Interview with Ali Sharifi Omid

Ali Sharifi Omid ("ASO") interviewed on Wednesday, 15 June.

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

ASO : I have been designing for about 16 years. Although I’ve mostly worked as an interior designer focused on interior store decorations. In the past 3 years, I’ve been working more professionally in the field of decorative objects such as lighting and furniture

How did you become a designer?

ASO : If I were to give a proper description of myself, I would have said that during my teenage years I was interested in most art forms, especially cinema, music, poetry, and photography and since I was studying in a technical college, I had experienced visualizing and building a little bit and had received positive feedbacks from my tutors regarding my ability to visualize. My fondness for art was completely intrinsic and it was in no way related to the environment that I was raised in. In fact, in my domestic environment and under the yoke of a strict religion, all forms of art were forbidden. Acquaintance with the field of industrial design was a complete accident that put me on the path of becoming a designer and seriously getting to know the joy of creating and building. This childlike glee and thrill is still breathing in me by the creation of each design and it’s a motivation for me to welcome the life challenges of being a designer.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

ASO : My first priority in designing is to create a beautiful and novel form that has a story or a special outlook in its background. The second priority is to find out how the idea can be made with minimal cost. In the third stage, I would look around in my imagination for a main concept that has the previous two features. The search continues and refines over and over till the final idea emerges on paper in a crude fashion. Then, I would further assess all dimensions of the design after a short interval and if I happened to be satisfied with the overall form, I would start modeling accurately using the real measures. If the modeled design was good enough, I would spend more time on its functional and technical details and prepare a technical plan to build. After building the initial sample, if the proportions, details, and other factors didn’t need a review, the design is complete.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

ASO : The mental stage of discovering a novel idea is just as exciting and uplifting as a bright thunderbolt lighting up the path through a dark desert. Cultivating an idea and drawing it closer to its final stages is just as pleasant as watering a garden full of flowers. And lastly, yearning to see the built design evokes the delightful experience of playing with a toy as a child

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

ASO : Knowing and pursuing other dimensions of Art (besides designing) broadens the horizons of a designer. For instance, having a deep connection with Iranian music helps me possess a better understanding of rhythm and harmony for designing. My strong interest in photography encourages a concern in me to look differently and find a subject. An interest in old architecture links me with the life experiences of artists who had lived hundreds of years ago and provides me with an abundance of original forms. In reality, diverse realms of artistic consciousness converge somewhere in our subconscious and emerge in the moment of creating a work somewhere in imagination or reality.

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

ASO : I’m interested in developing my ideas regarding objects used in the interior space of the house. I hope to collaborate with international companies working in this specialized field along the way. It is my dream to design a product that would be sold on a worldwide scale and its user would experience the same pleasure that I had experienced creating the same product

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

ASO : A design that never reaches production is just like a music that is produced, yet no audience has ever experienced the joy of listening to it. In my view, it is advised to consider the available resources when you are designing and by improving your technical knowledge of building as much as possible, create a design that would not require a complicated and unavailable building technology.

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

ASO : Success is relative and in most cases, assumes importance in comparison with another. But if I were to give a description of my own experience with designing, I would say that I feel far away from my own ideal designs and I must put in a lot of effort to achieve them. In my belief, the challenge facing a successful designer is to expand his knowledge in domains like psychology, sociology, economics, and philosophy in addition to the professional skills of his own field.

What is your day to day look like?

ASO : For me, the day starts with reading the news. It is unfortunately a bad habit that I’m yet to kick. Of course, for one who is living in my geography, the best news is to have no news. If there was no commission for designing, I would spend most of my time in the building workshops. My spare time would be devoted to listening to and sometimes practicing music, being in nature, watching movies, reading books, and being with my family.

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

ASO : I follow design news via the internet and social networks to some extent. Watching the works of others is a way of acquiring knowledge and cheap experience that I try to substantially benefit from.

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

ASO : Creativity, harmony, simplicity, and similar factors are my criterion for a good design.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

ASO : Whenever I would not be able to add or remove something from a design and yet the final form has reached perfection, then I think the design is ready. Although, this is not always easily possible. To bring a design to perfection, sometimes you need to distance yourself for a while and get busy doing something else so that the event that you’re expecting may happen.

What is your biggest design work?

ASO : I like designing and building my handmade pendant lighting very much and I think they are a turning point in my works. Getting inspired from my own art and culture started with this project and the reception of my audience emboldened me to continue my designing path.

Who is your favourite designer?

ASO : 14.Ever since my student days, my favorite designer was Philippe Starck. His minimalistic outlook that was inspired by the Eastern culture and Zen Buddhism and also his philosophy that ‘less is more’ when it comes to creating products were always interesting to me. This exceptional outlook is quite apparent in Haikus, drawings, and calligraphies of the ancient culture of Japan. In a way, this philosophy is environmentalist and attaches great value to nature and substance. In another outlook, ancient Iranian arts like the making of miniature, rugs, and patterns used in architecture and gilding are artistically speaking in contrast with the minimalistic art. In fact, although Iranian art is conservative in inventing new forms, it is maximalist and seeks diversity in attending to details. I believe that comparatively the Japanese Haiku poems and the poetic form of Mathnawi in the Persian language should be considered the two extremes of artistic minimalism and maximalism, respectively. The works of these Iranian artists which were created in the minimalistic geography of the desert to compensate for the empty spaces of nature is now a very valuable and admirable source of inspiration to me.

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

ASO : Iran’s culture extends as far as thousands of years ago and as an Iranian individual, I feel joyous of having this culture. In cities like Isfahan, Yazd, Kashan, and Shiraz you can see the unique works of these arts for yourself, enjoy them, and get connected with long gone pasts. As a designer, I’m interested in pulling the gems hidden in this culture and art from chests covered with dusts and put them on display for the other people of the world to see.

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

ASO : Working as a team is a very challenging position in Iran that I am trying to resolve. Getting coordinated with other members of a group to advance the goals of the whole is sometimes much more difficult than the designing process. That is why I have attempted to pursue my designing projects alone so far. But I wish to become part of a creative team in the future because I believe that the result of a team design could be extremely more remarkable.

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

ASO : Loving others can be considered the end of a human’s growth and flourishing. As a designer, I wish that things I do would bring joy and create further pleasure for humans

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

ASO : The A' Design Award and Competition is the most prestigious design event in the world. Clearly, participating in this competition and winning an award would invoke the feeling of success and worth in the designer. On the other hand, the opportunity that this artistic event provides for designers and their designs to be seen is a very unique opportunity. Obviously, I feel wonderful for participating in this esteemed event and presenting my design to lovers of design and art from this platform.

Ali Sharifi Omid Profile