work at design college, is made of recycled aluminum in sand mold disassembles to the point of being carried in a backpack, its appearance is very organic and can have several uses of course always for seat, can be used for waiting rooms, auditoriums and at home.

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

PJFP : Creative thinking always using our own language, put everything we have better to give the project and others.

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

PJFP : Being an architect what I really am, and It's a necessity for me to be always drawing.

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

PJFP : Design for me is a way to serve people with something created by me that will be part of the life of this person and that will be useful and used will have a little of me in is life will possess something that I did with all my dedication.

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

PJFP : In fact it was not many people, I had great support from my wife, Irina Sokolova who got me into her business that is very related to design that's where I had the opportunity to start.

DL: What helped you to become a great designer?

PJFP : I do not consider myself a great designer the life I have lived through and the places where I have lived, are an important part of my imagination and creativity since living in Africa, South America, and now Europe, make a mix of colors of forms and cultures that marked me and all this connected to my taste for art and drawing, is the cocktail necessary to be a different designer.

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

PJFP : Dealing with the vast ignorance many people think that design is easy for anyone to do and after appearing done starts the deconstructive criticism. Portugal is a country that is still far from believing in the design that is made here, we buy foreign design, the industry is very good, there is an excellent manpower with tradition, but that alone is not enough to keep up with the market. To make these chairs I had to hear many, many times negative voices that are not there to help but we have to go ahead and mainly believe in ourselves and our work, I have achieved and it is done to be used and admired.

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

PJFP : Register your copyrighted works immediately, then search for trusted partners willing to collaborate, participate in international competitions, where a specialized jury and competent people can give you the merit you deserve.

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

PJFP : I will draw objects related to furniture and decoration, continue to look for what is best in Portugal there is better and pull by the workmanship of small factories that for many years carry generations experiences that I want to protect and make them grow.

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

PJFP : Produce things that can be used to be admired and inspiring.

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

PJFP : Now after the prizes many are more curious to see what I will do next because everyone knows that I will never stop, and already they ask me what I will develop next.

DL: How does design help create a better society?

PJFP : We the designers are and should be an important contribution to the care and protection of the environment educate the industry that often only wants to achieve objectives, provide better products to all, and contribute to the economy of a region and a country.

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

PJFP : I am currently working on architectural projects but I always sketch some new ideas, that's how I feel good and I'm really excited, the prizes left me the will to do many more things.

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

PJFP : I have already done some, but these two were the ones that made me very happy, they were appreciated on a positive note and I will be able to show them to the world.

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

PJFP : I hope that the design industry has respect for the environment, and protects and fosters skilled labor to create more jobs.

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

PJFP : In my opinion I'm not sure but everything points to an industry too mechanical, cold and without the human touch.

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

PJFP : Days of sketches and dreams, to make models, in different scales, to begin to execute in factory until seeing the piece ready and ready to be used can take about 8 to 12 months.

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

PJFP : It always starts to be born in my sketch blocks, which I always carry with me.

DL: What is your life motto as a designer?

PJFP : Explore your dreams and make the idea happen.

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

PJFP : In my opinion the trends come from the designers.

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

PJFP : It is very important, I draw first by hand then I go to computer, but even then, there are details that I have to make full scale models so that in the factory can be transported to the material the desired shape.

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

PJFP : I use Autocad, Rhinocerus, and Archicad.

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

PJFP : They are part of the composition and language that I want to transmit.

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

PJFP : I do not want them to ask, I want them to respond, they will always associate my design with something, they will see a way to interpret it quickly, to put their minds to imagine, that is what I intend to touch people and not pass unnoticed.

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

PJFP : I feel happy, the way this object presents, its function, the way it was made, this colleague did something that moved me that is interesting, did the same that I also want to do.

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

PJFP : For the creation I am like a triathlete, I do the competition alone, I have to put everything that I have to give and what I have prepared myself, to execute the objects I am already as a rugby team look for the ideal partners for the perfect play.

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

PJFP : I don´t remember anyone having influenced me in my way of designing, as well as books and other very inspiring design objects already created.

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

PJFP : Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, is one of my earliest books that I read when I was very young, did changes on my way of life, both in life and in everything I have to face the resistance to continue and make it well.

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

PJFP : I still have many kilometers of way to be called master, but I'm already on the way. But my skills are a sum of past situations that I had to go through and solve, always motivated to give my best to myself and others.

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

PJFP : Just talk to Leonardo da Vinci, the great master.

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

PJFP : I've never had prizes in Design, it's the first time.

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

PJFP : Color is Blue, the place Santorini, Mediterranean food, spring season, thing victorinox Swiss Switchblade.

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

PJFP : happened to the little model of the rabelo lounge chair, that I delivered to a factory to them study and tell me if they could do it, and someone accidentally broke the little model and glued but everything wrong was unrecognizable, they couldn´t assemble the poor chair and the most interesting every one in the factory were attempting to do it, people are so accustomed to normal things that a different chair is a headache.

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

PJFP : Having work to be developed, be it architecture or design, it does not matter, feeling that I am necessary for some one, that I solve their problems, that I make their dreams cam truth.

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

PJFP : There was no talk of design in that time, and I did not even know what I wanted, but I was always highlighted in all classes as the best to draw, and to create my own toys that my friends put in the trash, I gave them new life rebuilding them with other parts and pieces, so I can play with them again, the point was that they later wanted them back.

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

PJFP : Surely something, good or bad, that no one knows, but if men do not collaborate more with each other it will be complicated, so there has to be more cooperation between people, countries, unity is strength, and it has to be a positive force.

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

PJFP : I am very grateful to the A'Award Design competition for this initiative to make a great contribution to the design and to designers and architects that are hidden by this world whit no opportunity to show their interesting works. Soon I will bring to this wonderful contest more objects that I will create with great affection and dedication worthy of a competition like this.