Interview with Mania Carta

Mania Carta ("MC") interviewed on Sunday, 25 June.

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

MC : Since I was a child, drawing had become my passion and especially in Manga and Japanese anime. by growing up I decided to follow my passion and enrolled at the High School of Arts. I realized I wanted to express my creativity even more, so continued my studies. I learned as much as I could in order to have a much wider view as a designer. So, I chose to learn more about the fundamentals of art and design. four years later I put myself to the test and started my career right away. Nevertheless, I had prior professional experiences while I was studying. Such jobs were not all design-oriented, but they lead me to be the person I am today, and I'm very proud of that. However, I started my job as a graphic designer right after I finished my studies. Back then the company I used to work with designed displays for brands. I got a promotion and then rejected it. I felt I had to change again and start another job path elsewhere. I was contacted by another company and became their main designer, but after all the experiences working with different companies in different places, I decided to found my own company sandstorm. and today I can say that I am very proud to have won the Gold A ’Design Award in the Computer Graphics, 3D Modeling, Texturing, and Rendering Design Award Category which gives me more motivation to offer new ways of character design to the world that they can enjoy and be an inspirational key for future young designers.

How did you become a designer?

MC : The things that really drive me to be a designer were my passion for art and manga, since then my motivation for art started to grow more and more and when I got my first computer everything start to change. 3D tools were the first challenge for me to learn before taking my journey to another level, then from there I start to learn everything on my own morning and night even though sometimes I start to don't count the time and my only goal was to grow my skills. Final Fantasy and especially character designer Japanese Tetsuya Nomura and Korean Artist Hyung Taei Kim was my true inspiration and my main motivation to become a character designer, with the style they were making and the unique touch I was mesmerized by all this kind of imagination they have and I want to learn it, since then I start to develop my own skills. I didn't want to copy their style and make it my own but either learn from it and bring a new unique style that I have never achieved in my life. And because of hard work and the passion I have, I could achieve it.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

MC : When i want to design something it can be character, environment, vehicle the first thing come to my mind is i want to make something unique, somethings never been done before so i start to imagine what I want to make, sometimes i like to go trough pinterest and look to arts just to open my mind then i close everything and start make things is like having a puzzle and want to build something from it, that's my style of work i really don't have one direction to follow, i will create a complex puzzle until I found the result i want and once i am happy i start to tweak it and add final touch.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

MC : When i start making character the first thing came into my mind is to live with them and give them a cool aesthetic and personality's and not just see them only as 3D models, if I feel such things I stop working and take a break. I always want to see emotion on my characters i design and give them a purpose of there existence.

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

MC : Art and drawing was the key to becoming a character designer, with that in hand it connect me to different places, I never guess that such a skill I had since I was a child who will let me one day win awards.

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

MC : Each day there is something to learn, making things the same every year is boring, as an artist I always like to bring new things and develop new images but I only show them slowly. Luna Lankastar The Night Witch of Linerma that I created has a deep secret within her and only one person knows and this will be revealed with time. The story will not stop there, there is something very dark and powerful awaiting the witches and much more. Other than the witches of Linerma there is another project I am making but I can't reveal anything yet.

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

MC : If you want to be a great designer, the first thing is to have passion for what you doing, if you don't you fail. You should never give up no matter what obstacle you face, such things will make you stronger to face more obstacles like playing video games and wanting to beat the final boss. Design career is like that and more they will be always challenge awaiting so you need to be ready for them always. Never lose hope if you get rejected, rejection is the key to making you a beast designer, don't listen to others who said you can't do it, do what you want, and forget others because one day they will come to you. Always focus on your goal and always ask yourself what is the meaning of your existence. Never ever give up no matter what challenge you will face, smash everything in your path no matter how it is, learn from your master, understand how they work =, take such knowledge, and make something unique from it because those masters designers were young designers like me and you.

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

MC : Learn, work hard, don't be lazy, don't give up, develop your own skills, and always look forward and never backward. Have a purpose for what you want to do, don't listen to others who say you can't do it, you don't have the skills, do the hard work, and by the time all who rejected you they going to beg you to learn from your experiences.

What is your day to day look like?

MC : A normal day of mine starts at home with a cup of hot chocolate milk and a bagel or sometimes an egg. I do not usually wake up early because the most productive and efficient time for me starts my work is in the afternoon. Dinner time is around 8 pm. I usually spend 1 or 2 hours after dinner talking to my friends and surfing the Internet. Then back to work at around 10 pm. I am a real night person. My bedtime is usually between 2 to 4 am depends on the progress of my work. And that will be a random workday for me. I also like shopping and especially fashion clothes as also see what new technology is in the market. Sometimes in my free time, I hang out with my friends and go for karaoke or play bowling and darts and other times we go for sports and play basketball and badmintons'.

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

MC : Usually, I develop and design something on my own even if I see other styles and works from different artists I like to get rid of that copycat and make something unique and mostly 90 percent of I don't use references and only I use my imagination's on how i want to see the final design.

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

MC : The most important thing when you design something is to have a fundamental of how to design, it can be character, architecture, vehicles, Understanding shapes, perspective, anatomy, colors, shading, and lighting is the key to good design, those kinds of elements when you learn them with trial and error will help you achieve your goal

How do you decide if your design is ready?

MC : To be honest, even Luna that I made and win awards i still want to tweak it and make something more better, a design can never be finished there is always for improvement but when the visual is right then you can say you achieved your goal but make tweaks and add touches to bring things to a new level style.

What is your biggest design work?

MC : Luna of course. I was always fascinated by Korean fashion and its culture this is where it really all starts. at first, I wanted to create a beautiful digital human Korean girl but then my imagination start to take me somewhere else once I started to see Luna coming to life. From there I start to think about how can I give a beautiful touch and make her unique from there I start to get inspiration from witches and mystery fantasy characters to create her to a new level of creativity. Because her name was Luna I was thinking maybe if I create a lamp and a shape of a crescent it will be a good idea but then the way to make it and implement it was tricky from there I start to test and try everything like using Lego, it was for me like a puzzle to achieve what I want at the end from there I start to think about creating different lighting scenario for her and different hairstyle design. Luna motivates me to create more appealing characters with different touches.

Who is your favourite designer?

MC : My favorite character designer is Akira Toriyama, dragon ball was my main influence to becoming designer, the way how the character was shaped and designed was something I never saw in any art before,

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

MC : My favorite city is Tokyo and especially Akihabara this is what drives me to come and learn the Japanese culture and became part of the society and established sandstorm in the heart of Tokyo. Music also plays a big role in my inspiration without I will always feel something missing, music is the key to opening your imagination and making your dream to reach your vision, I always listen to cyber-punk songs and fantasy choral, I also like metal songs such guilty gear, Castlevania and final fantasy. If you know how to design then you will bring something new to society. Because I founded and created Sandstorm I am going to bring it to a whole new level and image that has never been seen before. And with the passion I have and the vision I am aiming, I will do my best to bring something unique to the world.

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

MC : I usually work by myself but when clients reach me I open myself to them and let them use my services to make their vision and business grow faster. I like always to surprise my clients and give them something unique so that I can help their businesses grow, I have worked with many clients during my experiences and to be honest, everything has an upside down but it's also a good experience and learning path to understand how to deal with clients and build a strong relationship with them. As an artist, I like to share my skills and knowledge with my clients and give them the right direction to make their business grow, I am a very expensive artist in the market but also I provide high-quality products to my clients in a short amount of time. I have skills I have developed for myself that help me beat the clock and especially deadlines, in my whole career I have never missed a deadline, I don't like to rush in my work but also don't like to focus on details first when designing I like to see the whole things together and shape it together to make it good then after I start to add touches to make it great. But in our World client is the king no matter what skills you have, but even that you can educate him to make something that he can be proud of as an achievement. That's how as a designer I work usually with my clients and business partners.

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

MC : Every design competition is a good choice and path to test your skills, it's a good opportunity to open up to the World. I never thought I will an Award in my career and especially the Golden Award, because of my busy work I hesitate to participate and was overwhelmed with all the pieces of information received but then I got many replies from the staff to participate especially when I uploaded Luna, this driven me a big motivation to participate in the competition and test my skills and it was truly rewarding as experience. A' Design Award is not a simple competition award this kind of award will open you so many things in your career once you understand how it works, it's so well organized and professional comparing other awards competitions. Winning awards drive me to work more and design new unique styles so this will help me contribute to society. Being the Designer of the Day gives more passion and freedom of imagination to bring news images and touch to the World that can other young artists and designers learn from it.

Mania Carta Profile