Interviews with Walmir Luz

The main objective for this project was to maintain the same minimal design language from the products while still tying to the architecture theme of the brand. By creating a final design following the principles of architectural model making, we believe that we were able to create something consistent with the overall story of All Mies: bold simplicity!

As a packaging for a brand that is trying to disrupt the industry to begin with, we wanted to create something unique; something that fits the story and the values of the brand. The whole design is divided in layers that extracts inspirations from architecture by playing with the relationship between volume and void; form and function; and produces a distinctive unpacking experience.

It took us about 6 months between different concepts and iterations until we reached the final design.

This design was commissioned to be the mainstream packaging for an innovative startup looking to change the way the retail industry works, so it was a no-brainer decision that we had to come up with something unique; something outside of the box.

This design is being used as the official packaging for all of the watches sold by All Mies.

This design targets those consumers interested in design value. We live in a world of overpriced retail in which design is reserved to the elite. We hope to show that great design doesn't need to cost premium price tags.

This design is different than the typical retail packaging because it is unique to the story, values and goals of the All Mies brand while offering a distinctive unpacking experience. It doesn't just fit a functionality purpose (packing a watch), it delights and surprises. It is the perfect combination of form and function.

The most unique part of this design is the use of several different layers to create a play between void and volume able to securely pack a wristwatch.

From the very beginning, our intentions was to clearly exemplify the core beliefs of the All Mies brand: design doesn't need to be elitist. In order to do so, we worked on the development of a design that holds the high standards of a great design but that is also affordable and financially fits the business. By studying different materials capabilities and strengths, we were able to understand how to properly balance design and cost.

We were really happy with the final result and have received a lot of attention and feedback from the public that have interacted with it so we decided to submit it to an international design competition to validate such design accomplishment.

The biggest lesson was to deeply understand the weaknesses and strengths of different materials and be open to continuously evolve your design even when you think something is good. For this design in particular, there were hundreds of different ideas and prototypes. Every time we thought we had finished, we pushed the boundary just a little bit further to discover a whole new world of possibilities. The incessant hunger for improvement led us to a path and final product that was beyond our wildest expectations.

We wanted to create a simple but yet bold design. Something that could be elegant and casual. While extracting elements from the Miesian style such as clean lines and a minimal framework, the timepiece expands on the concept by defying symmetry and conformity with subtle elements. The little breaks in consistency creates a final model that exudes versatility and boldness.

Our primary goal was to prove that great design shouldn't be associated with high end costs. Good design is not a luxury; it is a standard. We challenged the status quo of the retail industry to achieve great design and a high quality consumer product without premium price tags.

Our plan is to continue offering consumer products that can reach the masses at an affordable price.

We started the design concept back in July/2018 and it took us about 5 months between research, testing and prototyping before a final design concept was put to mass production.

We live in a current global scenario in which the lack of transparency and trust has become the key issue in retail. This lack of confidence in the market is grounded on the perception that retailers are always astronomically marking up products based purely on logos. Sadly, this is true for most companies, so we saw an opportunity to create a brand that is built on trust and a fair pricing. We have develop a business model that is capable of delivering great designs and quality products at a much more accessible cost.

Our designs are being used and produced by our own company.

With the advancement of technology, we have seen new products come out and others become obsolete. Analog watches have been around for generations and yet they are still priced at exorbitant prices as more advanced ones. We went on to try to understand the reason behind those prices and our findings motivated us to shine a spotlight on the problem and search for a new way to disrupt the industry.

Our design is clean, young and bold and it is intended to fit the millennial crowd that is interested in true value products instead pure status.

Our concept differentiates from our peers when we look at the balance between design, quality and cost. We are not reinventing the wheel with minimalist watches, but we did introduce it to the masses for at least half of the cost without compromises in design and quality.

Our brand was named after one of the greatest modern architects, Mies Van Der Rohe, so we decided to name our first timepiece on one of the birthplaces of modern architecture, the Bauhaus school.

In order to achieve a high-end design watch following industry quality standards with an affordable final price tag to our consumers, we had to strategically rethink design to delivery as a whole. The Bauhaus model dictates form as much as it lets form follows function. By simultaneously laying out concept and manufacturing processes, a powerful synergy is created, allowing ideas and product development to be symmetrically aligned to design and financial parameters.

The main idea was to reimagine how to redesign New York making water a part of the urban life. A city that embraces the flood and other environmental issues of the present time and uses them as a solution to other problems.

The focus of this masterplan was to show how New York can once again reshape its edge and readapt itself at the same time that it maintains its vitality and urban qualities of nowadays while embracing/protecting itself from the sea level rise, storm surges and future floods.

I’m currently compiling all the research that I have done so far and expanding it a little bit further so to create a book that deeply explores and discuss the possibilities introduced by this proposal.

This concept was a 4-month work going back and forth between design and research.

I have always been intrigued about how cities will be shaped in the future when they are forced to face the consequences of present environmental issues. With that in mind, I decided to take NYC, one of the most important cities in the world, and design its future as part of my thesis to conclude my 5-year architecture program at Cornell University.

This proposal is more of a city utopia/dystopia, whatever we may define it and I see it as a case study for our future.

Society is currently living at the edge of big changes. Environmental issues have been ignored for a long time and they are still being somehow ignored. At some point, there will be a breakpoint.

There are plenty of masterplan proposals for NYC created by innumerous architects and they all have relevant and interesting ideas. ARO, Bjarke Ingels, SCAPE and many others have introduced unique ideas and interventions on how to deal with similar problems.

There is not a customer in mind since this is more of a future masterplan but it can be used as a way to start a discussion about future cities; about future societies.

As I said before, there are lots of proposals on how to intervene on NYC. They all have great ideas that inspired and even helped on the creation of mine but the biggest difference is that most of them are still trying to stop the sea level rise instead of embracing it as I have done.

I studied many NYC climate predictions up to the year of 2100. As I started to design and define my goal to redefine Manhattan by 2050. It became the NYC 2050.

Diagrams, hand sketches, study models, digital models and collages.

An optimistic vision of how NYC can embrace an environmental issue and incorporate it as a way to introduce a better urban life!

This was my thesis for the conclusion of the B.Arch program at Cornell University and I had Professor Andrea Simitch and Professor Arthur Ovaska as my thesis advisors.

Technology has and will always be an important element for any society’s development, therefore, it will be critical to the development of such future masterplan.

The masterplan was conceptualized by studying the history of Manhattan's edge, the climate crisis predictions by the United States Landfalling Hurricane Probability Project, and several climate studies produced by the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

The challenge was to create a visionary design thinking outside of the box but at the same time, maintaining a level of reality which makes the project possible to pursue.

I believe I took a unique approach going against the safe method of trying to save the city. In a way, the project is indeed saving the city by accepting the catastrophe. It is an optimistic way of compromising in favor of survival. Thus, I think it is worth sharing so to initiate a new kind of conversation about our future.

On this particular project, a big lesson that I am going to take with me is that not every problem needs to be a problem. Problems can be solutions! It is just a matter of perspectives.

I graduated from the architecture program at Cornell University back in 2015 and since then I have had the opportunity to work in major architecture projects while working at Gensler before transitioning to a more concept design/branding role at Westfield.

I love the idea of trying to solve a problem through the creation of something new.

I chose it. It was very clear to me from a very early age that I wanted to do something related to design. Creating new and different things were a huge motivation throughout my whole life.

I started my design career in the architecture field but I have been transitioning to a product and brand designer which better aligns with my future aspirations.

It sounds cliché but you need to do what really motivates you. I can use myself as an example: I started in architecture which I still love but as I developed my design career I discovered that my true motivations came from other areas and since then I have been driving my professional endeavors in those directions and every day I feel more and more accomplished and happy with what my future might hold.

I believe a good designer knows how to solve a need or a problem in an efficient way but a great designer truly embraces the challenge and accomplishes a final solution that goes beyond solving a problem: it creates an experience; it delights, it introduces something unexpected.

A really good design is a story that feels complete and tight on all ends without gaps. It a design that goes beyond solving a problem.

Design in general is something that enhances any project and achieves a final value that goes beyond fitting a function.

Always keep evolving. When you create something, you might have a finish line in mind but even when you reach that point, you should always push a bit further. Just a little step forward already open a world of possibilities and evolves the design to the next level.

Create! Practice makes perfect.

I would like to see design to be more accessible. In today's society, great design is still seen as an elitist thing. Very few companies bring design to the masses. Apple and Dyson, for example, create great design products but they have helped elevate the idea that design costs more.

Someone that thinks differently than me. 2 designers that think alike don't really push the boundaries between one another. It is through divergence that new possibilities are born.

Throughout my life I have lived in many cities so I have always been intrigued by design. Because of this constant change in location and exposure to new urban spaces I was able to realize how important architecture and design truly are since my childhood. So when the time came, it was an easy decision to choose a career path.

All Mies is a startup based in Los Angeles changing the status quo of the retail industry by creating timepieces with high end design and quality materials without premium price tags.

Design is the ability to enhance an experience throughout a thoughtful and well planned creation.

I have always loved to create minimalist designs, products and architecture.

It is really hard to choose a single design with so many great creations being done every day but I love minimalist, clean and simple concepts. I really like the designs from SANAA, Apple and Dyson.

My first design was a website for a interior design firm.

There is nothing like working with a real model and ‘building’ your creation with your hands.

Right after a trip to a new place. Travels are an important tool to gather new perspectives and inspiration.

The creation of a unique experience that can be used as the driver to the overall design and form.

Joy and excitement! There is nothing like starting something from scratch and seeing it coming to life.

Proud and accomplishment. When a design is finally done, you know it is a good one if you are proud of it!

The perfect combination of design form and experience. Nothing can be either plain beautiful or plain functional, it has to be the merge of both.

Attention to details. It is in tiny little details that we truly know if something was well planned or just rushed.

Designers have the responsibility of being story tellers and creating the path for an experience, thus, shaping our society’s history and well-being.

Design used to be something really exclusive. Only a very selected individuals were able to access truly well designed products and projects. However, our society is becoming more and more design oriented. Design has become accessible to the masses and therefore we need to be critical about it. We have to continue to be great to the masses as we were to few people in the past.

I tend to look for a problem to begin with and then searching for an out of the box solution is what drives my design process. Travelling and keeping me informed about what is happening around the world is a great source for inspirations.

Typically I tend to like minimalist designs which was highly influenced by my 2 years of architecture in Chicago following Miesian principles.

Open-mind, courage and curiosity.

I tend to start any design by simply having some fun with paper and foam boards. I like to start with sketch models before diving into any digital design or more complex technology.

Well, this is a tricky question to be honest because it all depends on deadlines and clients. You need to balance goals and expectations with the deadline given. If there is no constraint of time, the creative process can be extended a little bit more.

I have a balance between individual and team work. Designs created by teams tend to be much more successful and richer in concept since you have many more people thinking in different ways towards a single goal.

Different ways to contact me can be found on my website (walmirluz.com).