Frederic Gooris is a young and obviously talented industrial designer. He is Belgian but he worked in Italy and now lives in Hong Kong. He has a wonderful family. He worked for Alessiamong others… But most important he tells Agirlinhongkong why we should keep an eye on him!
WOULD YOU CALL YOURSELF AN INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER TOUT COURT?
Frederic Gooris: Yes. Mass produced items particularly interest me as they touch the lives of so many people. Transforming ordinary objects into messengers of happiness to bring some magic to everyday life is the absolute best job in the world.
WHEN DID YOU DECIDE YOU WERE GOING TO BECOME THAT?
Frederic Gooris: During my architecture studies, I got in contact with product design. At that point I realized how interwoven we are with the objects that surround us, how they determine who we are and how we behave. This realization made me switch from architecture to product design.
YOUR VISUAL INSPIRATIONS:
Frederic Gooris: To design the objects of tomorrow, things from the past and present are my main inspiration sources. Being very aware of my surroundings, I combine things that strike me particularly from everyday life (something in the street, a movie, a photo…) with the references from the past we all have in our collective memory.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER YOU LIKE AND SOME YOU DON’T. SAY WHY!
Frederic Gooris: About whom I like best, no doubt: Achille Castiglioni. When I was studying design, I got so inspired by the absolute lightness and playfulness with which he made his designs come alive. His approach to industrial design had a profound impact on my way of thinking, up to the point that it was a major reason for packing my bags and moving to Milan to study Italian design first hand. He is one of those very few that gave true meaning to industrial design.
Still today, when I am stuck in front of a blank piece of paper, I wonder… “What would he have done?”…
An industrial designer I don’t like? The French say: “Les goûts et les couleurs ne se discutent pas!” but generally speaking I do not like designs created with the mere goal of trying to attract attention in order to feed the ego of the designer. Some designers sin more to this than others…
YOU CAN HAVE LUNCH WITH ANYBODY (MARGARET TATCHER, LE COURBUSIER) AND ASK THEM ABOUT YOUR WORK, WHO DO YOU PICK:
Frederic Gooris: It would definitely be “la sciura Maria”. A designer is a communicator, and designing is like telling a story. When you design you are telling a story to your audience, and if you want your audience to understand your message, you must speak their language. I want to speak through my designs with as many people as possible, so I must use the right language, a language that is understood by a broad audience. Therefore I am very much interested in what “la sciura Maria” has to say about my work.
[La sciura Maria is an Italian expression that indicates, well, a simple nice traditional housewife! NDR]
TELL US ABOUT YOUR THREE FAVOUTIRE PROJECTS SO FAR:
Frederic Gooris: The most interesting projects are always the ones in development, the ones in motion… but obviously I cannot tell you about these, so I choose three finished ones
I feel particular affinity to Minou, as it is probably the first object where I managed to combine all the aspects that I believe a good design must have. Minou, bag hook from Alessi shot with Pip, key chain.
Bamboo is the first product I did not only design, but we also produce and commercialize. Bamboo looks very minimal, but do not let the simplicity of the baby bouncer Bamboo fool you: this bouncer is the most innovative bouncer around!
More info at:www.bombol.it
We were asked by Alessi to design the next light bulb: quite a challenge to put your hands on an icon of over 100 years old. The key we were offered was the LED technology. Being “green” these days is always associated with sacrificing things, and people do not like sacrifice. But design can be the mean to make an environmentally way of living attractive.
