Interview with Maja Myall

Maja Myall ("MM") interviewed on Wednesday, 2 May.

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

MM : Whilst studying I supported myself by waitressing in local restaurants and hotels.Soon after graduating in 1997, I worked with Atelier One, a structural engineering practise, and from there my career opportunities led to employment with TRH Architects and onto to Design LSM, where I worked on various hospitality projects in a Senior Designer capacity. My background in the hospitality industry meant restaurant design was a natural progression for me; I could relate to the client’s requirements and also foresee potential issues at an early planning stage so issues didn’t manifest into real problems. This ability was noticed and resulted in me running a team dedicated to Michelin star restaurants and 5 star hotels. My passion for hospitality design, client management experience and lots of drive made going it alone an option. I was inspired and I soon became the founder and owner of a successful design practise for the past 11 years, Blenheim Design Ltd. On reflection - by grabbing every decent opportunity available, my interior designer career path was paved - and it now seems inevitable that I would manage my own design practise. The associated responsibilities in business have added to my work schedule but I still enjoy delivering restaurant and hotel interior schemes after twenty years in the industry.

How did you become a designer?

MM : My design path was different to most of my colleagues. I wanted to be a product designer and design fashionable objects and furniture, so I enrolled in Belgrade College of Design and Applied Arts. As students we could freely experiment with sculpture, painting and graphics techniques and also learn practical technical drawings. Technical drawing was my least favourite subject at the time, but now I love using AutoCAD and doing drawing packages.Civil war had broken out in my country whilst I was traveling in the UK, so my design career was put on the back burner for a time. After a couple of years the civil war was still ongoing in what was the former Yugoslavia, so I decided to get back into design and I took a course studying 3D design at York College before enrolling at Brighton University in their Interior Architecture degree. University tutors dissuaded my interest in computer drawings and told me that I’ll never get a job if I pursued CAD skills, but I was eager to learn new computer programs so I taught myself CAD. This then led me onto learning rendering programs whilst my classmates were still only hand drawing and hand rendering with pantone pens. I gained my first employment as a designer in an award winning structural engineer practise, and I believe that my persistence in learning CAD gave me a leading edge over other job applicants because I already possessed the skills the employer required. My career progressed and after four years I was running a team at an award winning hospitality design agency.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

MM : Architectural history includes a rich tapestry of building techniques and materials, which I do like to research and explore. I often try to re-interpret these techniques or materials with a modern twist and include them within the interior scheme. At Blenheim Design we often begin in researching the chef’s history and passions and any background or provenance of the food offer. This approach not only increases shared knowledge and understanding but also increases enthusiasm, higher levels of creativity and excitement into the project.As a design team, once we are settled with the final general arrangement plan we ensure the staff and customer flows will work with client expectations. We then select and test materials for mood boards, sketch visuals and play with layering of lighting before proceeding to full rendered visuals and presentation to the client and landlords. The varying food offers and client’s is great and it means we don’t use a similar design style like in some other studios. We are all proficient in the usual design standards and also CAD programs including Adobe Creative Suite, Vectorworks, Google Sketch-Up, Autodesk AutoCAD & 3D Studio Max. A variety of these are used to create our presentations and applications to our client’s, their landlords and local authorities. After a successful concept scheme is approved we then progress to a technical second stage including a full drawing package and specifications for tender and/or for construction to ensure the client’s expectations and details are achieved at project handover. This second design stage is where we ensure all details are included and any interior scheme can have between 10-40 A1 technical drawings.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

MM : I like to listen to the client’s brief and let the site limitations guide me. If ever I ‘hit a stumbling block’ trying to achieve the best solution, I do find I have trouble sleeping and can’t rest until the problem is resolved. I always start with enthusiasm and focus on maintaining it - even on projects that may have been put on hold due to client’s financial constraints or a very slow approval process. There are always hurdles but lots of highs too, and as such interior designing can be an emotional rollercoaster for any designer. The time immediately before project handover can be intense – so I find most gratification comes from seeing how people use and appreciate the finished space. At a restaurant launch event I find it humbling and nostalgic to appreciate the fruits of our labour whilst reminiscing about the first stage when the project was just an idea.

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

MM : As previously mentioned, former employment and working in restaurants has helped me understand potential problems the site can face. I also paid attention from a lot of Chefs, they all worked hard and didn’t give up when things got tough. I do have a passion for history and architecture and this often filters into my projects. Architecture and fashion are intertwined so this has always been stimulus too. Similarly to fashion designers we also have to be innovative, daring and we have to know the material’s limitations and construction techniques, and both vocations aspire to achieve comfortable and inspiring designs.

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

MM : At Blenheim Design we aim to continue designing restaurants and bars and we enjoy all aspects of hospitality design. In 2017 we signed with a client who requires new restaurant concept schemes throughout their existing portfolio in Saudi Arabia. The cultural differences have been a big learning curve for us but we gladly look forward to working on further projects across the globe. Hospitality design is in our blood and ultimately we are looking in the near future to work on a large scale hotel design project.

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

MM : Believe in yourself and always design with the end user in mind. Style over substance seldom works, so common sense is imperative. Never stop learning new skills or new ways of communicating your idea. Design spaces and objects that you would like to use.

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

MM : Know your project inside out and be prepared for meetings. Consideration, knowledge and detailing are the key.

What is your day to day look like?

MM : I start early and begin my day catching up on emails, and then I’ll review the tasks that I set previous day all before I take my daughter to school. After that I head into the office for an early morning meeting with colleagues. We will discuss any design challenges each team is facing, any new projects on the horizon and I like to get some actual designing in. At the end of the working day I love spending time with my family or meeting up with friends in newly opened restaurants and bars in our vibrant city or nearby.

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

MM : It is so easy to keep up with the latest trends and projects when we have technology at our fingertips 24/7. We do subscribe to design and architectural publications too but the rise of social media applications, like Instagram, has brought trends to everyone’s immediate attention and not just within the architectural and designer circle. An apparent thirst from customers demanding more from their food and beverage venues has resulted off the back of continual rebranding and launching of new F&B sites in recent years. It has seen both well-known brands and independents competing for spaces and the result is ever changing concepts which have more designer’s striving for their chance to stand out on the world stage than ever. At Blenheim Design we do like to keep a finger on the pulse, so we will regularly visit areas of special interest and get the real feel for the environment. We do not like to be ‘me too’, therefore we tailor make our concepts and make them unique.

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

MM : Great design is a combination of usability, tactile qualities and visual appearance. This sounds simple however it is not so easy to achieve as everyone has different tastes, and the perception of beauty changes as often as fashions. For example take seating, which can manifest in many forms - from a upcycled food crate to a plump arm-chair with luxurious fabric and crafted legs. Both are seats and ultimately serve the same purpose, however I know which one would be more comfortable and better suited to a hotel interior than a market style pop-up cafe. The balance between usability and aesthetics requires fine-tuning by designers.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

MM : As a designer I find I can always look at my work and find something I would like to change or experiment with but the deadline is the ultimate deciding factor, so we sometimes don’t decide, time does. The deadline can be a positive factor however and it often forces us to tap into our accumulated knowledge and often our first instinct is the final chosen design.

What is your biggest design work?

MM : The standard answer would be that all our projects are special but some are more challenging operationally and some are more technical. If I had to single one project out: it would have to be Anzu in central London. It was a labour of love within a new premium development, and we were there only last week and it is still looking good.

Who is your favourite designer?

MM : I don’t think I can single out one designer I can call my favourite because each has different attributes. Architect Sir John Soane use to be my measure for a classic look, although he was revolutionary for his time. Vivienne Westwood still inspires me as she is innovative and has a recognisable style of her own. My colleague Rob is an inspiration; we will look at the same project and see different attributes in everything we do, that’s refreshing. Although he is known as an artist I have always admired Pablo Picasso. Picasso, he lived according to his own standards, and was creative until he died. In my humble opinion, his “deconstruction of a bull” was the most powerful piece of art.

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

MM : I was born and lived in Belgrade for 18 years until I moved to UK. I’ve travelled extensively but I am very lucky to live by the sea yet still be in close proximity to my favourite city – London.London is constantly changing and it has some of the best food, fashion, art and music in the world. That’s not to say I don’t love other cultures and I would love to go back to Tokyo and New York to be inspired again. The Blenheim Design studio now overlooks the grand Royal Brighton Pavilion which isn’t just an architectural wonder; it often changes through art installations and the seasons. The studio benefits from the surrounding creativity and the central location, and we can play uplifting music and brew coffee daily which shouldn’t be taken for granted. At the beginning of my career I used to work in an Architectural practice where you could hear pin drop and was too clinical, I never wanted my office to be like that.

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

MM : We collaborate around the work table with a coffee and freely exchange project ideas and thoughts until the design routes are selected. Team involvement is essential to getting the best ideas and making sure everyone has a say. As the founder and owner of Blenheim Design I don’t have a business partner, however I have colleagues whom I trust implicitly. I like working with inspiring and technically knowledgeable individuals with whom I can solve potential problems and bounce ideas off.

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

MM : We have previously held places for design students in the studio so they are fully immersed into their chosen career and so they can learn practical ‘on the job’ traits ahead of their graduation. We instil in them that they should not only consider overall aesthetics and practicality, but also the senses like smell, touch and sound as that is what we experience in reality but isn’t seen on a visual. We also teach how to communicate ideas on paper or screen without the need of verbal explanation. It takes a lot of time and patience but we think it is necessary to give back and nurture the next generation of designers.

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

MM : Sometimes as designers we can find our critical nature will question our own design work, so previously winning an A’ design award was not only validation of our work but it has given Blenheim Design a greater platform in the industry. Winning the A’ Design Award confirmed that as designers we are able to achieve recognition in the industry we love and that we are as talented as the really big design agencies out there.

Maja Myall Profile