Interviews with Cristina Orozco Cuevas

I wanted to be a designer since I was 11 years old. The things that drove me to become a designer were my ability to draw and I always like to create things. Originally I wanted to be a fashion designer, untill I approach to study textile design. That´s is when I fell in love with fibres, yarns, and the big textile world.

I always emphasize my work on exploration, experimentation and evolve. My style is chamaleonic as I like to change to diverse projects that challenge me, I like to use a lot of color personally, but some projects demand the absence of it. My work focusses also in richness of textures and making unique designs for my clients.

All kind of emotions can happen when designing, some positive or either negative. Curiosity might be my top one. For me is really exciting the process of designing, more than the result itself.

Consistency, hard work, looking always for perfection and something that doesn´t feel like boredom.

My journey and path as a designer has been quite strange as i never wanted to be a freelance or have my own studio, but after 7 yers working on the industry and strangely many people asking me for freelance projects, this path took me til today. i think that is one of the best decisiones I´ve ever made as being independent comes with a great responsability and expertise. my plans for the future is to expand and have more clients worldwide and start traveling more. My dream design project is to make a residency in dofferent companies to work there in special projects in situ.

For young designers I think the most important thing is to get to know how to sell your work and find your own path. You need to understand that you design for a client, for a market, you don´t design for yourself. Also to sell an intangible is not an easy thing to do. You really need sometimes to educate your clients in order to get them understanding the value of it.

Do not copy anyones works never, do not try to be the same as others. it is very important to value your work and to take that religiously.

I cannot start my day without a coffee and a morning walk with my dog. My days are very different depending on the projects I am doing at the time. Some days I´ll be in front of the computer, some days sketching or hand drawing/ painting. I am always looking for things that take my attention on instagram, walking by, trips, whatever surrounds me daily.

I am always aware of trends, it is important to stay informed. Nevertheless I always like to follow my intuition. I think you have to be like a sponge and just try to abosrb everything. Inspiration can come from anywhere, anytime, you just need to be an observer.

A good design could be good aesthetics and function, either good at sales or rare. I think it depends on the context, but I would say that primary a good design has to be something that stands for itself from the rest.

A design will never be ready, as I think you can make something better all the time. I think a design is ready when you don´t find at some point what to change or do better. I think that is something very subjective, but it has to have quality, i would say, it has to pass you own quality standards.

I think my biggest design work hasn´t come yet. Til now ,Synsal Rib Ridge has been one of the best designs for its complexity to make it. But also developing fabrics with volume, one of the obsessions through years has been one of my best designs in terms of the process involved to get to those results.

I am a big fan of Frank Gehry´s work. his architecture is so outstanding and the volumes and forms he´s gotten are incredibly unique. Currently what has been doing Jonathan Anderson at Dior or Mathieu Blazy at Channel i found it extraordinary.

My favourite cities in the world where I can find lots of inspiration are Barcelona and NYC. I do think culture has a remarkable effect on design. My mexican heritage through color has a big impact on what I do. I am always trying to take something from anywhere I go, al least unconsciously; and then ttansform that and apply that on a fabric, pattern or surface I develop.

I have my own studio, but I work alone. There might be projects when I have to work interdisciplinary, but i look to create alone. My core challengues in my profession are trying to have an studio that has 10 designers or styles iin just one person. I think being chamaleonic and having to think like 10 brains is amazing and very prosperous.

I always take invitations for artistic projects that involve giving back to society something, donations, or non profit organizations.

I think it is important to have recognition as a designer in awards as I take it as a parameter to measure my work worlwide and through the years.

I wanted to design something for people with visual problems and make a textile with a social meaning. A fabric that could be produced inssutrially and massively. An occidental universal textile.

To contact entities for blinded people in order to make projects with this textile. Provide these organizations with a tool to teach the system and open an opportunity to learn with new materials.

It tooked me months, almost a year because I made a first protoype and the only propperty was the difference of textures between the yarns in the cells and in the back. After months I learnt and apply by a research of my own a new technique which finally could give the circles a volume that really could be different from the plain surface.

I pursuit the idea of creating something that besides being commercial or not, something with a real meaning and challenging.

My designed was made in a textile Mill as a personal project. I am planning that organizations contact me fot campaigns or new developments social and commercial.

evolution of my career and always new challenges

people with vision problems and blindsight through ONG organizations

because it is new, fresh, social plus it contains good aesthetics

Braille wikipedia defnition says: "It is a is a tactile writing system used by the blind and the visually impaired"

yarns, looms, CAD Software and a lot of patience.

that it really works and one day you can have 150 meters of this fabric woven.

Everything has to do with techonology about this design. You cannot mad it without it.

Yes, i ts influenced by doing some research of braille language, how the cells and points work as a code and how when you combine some codes form numbers or capital letters.

Finding the right technique and yarns mixture to get the high and low relief.

Because I already submitted it on Mexico and Spain. I want to go global because I consider it unique.

I improve with techniques and developments on weaves. The main and most important thing that I accomplished was the beginning of experimenting with jacquard industrial looms from now on. Of course mills across the world where owners want to cooperate and develop this kind of projects.

This is a design for everybody and inspires designers to be better and responsable.

I wanted to make a textile with little bags to keep out little tools or jewelry. But on my way to discover the bags I came with another design: floated yarns with frayed appearance, but very strongly moored to the fabric. My aim for doing this kind of fabric experiments is to get something out of the blue.

Publish it and share it with my clients in order to get more work and more business opportunities. Embrace the chance to get global exposure with my design studio and get clients worldwide.

It took me months to finally get the design indeed from the thinking and experimenting to the actual manufacturing.

I totally pursuit a risk experimenting on techniques half industrial and half hand made.

I already have a deal with one company in Mecico. It has already been commercialized on some catalogues and for other clients with pillows on department stores.

Take challengues and new risks even when mills say no.

This particular work was a serendipia, so maybe indirectly some previous designs influenced just because of the acknowledge of diverse techniques helped me to solve this design.

Decoration Professional Market: hotels, architects, designers, interior design studios.
Decoration Massive market: Department Stores

I have never seen a afbric like this before. It is strange, different, friendly to touch, if there is any light behind it fells very soflty, tenuous and nice.

I came with the idea that once I have these loose yarns woven horizontally which where cut at some point of the process. I thought about shoe lacing or something similar. I named it Lasso, which means a long rope with a running noose at one end used especially to catch horses and cattle. This names fits perfectly because the yarns look like very long but knotted by themselves, into the fabric and the released when they are cut.

I have to make with some engineers a special tool we named shutter kinfe of recycled metal parts of old looms; to cut the loose yarns on both ways: vertical and horizontal. In order to make a viable and affordable product.
I made the design on CAD special textile Sofware because I worked it on electronic industrial jacquard looms, which sometimes is kind of difficult beacuse when you design it into the computer as a drawing, the result specifically on this fabric has nothing to do. It was difficult to visualize how it would come out.

The loose yarns which give different visual, feeling and functional aspects. It is rare to see products half industrial and half hand made. Normally these two things seem to be opposed.

I worked with the help of a textile engineer with the "shuttlle knife" to develop a special tool. Because as part of a finish, the cut part was difficult to do without taking costs very high, so we developed this special tool to get the efficiency and low cost of production.

It is has practically a lot to do. this fabric cannot be woven without technology.

This design has to do with technique, weaves behavior and experimentation on woven jacquard fabrics.

Getting the fur aspect I wanted, be affordable to produce with a fair price, persuading the textile mill it would work on the looms and on the new finish process, plus into the decoration market get the interest in possible buyers.

Because I wanted my design to meet global competition. I already had taken some designs nationally and in Iberoamerican competitions. Now I think this is an opportunity to compete with the world, cause now we are designing for everyone. Also prove myself that my work is really valuable and works. This a big challenge for me.

I have learnt that there no impossibles if you take risks and of you do things, take actions instead just thinking them.

Being on this competition and getting two awards is another big watershed on my textile career.

My Studio specializes in textile design including development of collections, patterns, projects advice for decoration. Also I made graphic design and web design concept for corporate or branding sometimes. But the main service is textile specialized design for companies and mills.

Design is about looking around, mix, simplifly and make up a need.

Special conceptual projects, because it is very challenging to make this kind of jobs, and are very rare on the market.

The Bouroullec brothers work with panels and decoration.

A collection of textiles with the CASINO, as a main object. Those fabrics are still on the market.

strange tecnhologic material propperties

When something is not working and after trying and trying you simply got it.

Aesthetic, function, innovation and avant garde- all in one

hapiness, frustration, challenge, testing, exploring and experimenting

fullfillmes, satisfaction, greatful, stimulation

innovation, rarity and difference

aesthetic, quality, function

to bring the best with all the elements you can reach

It is evolving in sustainability, recycling and renewing

In Madrid on the Third Design Iberoamerican Biennal last year. Now I will exhibit on Popular Museum of Art in Mexico City a work I made with a craftsman.

looking always for details on streets, journneys, other disciplines like architecture, art, industrial and graphic design. Fedding from alll image and form stimulus.

with a personal seal of difference. When I designed fabrics I never see fabrics. That is always my main objective because if you see fabrics you take ideas from the same roots.
My approach to design is to make exponential the work of a designer in products. Approach the textile as a basis not a complement on others works.

I live in Mexico City/ Estado de Mexico. I do not think my culture affects my designs. Pros: exploring and experimenting Cons: few support and knowledge of textile work in general.

I sell them my ideas, but I work very deep with the people on the mills. there is one mill where I work everyday to know the process and to intervene in the whol process untill commercialization.
With other companies I offer the textiles I ahve done to put them into interior design projects.

Trust in design a s basic tool to separate from the competition. Skills, work and always people who gives more than what they ask you to do.

My design process starts first with doing research in different fields as architecture, nature, trips, objetcs, mobies, stores...everything. I search for cool things or trends to somehow start to think on a new textile collection. Then I start the brainstorms ideas on my head, then on paper. When I have a real synthesis of those ideas I start to sketch and think about fabirc results, patterns, mixes, colors, etc.
I am convinced that any process of design the better research you do, the better result you will get.

chairs, coffee machine, lamps, floor and hanger.

It starts with a breakfast that will give me the basic energy to work. Then I come to the studio, read my e-mails, search for videos or interesting ideas while I drink my daily coffee. then I start to work on reviews, research, designs I haven´t finished. If there is something vintage or retro to look on the web I see it. I review and check the content that it is going to be published on my social media. Sometimes I have to visit clients or talk with them. Again I start to look for interesting things on web, blogs, etc. After having my meal I review again social media content, e-mails and plans to do in order to promote and find new things of my design. After a normally day at the office I go home, workout, reviw some pendant work to do for other clients. I check e-mails, have a wonderful and healthy dinner and go to sleep. I am a workoholic.

never give -up, work hard, dont get desperate and fight for your design to be published or done, always take risks and reinvent yourself. Encourage yourself all day long in order to success, pretty hard don´t? But it is better in all aspects.

Positive: experimenting, creating, learning, growing up.
Negative: clients changing everything at last minute, creative people destroying your work, selling intangible ideas and people always rating less your work.

Do the best research.

unique style, talent, project management, creative thinking, risky, good eye for detail, communication, leadership, multi-taskers, knowledge of different mediums or software and business skills. The bst one is to know which capabilities you have and which you don´t.

computer, wacom, paper, pen and pencil, colors, special sofware, a comfortable chair. Sources of inspiration: blos, photography, places, countries, engineer structures, fashion clothing, etc.

Yes, but I don´t mind cause it is my greatest passion and my addiction.

It depends, sometimes it can happen in 15 minutes sometimes it can last weeks. It depends on the project, the goal, the difficulty and most of all the challenge.

Where do I get my inspiration of?

Co-working with other designers

NUA, ROCOCO, DIN Interiorismo, House of Mann, DUES, Grupo Starkem, THS, Blancos Covadonga.

The type of rare and different, ones that involve the hardest challenges and the best feedbacks.

Stregthen my brand as a designer and work interntionally with other companies in Europe, UK, USA, Asia and Latin america. Present my own collections of fabrics, products and commercialize them.

I develop designs by myself.

I am working with yarn suppliers in Spain to make luminiscense special 3D fabrics for decoration and own projects. I am also planning to bring a home product with recylced yarn that will have something to do with shells. I am working too on my new own line of textiles to sell directly to the public.

They can write me to these listy of e-mails. Depending on what the are interested in:
Press & Media: prensa@cristinaorozcocuevas.com
Sails & Alliances : ventas@cristinaorozcocuevas.com
Information & Projects: info@cristinaorozcocuevas.com

They can also enter to my diverse social media to get in touch with me through my website: http://www.cristinaorozcocuevas.com

Support and do not reject textile design!