Interview with MYST

MYST ("MYST") interviewed on Sunday, 18 March.

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

MYST : I’ve been in the creative industry professionally – that is as working for clients – for almost 10 years now. However, my originating creative background is sculpture. My father was a renowned sculptor and I grew up in an environment that is very different – when you enter an atelier full of sculptures, you are entering a different reality. And that is the creative force that nurtured my growth.I’ve been in the creative industry professionally – that is as working for clients – for almost 10 years now. However, my originating creative background is sculpture. My father was a renowned sculptor and I grew up in an environment that is very different – when you enter an atelier full of sculptures, you are entering a different reality. And that is the creative force that nurtured my growth.

How did you become a designer?

MYST : Getting to the decision of doing design was quite straightforward as it was in the closest proximity of sculpture. Needless to say, it was not easy to transfer the knowledge from sculpture to the field of design as you need to learn crucial and practical differences of both. First of all, art serves nothing, it exists for its sole purpose, a design on the other hand always have to revolve around a function – that is the primary axiom. Another important facet to understand is, that the brand you work for works for the market it serves. You need to understand what and to whom you will be selling through the brand.However, if you are a good sculptor, and figure out how to apply yourself to design, you will be hardly beat.Formally, I went to seek the traditional career path of a designer to a university in Slovakia, but dropped out after three years as the quality and studies overall were extremely underwhelming. I slowly started working for different clients, went into Hong Kong for a bit, then back and continued to build my portfolio while getting more clients and more interesting work.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

MYST : The priority is the function, the next important aspect is differentiating the product in the market and so making competitive – in other words – what will you do differently? Why would anyone choose your product over something they already know and are familiar with? The third aspect is the aesthetics, which are pivoted around the two previously mentioned points. People, with their complex sensory experiences, seek beauty. There is a simple explanation of what beauty is – it’s simply everything that reminds you of life. Life in its full meaning – vibrant, conscious meaning which pulses with a heartbeat. Role of a designer is to create something of such undeniable existence.As for my process, I utilize CGI and will most likely soon utilize virtual reality and holographic tools as well. Personally, I do not build any mockups, I either leave this part completely to 3D printing or craftsmen, I’ve had my share of physical work as a sculptor and unless it is something only I can physically create, it would make no sense to waste time on it. Remember, efficiency is everything, that is why I am working in CGI. My clients see realistic results before the product is made. And the made thing tends to be around 95 – 100 % the same as the original rendered object.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

MYST : Designing is not about emotions. Yes, you have to be “in the zone” the same way as when you do art and when you are approaching something great you will feel it, but generally speaking, design is or should be an extremely rational process. It is necessary to note though – every professional process, even artistic, is and should be grueling. If it isn’t, you are either working on something too simple or you are a child playing with crayons. Creation is a responsibility, not a playground. That might sound like I am too serious, and I am all but that, but it truly is as said.As for the sense of joy – I only feel it after the object I worked on is sitting in all its glory on my table. The journey to that result can be extremely difficult, perhaps more difficult majority of people would’ve expected. It’s an interesting paradox because we are so used to ease of use with the devices as smartphones and similar helpers, but in reality, the world of manufacturing is as slow as it was years and years ago. I will tell you the uncomfortable reason – the human aspect. The slowest link in design and manufacturing are the people, unfortunately. I’ve been currently waiting for an estimate on one project for two months, I doubt I would’ve waited 10 seconds if it were up to an AI system developed to solve the particular issue. As a designer, I am looking forward to the progress of automatization and robotization across the whole manufacturing industry. Creativity will still be hard to replace as it strongly relates to the complex tangle of what we call emotional intelligence, but simpler tasks will and should be dispensed through effective AI systems.

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

MYST : As already mentioned – the artistic background and sculpture, I can’t stress that enough, but unless you have an experience of being a sculptor, you will not be able to create complex forms successfully. Sculpting is a profession of an understanding logic of shapes – and when I say shapes I mean everything, it’s understanding the rhythm of creation.As for any other aspects beyond the profession – there are not really any. In relation to the creative process, who you are shaped as a human being is pretty much useless, what we call an “identity” is a summary of experiences that have little to do with creation. Yes, there is a certain threshold of a general life experience you will need to understand certain things and principles, but how quickly you get there is something else. Someone can at 15, someone never. After you reach the threshold, the success of what you do and how you think is determined by your general intelligence, emotional intelligence, and ambition. The combination of these is what sets people apart. my work is governed by the first two, and its drive and plentitude by the latter.

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

MYST : I’ve always been a sort of a “maximalist”. I want all or nothing, which is sometimes a liability, and sometimes compromises are necessary, but my aims have always been high.The next aim, after design, will be architecture. How do I want to be remembered? As a person who has done all that was possible to create the most of use of his talents and skills. Leaving a legacy that serves a purpose and forwards the community is the final aim.

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

MYST : I would advise young designers to follow the usual and safest path to the design career. That means school, followed by a few internships and then employment in some creative agency. In this way, you will gather enough experience and most importantly – contacts, friendships, and acquaintances that can help you if you decide to split to your own business later on. Getting on the same path as me, for example, might be too dangerous, that is, being a freelance product designer right from the start. I did face years of uncertainty and very small income until I got to more interesting projects. Doing things on your own is a big risk, I am not a fan of what is these days the popular strategies as “go out and risk and fail”. It has been said that hearing this advice from successful people is like listening to a lottery winner to invest in tickets. You might fail so badly you will never recover. And remember, failing is and will get harder in the future. These days people can’t even buy property in large cities and population growth will make everything even more competitive.So, unless you are crazy or can completely rely on the uniqueness of your talents, be rather safe than sorry and try to pilot your career in a reasonable manner.

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

MYST : Work your ass off but don’t forget to be a part of a community – cultivate friendships and relationships, you will never achieve anything on your own. You might be the best damn genius at what you do, but if nobody else knows that, it’s useless. That is the sole most important advice I can give. You are a part of society, so act like it.

What is your day to day look like?

MYST : I get up at around 1 pm. Seriously, I am not a fan of mornings. I have a good breakfast, watch some shows or anime (yes), have coffee and then the work day starts. I go to the gym in the evening and then return to work, which sometimes carries on into the late night or early morning hours. Sometimes I work 12 hours a day, sometimes an hour, it depends on another schedule as meetings (which I hardly consider work), traveling, leisure and so on.I can say these days I work less than I used to, but I am a lot more effective, so in truth, I do actually more.I would say that my schedule is quite stereotypical, with exceptions of traveling, but then again, what I do is certainly not, so it balances it out quite a lot:)

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

MYST : They don’t and I really could not care less. However, I do buy a lot of print so I am informed about which brand is up to what in the market, but in terms of content or form, I rarely see anything interesting. You have to understand that the current world is too fast-paced to see good content. If you want to get good content, go to a cinema, listen to a symphony or go to a museum, but I would not be looking for it in the current general production. Be informed yes – but don’t necessarily expect cultural satiation, you will rarely get it.

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

MYST : The same way you know the food is good or bad, albeit within a more complex mechanism. It is a comparative experience. When you see 10,000 paintings, you will know which is good or bad approximately, even though you might not have education in that area.Understandably, when you create in the area as well, your opinion gets more refined as you have directly been a part of solving an equation and innate problems of the matter, so your thinking gets more precise and within the comparative experience, you will be intellectually capable to name the reasons why something is “good” or “bad”.That is at least the general presumption. How well this works also relates to previously mentioned capabilities of general intelligence and emotional intelligence.What you should avoid in creation is your own self. Be devoid of interference from the mess we call an identity, your own clutter of beliefs or defections and your process will be much purer and the result more correct.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

MYST : From the practical perspective – when the function works without issue and you can replicate it on a mass scale. From the visual standpoint – when the object is as visually “filled” as possible, while also reduced as possible. You should not be able to take anything away, yet the object is as full as possible. We could primitively say it’s “beautiful” – but in reality, it means it is a coherent sum of parts that put together serve a purpose in an aesthetically pleasing manner.As for the success of a product or design, that is a more complicated topic. Creating a great design is a success in itself, but how is this translated to monetizing the object is a different matter. Do not kid yourself that making a great design is enough to sell it. That is not the case and certainly not in the marketing filled world we live in. The financial success of a design depends on how well the company can sell it – the design being great provides an impetus and basis for it, but nothing but that. The heavy lifting still has to be done either by capital invested into marketing or simply wit of selling (anybody knows any Ogilvy?).When you are confident your project is good in function and form and it also sells – that is what you call a design success.

What is your biggest design work?

MYST : Biggest design work is yet ahead of me. Anybody wants me to do a yacht or a skyscraper?:) There are of course interesting projects I’ve worked on – such as the Myst olive oil bottle, which in itself challenges what has been done up to date – and some other complex works in crystal glass, though I would like to transfer that thinking to a larger scale.As for my inspirations – I have none. Again, design work is a precise and organized process of gathering data and working with it in the unique way you can.

Who is your favourite designer?

MYST : I do not have favorite designers or artists. The person who has shaped my advancement the most was as mentioned my father, sculptor Emil Venkov. Everything else is on the bottom of the pyramid.However, I can tell you the era of creativity I appreciate the most or designers I value.The apex of creativity in relation to design was the Bauhaus school and its time period. Bauhaus, in return, was indirectly the product of the cultural richness of the great artistic and architectural spark of the belle epoque. Everything with a notion of quality stems from this period.As for different designers, or architects from the post Bauhaus period, the likes of Eero Saarinen and the Eames couple are an excellent source of studies for anybody interested in a crystallized quality of industrial, product design and architecture. There are plenty of more to mention, but I am not a history book, so if you are new to design, look up the ones mentioned and you will be buried under the content of quality.As for the current period, I do not have any favorite designers or architects. One interesting man to pinpoint is Calatrava who carries on the visual quality and iconic look into our times, which is greatly appreciated because if you know how big projects work, they revolve around very shallow principles.

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

MYST : I have to say my favorite culture is in a broad sense – Asian. They have the drive the Europeans have lost a long time ago. Europe is an old lady who has the wealth, but walks with a crutch and counts the steps. Asians leap forward and if they like something – they will get it.I’ve lived in Hong Kong for about five months and I loved the city, it has everything a young person needs. I have some personal matters that need settling in Europe (I am currently based in Slovakia, Bratislava) first but then I would like to return to HK.As for how culture affects or blends with my lifestyle – I listen to music basically all day. There are two reasons for this – it’s sort of customary, there was a radio playing all the time in the atelier and the second is more prosaic – I have tinnitus, so complete silence is not a favorable condition.I listen to everything from classical to electronic. For example, I am listening to the Belgian rock band Triggerfinger while writing this (Ruben ftw).Music is an extremely important part of a culture as it is the most imminent and consumable form of abstracted emotion. I can’t say it affects the form of anything that I do, but you can certainly get very easily “into the zone” while listening to proper music.

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

MYST : As for my work process, I create and work on the projects solely on my own – that means every shape and curve I design must be done by me. It is not something that can be relegated to anybody else.As for engineering and manufacturing – these parts of the process are handled by third parties. I do not employ anybody personally nor I see the reason to. Employment in itself is a bit dated in the creative industry. If you need something to be done, you can easily outsource it to anybody who is either available or best suited for it from around the world.Sourcing things locally is the worst and most defective process to design, and I am still surprised this is still the practice in most companies these days. You will not be able to create quality in this manner on a constant basis.In regards to how clients work with me – they always find me and I am contacted by them. I do not reach out to businesses how I used to previously for two reasons – it’s useless, most companies will not recognize the value and second is – I do not have to anymore these days. I am glad that at this point my work propels my name in the market itself.The challenge in the work culture and business in a broad sense is to find reliable clients and business partners. You need to know a few things – that the clients have the funds to pay for the design and its production, and that they are genuinely interested in design, not just monetizing it. If these two conditions are met, you got an ideal client, but, unfortunately, that is a rare occasion. If one is missing, you can still have some working relationship, but of course, if they both are not present, say thanks and walk away. One thing – if somebody sends you an email with no hi, hey or good mornin’ and does not introduce themselves, you can delete the mail right away:)As a designer, you also have to understand human nature and you will need to learn how people react and whether you can rely on them. This comes with experience. If I sit down with someone now, I will know whether I can do business with them in the first five minutes.

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

MYST : I am opened to help a cause pro bono, though I haven’t had such an opportunity yet. In the future, I would like to pass on what I know to students, designers or creators who could make use of it. However, it is not easy to teach people as actually few really listen and understand what you are trying to pass on.Generally speaking, artists, designers, and creators have the opportunity to express a thought in a manner that can reverberate through society, so they definitely should try to improve aspects of society if they have a chance.

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

MYST : As a designer, I am an employee of the brand I’ve created the product for, so I am glad if the brand can get more exposure in this way. It can also propel the message of the design through the market – it’s unique shape is a bold statement of what is to come in product design. The brand wasn’t afraid to challenge conventions and has created a successful and award-winning product. As for myself, it is useful to be associated with success through the award.

MYST Profile