Verónica Vicente Ruiz

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Verónica Vicente Ruiz ("VVR") 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?

VVR : I think that people with a creative personality are a bit lost in general studies, which always give little rigor to artistic subjects, that's why I was lost for a few years. Although I was lucky to find what I liked with a design course, that was what encouraged me to do all my training, starting with a Bachelor of Art and continuing with a Bachelor's degree, thanks to finding what moved me inside I achieved climb my grade point average. I come from the world of Fine Arts and although I took Graphic Design subjects, my training is purely as an artist, with two phases, one classicist and the other more modern, just like in the universities where I studied. I have a degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Basque Country and a master's degree in MBA & specialization in marketing.

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

VVR : My creative and curious personality is what has made me lean towards this world, as well as the artistic concerns that I have always had. It all came with a graphic design course that I took between school years, I literally fell in love with the profession and that was that wonderful time when we made collages instead of using the computer like today. It was at that moment that I decided what I wanted to dedicate myself to, I would have been 17-18 years old when it all began for me. I found my passion and I clung to it, and like the good little ant that I am, I have gone little by little, overcoming challenges, first training, then studying and now with my own business.

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

VVR : It was totally my choice, I come from a family in which my father is a carrier (international driver) and my mother works in a factory, in my time it was not usual in the rural environment where I live for a mother to work, so I have had a very strong reference in my environment. This is where my tenacity and perseverance in achieving what I wanted has come from, and I must say that my parents never set limits when choosing both my studies and my professional career, on the contrary, although they do not understand very well what I do, They have always supported and encouraged me.

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

VVR : This question is easier... I adore food packaging, I've become a packaging geek, I love the part of communicating the company's values in those packages, the strategy to follow, etc... I've become a geek in my specialty... graphic designer specializing in food... I can't go shopping with my husband and children because I'm dazed looking at packaging.

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

VVR : Puff, design legend... I think that adjective is going to cost me... I believe that the most important thing to succeed in your profession is perseverance and hard work, without them you will not get anywhere, and if you do get there it is not on your own merits, and I honestly prefer to have earned it.

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

VVR : I think that work, working on an idea, not staying with the first one that comes to mind, but for that you have to work well on the brief and the moodboard that the client gives you, be very clear about what you are looking for and work on it.

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

VVR : I look at the composition, the color range chosen, the idea or concept for that design, the originality of the idea and the development,... I think I look at many things, from the most technical part to the most creative . I believe that a good design must have both parts balanced, one cannot live without the other. For me, a design is really good when the whole thing is harmonious and fits together.

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

VVR : People do not understand that any element or thing that is manufactured by humans is made by a designer who applies a lot of knowledge, not only artistic, but also technical, innovative and even scientific to make that thing. Without design we could not exist and that is the value of good design. When something is not designed by a professional, what you get is BAD DESIGN, not the absence of design, which is why everyone should invest in design.

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

VVR : What would I design... a packaging for a super-powerful food company even if it's Coca Cola and I have to stick to the branding and have almost no creativity... But, on the other hand, my creative mind tells me an innovative, transgressive design for a business aware that by innovating in design it will have an exclusive market for it. Or maybe an NGO... puff, I can think of so many clients...

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

VVR : My dream project is to finish the design book that I am writing and for which I hardly have time, I scratch as much as I can. A book to help other creatives to understand themselves, to understand why they had no place at school, to understand why their mind is always wondering...

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

VVR : Work, work, work.

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

VVR : I must say that due to my training in Fine Arts there are certain artists who for me were the forerunners of graphic design, who are the ones I have as a reference. Artists like Alfons Mucha, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Eugene Grasset etc... who, although they are totally contrary to my way of designing, I can't help but be inspired by their idea of texts as unity, compositions, etc... Of course the Bauhaus school, I love minimalist design, it was inevitable that I like the Bauhaus theory and style. And the artists of the 20th and 21st century that move me are Herbert Matter, Paula Cher, Saul Bass, Burno Munari,... Like Spanish designers whom I admire, Alberto Corazón, Cruz Novillo, Chema Madoz, Pepe Gimeno, Daniel Gil or Isidro Ferrer. And in other disciplines I love Charles and Ray Eames, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and the wonderful Zaha Hadid. As you can see, I can't keep just one, because as a good art history student, each and every one has something to tell and you can't buy or choose just one because they all have their own context.

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

VVR : I am a very, very fan of colleagues by profession, I would highlight Moruba and its MATSU design, it was so transgressive at the time, they endowed Spanish wine labels that lacked it with modernity, they were too anchored in the past. SOSO's work by Eduardo del Fraile is also one of my favorites, from the naming to the packaging, in its simplicity it is so complex that it amazes me. Cuac de Cabello x Mure also has me in love, the minimalism it gives off, so transgressive in the world of oil, so traditional. An exquisite job. I could spend hours talking about the work of other colleagues that I admire, I think it's better that I stop.

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

VVR : My best work to date is Óleo Olivia, the branding of the brand and the packaging I created for it. All in accordance with the idea and values of the business, a strategy that matches one hundred percent with the company and that we have taken to all aspects of the design.

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

VVR : The trick is to work, not to give up, to continue discovering things, to continue training day by day...

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

VVR : I don't know, many times I think that if I hadn't studied what I studied I wouldn't have gotten anything. I sincerely believe that my path was this. I adore my profession, it fills me completely and that is much more than many people can say.

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

VVR : Design for me is my way of seeing life, that is the best definition.

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

VVR : My greatest support my family. Starting with my parents giving me an education and now my husband supporting me in everything I do, including my crazy ideas that he doesn't understand, since he is not from the creative world.

DL: What helped you to become a great designer?

VVR : I think my curiosity and my tenacity have been my greatest allies.

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

VVR : The lack of understanding of the profession, I think is the biggest obstacle of all, telling people what you do. Educate the client in design...

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

VVR : I believe that each designer presents as he wants, and it is important to maintain his own work process, I know that I am a rare designer and I submit the proposals with text, but I need to tell the client things so that they know how and why I have arrived to that. But it's my thing.

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

VVR : My next project... I can't talk about it, I sign a confidentiality agreement with my clients. What should you expect... that it continues to grow, that it continues to win prizes and make a place for me in the world that I adore.

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

VVR : Make a name for myself in the world and have good clients. I don't know if it will be a utopia but that's what I'm working on.

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

VVR : Well, I think creativity, but that is already intrinsic when hiring a designer.

DL: How does design help create a better society?

VVR : For me, any society that has internalized culture and design is a better society, more open, more understanding, more creative and imaginative.

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

VVR : I have a project that has started and is about to finish, which I am already thinking of sending it to some other design contest, but what excites me the most is that my client has trusted me and the work has in the final UVI, embossing and stamping finishes. , all...

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

VVR : Óleo Olivia has been my unicorn, it has given me a lot of joy since starting with the design the first time, which for any designer is a source of pride, up to the different awards that it has won nationally (Spain and internationally). The apple of my eye because I have managed to reflect exactly what the client needed with a super well-defined design strategy.

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

VVR : My greatest joy would be that society and clients appreciate design in all its aspects.

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

VVR : I am convinced that my entire sector, food and packaging, is directed towards the sustainability of packaging and materials. I sincerely believe that it is not a fad but a change in consumption.

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

VVR : It depends on the client, their feedback and how the project flows. But my workflow is designed to carry out a project in a month, a month and a half, with times and a schedule.

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

VVR : For management, in my workflow the first of all is the contract and confidentiality agreement, the most tedious part for a designer, I take it off with a stroke of the pen, being the first thing I attack when a client hires me a service.

DL: What is your life motto as a designer?

VVR : Lots of little people, in little places, doing little things, can change the world.

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

VVR : In my sector, it is the trends that set the design. Food is a sector that goes very fast and you have to be constantly up to date.

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

VVR : In my case almost 100%, although there are times when I draw an element on paper and pencil, origins of Fine Arts, then I digitize the drawing, so it ends up being digital...

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

VVR : Well, I use all kinds, from Adobe design programs to my online agenda, online calendar and management programs such as accounting and time management. I'm afraid I'm 100% digital.

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

VVR : In my case, color is one of the elements that I work on the most, and I also work on color psychology, as well as fonts and both typographic and spatial composition.

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

VVR : I would like to be asked about the strategy behind the design, what really makes sense in my designs.

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

VVR : I feel admiration. For having come up with that idea, for having had the idea, and for having the ability to carry it out, whatever type of design it is.

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

VVR : Yes, I believe in co-design, but I believe more in the idea that designers are co-workers, not competitors. I would love to work with one of the design studios I admire to learn from them.

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

VVR : Well, actually in my type of design, none, if they have influenced me in how to work, how to serve clients, how to approach a project.

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

VVR : Right now I'm reading "The Way of the Artist" by Julia Cameron, and although it doesn't help me design, it is helping me understand certain parts of my way of being that is later reflected in my business.

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

VVR : Sorry to repeat myself, but with work. Try error, it is one of the best schools. But also all my knowledge of art has helped me a lot in my profession.

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

VVR : This is easy... Leonardo Da Vinci... I would love to talk, chat, discuss, share, see his point of view on thousands of topics, not just design or art, for me Leonardo was not just a man of the Renaissance and a scholar but a person with such a great creative profile that he could not dedicate himself to only one profession. I would love to talk about his curiosity and if that was what led him to deal with so many different topics. Although I have to say that I would also like to meet Francisco de Goya, discuss art materials, his painting style, his curiosity about different techniques... etc...

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

VVR : Jajaja, I don't consider myself famous, I consider myself a hard worker, who achieves rewards and recognition for a job well done and effort.

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

VVR : My color, black (the conjunction of all colors). A place, any new location for me, I love discovering the world. A food, the Japanese I have a weakness for raw things. One season, summer, I love the heat, wearing flip flops and not wearing a jacket. My favorite brand... IKEA? design at an affordable price.

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

VVR : Well, once at a wedding, the photographer who was taking photos of the newlyweds saw me and told another person that he knew who I was, a famous designer, at that time I hadn't won any awards and had almost no social networks, but the boy knew me and knew what I was doing.

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

VVR : Dedicating myself to what I like makes me feel privileged and my days are great. Music motivates me… when I need to focus on strategizing and reading, I listen to classical music, but when I need to kick myself up and motivate myself I have my own playlists on Spotify.

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

VVR : Nooo, not at all. I have always been creative, but neither I nor my family thought of this profession, much less when the teachers told my parents that it was not good for studying.

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

VVR : I would love to think that the society we live in will get better, but I'm afraid it won't be like that, I think that in a thousand years humanity will be worse off than we are right now, I don't know if we are living the golden age of humanity , but it is very possible that it is quite close to it. But of course, this is just my opinion.

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

VVR : If you are a designer and want to dedicate yourself to the world of design, don't despair, don't give up, don't let the bastards get the better of you, don't be afraid of mistakes and above all keep going. Your success is inevitable if you have worked on it.