Interview with Kazoo Design

Kazoo Design ("KD") interviewed on Sunday, 14 July.

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

KD : For the last 10 years we have collectively and separately had the privilege to work on a diverse range of projects, including building projections, and 3D visuals for various ads, documentaries, tv series, movies and architectural visualization projects. Our tasks involved modelling, rigging, animation, camera layout, texturing, shading, lighting and compositing. We later felt that we could print our 3D designs but didn’t know how to make that into a valuable business. We chose naturally that we like designing objects for homeware since we spent a lot of time on designing and decorating our own home. We have concentrated our 3D knowledge into making design objects for homes.

How did you become a designer?

KD : We chose to become designers because we were tired from the CGI industry we were working for and wanted to work on the creation of our own projects. Up to that point, for the most part we had been involved in the production of CGI content that always came from a specific script/blueprint and had to be made with the director’s vision and a client’s deadline. Also, we felt that so many skills we had acquired from all our previous jobs could be all put together for designing an object. Honestly, we don’t know if getting into design was the “appropriate” decision, since we had no proven proof that it would lead us somewhere. We think it was more an internal drive that told us we may have a future in it.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

KD : All the objects we design, have been designed digitally. We mostly use software that have been created with visual effects artists in in mind and not really industrial designers. At the same time though, we feel very confident using them and don’t find the need to refer to dedicated designers' software.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

KD : We see the whole design process as going on a journey. You may be mostly interested in actually designing something like you want to visit the place you have selected in the first place, but at the same time everything that happens before and after that is an integral part of the overall experience.

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

KD : Kostas: I think the fact that for many years I worked as a 3D Generalist really helped me me become a designer. Being a 3d generalist means that you can pretty much undertake a project from start to finish without needing to rely on anyone else. This certainly made me understand the importance of being able to first learn and then know how you can start from an idea and go all the way to the final product using your own strengths. Knowing you can do this gives you the confidence to overcome any obstacles that you are bound to meet along the way. Also, I would say music and photography have shaped my thinking and have paved the way for me to get into designing. The first helped me create structure in my work while the latter strengthened my sense of observation of light and shadow. My design journey has been very pleasant up to now. I have mostly had to deal with many challenges post design and specifically production. They have all been very helpful in the long run, but when I had to deal with them I did regret having to deal with them many times. Zeynep: I really enjoyed being a 3D Generalist since like Kostas, I believe it helped us a lot in establishing a solid base for designing products. I come also from a Graphic Design background so I feel that I developed a good eye for design and color.

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

KD : We’re trying to evolve either by coming up with different design styles, or by experimenting with new materials or even by new painting techniques. Our future plans involve moving to a bigger workshop and collaborating with more people.

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

KD : We still consider ourselves to be in the beginning of our design career, since we only started designing 5 years ago, so we’re sure we have many things to learn still. If we could offer one piece of advice to anyone interested in becoming a new designer is to load their arsenal with as many skills as possible. For us, modelling, rigging, animation, lighting, staging, camera layout, compositing and photography have been very helpful in designing. Also, although we sometimes borrow elements from our past designs and pass them on to newer ones, we prefer to come up with something fresh each time in order to evolve as designers. Best piece of advice we have received is that inspiration is out there everyday. You just need to learn to see it.

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

KD : Nowadays, we think there are way too many distractions when it comes to all the digital tools that are out there. Every single one is promising something that the other one can’t do. It’s very easy to get lost into trying to learn them all, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you actually need to. For us sticking to one software most of the time (the one we felt most confident and happy using) and trying to make everything there, was a very liberating move. Also never stop observing everything around you and never give up! Sure, some people are born with natural talent, but for the rest of us, becoming good at any creative profession involves many hours of practice. You’re bound to get better the more you work on your designs.

What is your day to day look like?

KD : Our days seldom look the same. Depending on the day we may be designing new objects, designing molds for those objects, setting up prints for protoypes/molds ,post-processing the 3d prints, casting/cleaning up/painting/varnishing copies, communicating with clients, keeping track of orders/stock and preparing deliveries. We believe that being involved in many different tasks doesn’t allow us to get bored of our job.

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

KD : We don’t keep up with design trends nor do we try to design based on what’s trendy today. We’re sure design trends matter to many people but it’s not something we try to achieve. Knowing that whatever we’re putting out there reflects a piece of our souls and anyone who buys it is on the same page as us, makes us a lot happier. Inspiration sometimes comes from observation and other times it simply comes out of the blue.

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

KD : Kostas: I’m very lucky to be on the same team with my wife. We will be each other’s harshest judge (OK maybe I’m a bit worse) so if we pass each other’s test we think the design has a good possibility of being “good”. A very good lesson we’ve learnt during our brief experience in the design sector is that while it may be important to have a good design, it’s also important for it to be “producible”. Up to now I think that I would describe a design as being good if it catches my eye and instantly makes me think “wow, that’s a great design”. Zeynep: I feel that for me a good design usually shows when it doesn’t give the feeling that it’s just a trendy object, but rather displays great complexity and does stand the test of time. I believe some of the best designs actually look very simple but are rather complicated to make. We do give each other a lot of criticism for our own designed objects and try to produce designs that are innovative and unique. And surely Kostas is the harshest judge out of the both of us.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

KD : Aside all our designs, we have been lucky enough (initially we thought it was a bad thing) to be involved in the production of most of our objects. This has given us the ability to be able to understand how to make molds and later on produce copies. During the design process we will also troubleshoot the production side of things, so when we know that we have something that can be produced and we’re happy with it’s form and function we’ll call it done. At the same time like with anything in art, there’s always a reason to add/remove something to/from it but we think that we’re at the stage where we’re not fighting with these demons as much.

What is your biggest design work?

KD : We’re in an in between phase right now in which we really have mastered making molds for smaller objects but we would like to test ourselves with bigger but lighter objects. One of these objects is the Knot Lamp. We have designed the mold so that it’s 50 cm diameter. It’s currently still in production stage with some other larger pendant lamps we are testing from different materials. It’ll give us great joy once we master working with bigger molds, since even handling the molds is quiet difficult let alone mastering making copies from the mold.

Who is your favourite designer?

KD : Kostas: I admire Gaetano Pesce's work. Zeynep: I do like Jonathan Adler's designs. He also started with his passion for ceramics and making every piece himself and later grew quiet a lot. His story is quiet inspiring.

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

KD : Kostas: I find pleasure in the simplest things in life and love coffee. I’ve visited a few cities but the one that stuck with me the most was Bilbao. I rely on music I love to get the rhythm I need during my working hours but I listen to a lot of music when not working also. I believe my culture effects my design process but probably gaining different stimuli from all the countries I’ve lived in effects it more. In life, design can be found everywhere. From the water bottle we drink from every day, to the shoes we wear, to the chair we sit on, the music we listen to, the small cafe we pass by on our way to work and the list goes on. Every single thing had to go through countless revisions as well as versions in order for our lives to become better. I’d say that thanks to being involved in design I appreciate more the work any individual has put in for the creation of a product or project. Zeynep: I find London to be very inspiring. When I was studying there I felt that there is so much art and design everywhere in the streets and coffee shops, many concerts to attend to and museums to visit. I like listening to music or podcasts while crafting our handmade copies. We are currently working on our big pendant lamps that we would like to release during this year.

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

KD : We will continue to work on projects that excite us and make us feel very proud to have been a part of. For the most part we (Kostas & Zeynep) work alone but in the very near future we would like to start working with more people who are as passionate as we are.

Kazoo Design Profile