Interview with Roberto Maurizio Paura

Roberto Maurizio Paura ("RMP") interviewed on Sunday, 5 August.

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?

RMP : I have been working for years in the field of energy saving and Smart Cities. It is a demanding job that sees me at the forefront in the creation of urban electronic products that needs to meet the technical and functional demands of such a particular field of work. My work has mainly focused on product design within Smart-I, where I simultaneously managed business communication and the development of interfaces for the use of our systems/products. The world of communication, graphics, and in particular UI / UX has always fascinated me and brought me over the years to collaborate with various companies that operate in different fields: from tourism to social til the field of transportation. My career as a designer begins by studying at ISIA Rome, the oldest University of Design in Italy. In ISIA I discovered the world of Industrial Design receiving a complete preparation that led me to become the professor of 3D parametric modeling for the specialized course of Systems and Product Design in the same university, starting in 2015.

How did you become a designer?

RMP : I have been always passionate about comics and art in general. I graduated from high school with a specialization in Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage. In my mind, the design was a distant world that did not belong to me but at the same time, it fascinated me: I saw in it the possibility to touch my ideas with my own hands. I must say that I felt inadequate in my university study field until the summer of the second year when I saw my projects coming to life and being recognized and awarded by large companies, such as Samsung Young Design Award and Lucky Strike Talented Designer Award. These happenings showed me a world of sharing and prestige. Through time I realized that the design offers the possibility to put own ideas in the service of the community, which is still one of my greatest aspirations as a designer.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

RMP : When I think of my working method I cannot describe a constant modus operandi, excluding the first part where I go through the research of what is already existing. As a Product Designer, I need to find almost immediately a sign that can combine form and function and that can give me an idea of how the project will appear at the end. Usually, in this phase, I take advantage of 3D modeling programs to fix an idea. If the project involves electronics, then I will need to know perfectly the volumes that they will occupy. At this point, I start to make sketches representing the most complex steps of the design and then I bring them back to 3D. Once this phase is completed, I create different prototypes before decreeing the complete product. As a UI / UX designer, however, I need to draw on paper the screens, the individual components, and any icons, identifying the project with a representative color. I analyze the possibilities, the interactions and the possible variations in a detailed flow. Once this phase is completed, I rationalize everything in Illustrator to check the balance between the elements. To end, I choose the final graphic.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

RMP : The initial phase of designing is always the most complex: you need to understand perfectly the theme of the project, to know what has been already done and why. To analyze possible solutions and leave only those that give value to the project. Often this phase can be stressful but when you reach the goal knowing that you have achieved something that reflects your vision, it is an exhilarating feeling that increases together with the level of responsibility towards what you have designed.

What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?

RMP : I think that there are two skills that brought a major contribution to the way I design. The first one is visual: I can easily remember details of images seen even several years before. I developed this ability by drawing comics since I am not very good at anatomy, I needed to remember the exact scene where there was a similar position to the one I wanted to draw and keep that in my mind while drawing. The second skill is my ability to create Mind Maps in my head that allows me to reach a goal in the most effective way possible, by clearly visualizing the various passages.

What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?

RMP : I would like to work in contact with a culture that is different from mine, to discover other approaches to design and other points of view. I am carrying out a project for the safety of children at home, and I am also working on a project about transportations. I aim to design something that makes me think I have really made a difference for someone. I believe that social design, energy saving, care, and minorities are important topics to work with for every designer.

What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?

RMP : At the beginning of my course at the university I always give one advice to my students: do not give any information for granted and be today the professionals you want to be tomorrow. I am convinced that in a historical moment in which information is accessible to everyone, one's own personal experience is the real difference between one professional and another.

You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?

RMP : One of the most common mistakes during the design process is to fall in love with the project: to convince ourselves that the best solution is exactly the one adopted, is the first step for a path paved with errors. Moreover, comparison with already existing projects is essential: doing a good research using the appropriate keywords and saving the references that one considers as inspirational.

What is your day to day look like?

RMP : I spend most of my day in the company where I work and this allows me to schedule my time. In the morning I spend at least an hour doing research: product design, graphic design, and interaction design sites to update my references. For the job I do, I must also dedicate time to read news about technology and economy. The most boring part is definitely working for long periods on the same project. In this case, carrying out more projects in different fields helps me to avoid drops in creativity.

How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?

RMP : Whether you want it or not, you are always influenced by trends. Knowing and analyzing them in a critical way is part of every designer's work. As far as I'm concerned, I always try to adapt my style to the personality of the projects I face.

How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?

RMP : There are two goals to be achieved in the realization of a project or a product: satisfy the technical side and satisfy the aesthetic-functional side. The technical side is related with the usability of the project/product (for example in Industrial Design there are some tolerances to be respected in the relationship between material and construction technique); while the aesthetic-functional side is needed to find out if the project specifications have been properly solved. When these two goals are reached, I consider the project well designed.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

RMP : The achievable level of a project is always related to the time we have to make it happen. I believe that a design is complete when all the requests for the project are respected. Knowing when to set a proper deadline marks the difference between amateurs and professionals.

What is your biggest design work?

RMP : I've done several projects that I'm proud of. The first, BlobHertz, which allowed me to obtain a Golden A'Design Award, is a project based on the materialization of sound waves and therefore of music. A project that meant a lot because of the level of complexity to be managed was Memory Route. I realized it together with my colleague Sara Valleriani. The project consisted in the creation of a platform that allowed citizens to tell about the city through their geolocalized memories. A project on which we have worked for a year and for which we have designed a website, an app, and an urban installation. At the moment I'm working on a new sensor for smart cities that redefines the concept of the urban product.

Who is your favourite designer?

RMP : There are several designers that I find cool, I got the chance to known many of these thanks to the Design Award's Gran Gala. however rather than people I tend to focus on projects and their impact on society. There are some studios with which I would like to work for, as Ideo, Frog Design, Layer, Minimal. In particular, I would have liked to know Tapio Wirkkala, for the freshness that his projects transmit, and Achille Castiglioni, as a character of Italian design history.

Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?

RMP : My favorite city is Amsterdam, a man-sized, concentrated and multi-faceted city. Music is very often part of my projects and it accompanies me during the most relaxed phases or my work, but when I need the maximum concentration I prefer silence. Working in Rome I realize how much a big city needs to be reduced into small design projects to work at its best: very often this concept is underestimated. Thanks to the design I have introduced in my life the ability to analyze problems objectively to find efficient solutions.

Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?

RMP : Working with me is easy if there are commitment and clear communication. Usually, I prefer working alone, with my rhythms and my spaces but this happens mostly with my private projects. However, working in a company, the comparison with colleagues (even from different departments) is the basis of my work, such as managing a team. I like working with curious people, who do not take things for granted and who are professional in their role. The most complex part of my work in the company is the management of several projects heterogeneous among them. I believe that a professional must always be aware of its abilities and its limits and must be always able to cope with difficulties in any situation.

What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?

RMP : Offering our talent for pro bono projects is an appreciable behavior but often it is also a luxury. In the past, it has happened to me to be able to work on small projects of this type, and I hope in the future to be able to contribute to something even more important. Working on humanitarian projects is one of the reasons that led me to become a designer.

What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?

RMP : Three reasons to participate at the 'Design Award: the opportunity to see your project enhanced by an international competition that exhibits its winners in different cities around the world throughout the year and publishes their projects; meet professionals from all over the world during an elegant and exciting event; get in touch with the most important companies and studios in the world. I believe that design awards and competitions contribute to my career and design skills as an incentive to do always my best to be recognized. Design competitions, in general, are relevant because you can compare yourself with other designers. Being the designer of the day it's not just a big honor, but also a way to share myself as a designer with a bigger audience.

Roberto Maurizio Paura Profile