Vulca Studio

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Vulca Studio ("VS") 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?

VS : I have an industrial design degree by the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, and after that, I had a New Product innovation and development certificate by ITESM, and after a Design Thinking Certificate by CEDIM, but where I really learned to design was the real life, dealing with clients, and saying yes to new an difficult challenges.

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

VS : I just don´t know any other way than to be constantly thinking in how to make things easier and better, I don’t know where that come from, but I remember that must of the time during my childhood I would build and destroy my parents electronics, and make myself some of the toys I used to play with, so in a sense I never grew up, I kept my childhood hobby and turned it into my profession.

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

VS : Nobody forced me, but I didn’t picked it either, I believe my curiosity and my parents mindset and support led me to pursue this path.

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

VS : We design project mostly for retail and hospitality industry.

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

VS : To find their true motivation to pursue this profession and never forget about it.

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

VS : A good designer makes beautiful things, but a great designer makes useful beautiful things

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

VS : For me design is about serving others, so you must create empathy with your users and make your design useful for them, if it is not useful there is no beauty in it. Let´s be aware that usefulness can be emotional or physical, so an artistic object such as an statue can be useful emotionally also.

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

VS : Good design creates value, creates uniqueness, creates coherence, enhance brand perception, serves society. Several clients have had the opportunity to rise their prices, making a healthier business and offering something unique to their customers.

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

VS : I would love to design and build affordable and 100% passive houses, I know there is a lot of it out there, but here in my community there is a need to make this ideas to become a reality soon. Also, I would love to design a brandscaping experience for a big sports stadiums.

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

VS : To be surrounded by a great team of people, that knows better than you.

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

VS : I get inspired from everywhere and everyone, because I understand that every designer has its own design philosophy and what I try to do is understand their mental process, and that’s what inspires me.

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

VS : What I did, was to always try to surprise our users and clients, for every project since the studio began in 2006. I remember I was fired from a job in my early career, but I found my own way to do what I felt was right.

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

VS : Probably something related to music.

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

VS : Design is a process of thinking, and from this point of view, design can be used to design your ideal life, or to create great experiences for the people, or make great cities, or putting together a play for a football team etc., for this I consider that design is one of the most powerful skill a human can develop.

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

VS : I believe the clients that starter to believe in us and gave us the opportunity to learn through their projects.

DL: What helped you to become a great designer?

VS : Focusing on doing things well and really listening to user’s needs. I like to ask myself this question, while designing, do I really like this outcome? , is it original?, how can it be better?, does it serves the purpose it was design for?. Is this a great quality job?.

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

VS : Well, you should expect to see our work abroad, and starting to design buildings. Right now, we are in an early stage of a big impact building design, and hoping this initiative keeps moving forward.

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

VS : I would say, that to leave a legacy of thinking of a mutual symbiosis, that every thought should be pointed at that direction, where everybody wins.

DL: How does design help create a better society?

VS : I believe design can help mold the attitude and thoughts of people, I believe that through design we can build a better economy, build more dignifying cities, and live in harmony with nature and technology.

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

VS : . I would say that the supermarket Merco, which is the one that we where awarded for. Our client gave us full control of the project, and the fact that this was a lower-class brand, gave us the opportunity to dignify lower class users, and to upgrade the brand perception. Another great thing about this project is that more than 2500 people every day get to interact with this store design.

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

VS : Maybe just to be in contact with a more conscious design development, thinking in the big picture to benefit us all.

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

VS : I think design is getting closer to people, every day non designers get to create their own snickers, web or objects, and this is great because I believe a designer´s mind set will help develop better, products, spaces and therefore society.

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

VS : It depends a lot on the size of the project, it could take from 4 weeks to 5 months.

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

VS : I start by building a team that fits right for the project, then we prepare to make research every one involved in the project and even the best thing is to invite the client to help with this journey, so this way they will get more sensitive to the process and outcome of the project.

DL: What is your life motto as a designer?

VS : Push all my minds ideas to a realization, and always make the highest quality work possible.

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

VS : I believe good design/marketing sets the trend we tend to follow.

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

VS : Well in our case, so far, all our projects have been made by technology, but I would love to work in a project that its technology free, such as craft made objects or handmade spaces or shelters.

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

VS : I believe a good design has respect for all of this aspect, and let them be on their own, but when put all those variables together have to look in harmony, so it gives a clear message.

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

VS : I immediately start wondering what was going on in the designers mind, the process to get to that solution or shape.

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

VS : For me it is a process of constant observations, everyday looking at interesting things, and trying to figure out how great designers think.

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

VS : I will sound very cliché, but I would say Jesus of Nazareth, i am just fascinated by him, and Einstein I love how he turned philosophy into something measurable and tangible.

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

VS : Yellow, my little cabin, chilaquiles, spring and autumn, my guitar, I don’t have favorite brand so far.

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

VS : The great thing is that every single day is different, I am a person that gets easily bored, but having all kinds of different things to do every day keeps me going and entertained, and of course the motivation comes from the vision I have for my life and the people I love, every day has to be a step that leads towards my life vision.

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

VS : I don´t think so, I was very curios, but because of that it was difficult to find something to focus on, because I always wanted to learn new things, and I still do so.

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

VS : Well, I believe that humans of the year 3000 +, will be surprised of how stupid and childhood we were as society. I hope that by then, we have learned the lesson of not believing ourselves to be wiser than nature, and that far from wanting to manipulate it, we learn to harmonize with it and respect its cycles. I believe that the first thing the mankind had to learn, was to design, design tools, cloth, shelter, hunting strategies, etc, and I believe design will be one of the few professions that will continue to exist. We´ve been doing it for thousands of years and I believe we will continue to do it forever.