Interview with Gerardo Ríos Altamirano

Gerardo Ríos Altamirano ("GRA") interviewed on Wednesday, 29 August.

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

GRA : I have been the owner of a wood furniture factory for residences for 12 years and owner of a hospitality industry furniture factory for the last 11 years. In both companies I have been the Chief Designer of what is produced and the focus on good design has been the key to the success of the team. I have been fortunate to create 3 high profile designer brands: Dec design, Varova, G. Rios, and in the last one I have taken the liberty of designing without limits, which has proved to be more challenging but at the same time more enjoyable.

How did you become a designer?

GRA : My mother was the first interior designer in the city of Merida, where I grew up. My family has always been into art, design and architecture lovers/enthusiasts, and we very often used to travel all around the world visiting museums and searching for history and culture. I used to spend a lot of time next to my mom’s desk, designing and drawing since I can remember, so design for me has always been like the air I breathe. I decided to study Industrial Design after high school. I loved art, drawing and sculpture and wanted to design any kind of high technology product. I chose the University of Monterrey for my studies and obtained my degree in 1991. I worked briefly as a designer of ceramic lamps and 3D animation, but founded my own factory of wood furniture for home and for the hospitality industry in 1995. Since then and always, design has been an axis in which my life rotates, much of the events of each day, passing by an evolution of brands and furniture design very diverse standards. In 2012, encouraged by my publicist, I decided to create a design brand with my name, to include the most high-end designs to which I had never given proper space due to lack of time and feasibility of manufacturing.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

GRA : Inspiration is the trigger element of my high-end designs. The intention is to communicate through the shape, color, the texture and the emotional sensation that it generates. In my own way of seeing it, it is to try to make the design communicate emotions and inspire in the same way that an art work does, but in a more personal and perfect way, because it interacts with the user, allowing them to use their piece of art, sitting in it, or keeping their belongings in it, sleeping on it or eating in it, in a personal relationship that allows you to experience the art of that piece, but in a physical way. The process always begins with an emotion or idea to be communicated, followed by the study of shapes by means of drawings by hand, to then elaborate more concrete designs in CAD. It is necessary in some cases to physically build real pieces first, that due to the difficulty of their form, it is very difficult to decipher them on CAD or even express them on paper. From there, final prototypes are developed, which are evaluated from various aspects such as resistance, ergonomics, and production methods. to finally deliver the resulting design with all the aspects taken into account in its best possible way.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

GRA : There are very few things in life I enjoy so much as creating, designing and developing, which are three different words for the same thing to me. It is the need to communicate and inspire what leads me to design and create, in an attempt to express myself and positively influence the mood of the people. We live in a world that passes us by at a dizzying speed surrounded by things with very little meaning, making us feel at the end of the day that our day did not have any memorable meaning. It is through art, and even better, through an art piece that can interact with us, that we can begin to give a more transcendent meaning to our activities, generating an emotive impulse that gives off reflection, amazement, happiness.

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

GRA : All my life I have lived with art and design. The multiple trips that I had in my childhood around Mexico and the world, opened my mind to a multicultural cosmopolitan concept, without losing sight of my roots and the emotional charge that emanates from them. The eroticism and the dream of flying, the fun of observing the unexpected reactions and the astonishment generated by the innovation have constantly moved me to continue designing and evolving a lot from one design to the next. The great advantage of having worked for so many years building furniture has been central to the development of designs, to take them beyond paper, in a very short time.

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

GRA : I'm at an interesting moment in my life. So far the main occupation has been to attend as the director a furniture factory, occupying much of my time in rather administrative work and industrial development. In the upcoming years, I would like to dedicate more time of my life to design and create a high profile design brand, for which the conceptual part of the brand is being designed, based on my way of designing and expressing art, unrestricted only to the furniture design but in a much more extensive and versatile way. I am looking for a founding commercial partner for the brand, so that growth is faster and with global projection, so I can devote myself more to designing rather than managing. My dream is to transcend my life time not only with my designs, but with my philosophical concepts about this, the optimism and naturalness with which I look at nature, the human body, eroticism, creativity and the assault into senses as a whole.

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

GRA : The mind of a designer in its golden age is like a delicious dish in the best restaurant. It is only achieved with the best ingredients and a great cooking experience, seasoned with creativity and the subtlety of your senses. My advice is that you get quality elements to fill your mind. Art, nature, positive emotional experiences, travel as much as you can knowing different cultures and their myths and legends, as well as their vision of the cosmos. Read and educate yourself, develop what is designed. Start with more basic things, it is very frustrating to start with very difficult things that you can not conclude satisfactorily. Be daring: that would be my biggest advice. Do not be afraid, go for your dreams and never give up, design is not a goal, it's a journey!

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

GRA : Never lose sight that everything is designed for people. So the ergonomics and the usefulness of the design must always be considered. In my vision, beauty is nevertheless a substantial part of ergonomics. A design can not be ergonomic if it bothers the senses (any of them). Design communicating something, people are surrounded by too many meaningless things, which makes their lives meaningless, make sure your designs are the thing that takes them out of the ordinary.

What is your day to day look like?

GRA : As I mentioned, I am now trying to change the fact that my agenda takes up a large part of my day in managing a company with more than 100 employees. I have never stopped designing and putting head in each of the pieces that are produced and I enjoy tremendously the time that I dedicate to design my lidea of high profile, for which I dedicate all my energy and experience, as well as diverse resources that I have in the company, as is the great work team that I have by my side, which allows me to move very quickly from the concept to the final piece. I am about to receive my license as a pro-avion pilot, with which I will fulfill my second greatest dream from childhood, which is to fly, to be a pilot and go by myself to see nature from my own perspective. My family occupies the most important part of my life. To procure welfare, be an example to follow, and to be protector and leader for them, makes each morning a beautiful challenge and enjoyment at the same time.

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

GRA : My designs are based on elements of inspiration, so design trends take part in a very secondary way when creating. It is a fact, however, that we are all immersed in a moment of design and not only can we not be alien to it, but we must be aware that it must be designed to harmonize in a certain way with what everyone at some time lives and experiences, however, it is widely pleasant to separate oneself a little from the tendencies and from time to time.

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

GRA : There are several perspectives from which a design can be evaluated, for example from how efficiently and creatively it solves a problem, or from the approach of style and beauty. My favorite perspective of design analysis is the ability to project or unleash an emotion, the beauty and harmony of the shapes it represents, in conjunction with a story immersed in the design that gives it a name and surname, as the roots of the word Design (di-segno, signed or done by), which means that the object has the implied signature of the author, their personal seal, their DNA.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

GRA : This is very interesting. In my case, it's a singular moment, like when you're trying to tune an instrument like a guitar and the sounds do not produce harmony until all the strings are in the right tension and an enjoyable music sounds not only in the brain but in the whole body. As one becomes more demanding, a single chord is not enough and you look for a more complex piece that produces more complete music that makes us vibrate beyond the ears!

What is your biggest design work?

GRA : I think I have not yet faced what I would call my most challenging design, however, I am now designing my new residence, finally it has been possible to bring together many ideas, concepts and designs that I have accumulated throughout my life, and has been in many ways one of my most cherished dreams. This is perhaps the most ambitious project that I have had yet, and the client has been quite difficult to satisfy... but I am enjoying the adventure tremendously!

Who is your favourite designer?

GRA : I think that I do not really have a favorite designer really, because my appreciation of modern times changes and evolves constantly. Without a doubt, Leonardo Da Vinci is perhaps the one I most admire, and if I have some that I consider to be the main pillars of modern design on which I have tried to learn from at one time or another they are Coco Chanel, Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray Eames, Alvar and Elissa Aalto, Arne Jacobsen, Giorgio Armani, Philippe Starck, and many others. More than anything I have great admiration for artists like Picasso, Dali, Klimt, Van Gogh, among others for the ability to surprise and innovate, as well as the strength of what they communicate.

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

GRA : It is difficult for me. I do not fit in a particular style, my life is very diverse, but trying to do it, I would say that I was born Mexican, I also became French, but I was educated as a citizen of the world. I love art and art is part of all my days. I like nature and exploring the wonders of the earth and space, travel and learn all cultures and vibrate with them, incorporate some of them into my thinking and feeling. I like to fly planes and very soon I will fulfill my dream of being a pilot. Creating and amazing is my most precious sport and my favorite city is Milan. My favorite country is India, my home is Mexico. But above all this, my family is everything, my wife and children wake me every day with more enthusiasm to succeed and move forward.

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

GRA : My business philosophy is based on a couple of phrases, "there are two classes of people: Those who expect things to happen and those that make things happen", and "if you're going to do something, do it right" Teamwork is fundamental. It is because of this that any person multiplies in capacity and achievements. I thank my team very much, starting with my family and without leaving behind any of the collaborators I have had. The key for me is to fall in love to achieve. Feel proud to beat yourself a little each day and be someone better. I look for people who want to learn and who are passionate about what they do. It is the key to success. The day I stop learning, it will be the most boring day of my life. Creating or being creative is the most fun thing in the world; You do not always reach the goal faster but you always have more fun on the road!

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

GRA : To reach where I have arrived today, has given me the possibility to inspire people, especially I like very much to positively influence young people ... get them out of monotony and conformism, and lead them to educate themselves more and love beauty. Also support local communities to help them meet their most basic needs and mainly feel they are important to someone and can achieve more with their own efforts. I still have a lot to contribute in this area, and I want to have more opportunities to apply the design in favor of a greater good to the community, however in Mexico design is not yet a public issue, much less popular. We must encourage the government and society in general to appreciate the design to create those opportunities.

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

GRA : For me, design is the catalyst for development excellence. Conscious of the fact that my country needs to learn and appreciate about design, while also recognizing that there are designers of great value (little known) in Mexico, I decided to compete internationally here first to know in a certain way how valuable my work can be, and achieving this, to call the world to look towards Mexico, and to show them that there is a lot of talent here to wake up, that there is a great cultural and artistic value to develop so that most of the population can enjoy it, projecting for the moment that there are many designers here ready to enter the world market, given the opportunity to compete in forums like this and succed.

Gerardo Ríos Altamirano Profile