Interviews with Hernani Ruhland Tralli

My main focus was really to design a wooden Watch with a different and elegant look showing European nature, like a painting board with various natural elements. And the wood texture made the design much more attractive.

I would love to see this Watch concept become physically real. While producing a Watch is not easy, it must also involve a lot of engineering behind the design. But I can work with the Holzwolf brand on other pieces or products with wood. Maybe find a company that is interested in discussing new ideas and making it real. Time will say.

The project lasted about four weeks, but the reverse part of the Watch I drew during the competition system update, about 5 or 7 days. Because it's a 2D concept I didn't have other images with different perspectives. The organizers and jury of the competition encouraged me to add new images. I am grateful to them for this opportunity to use my creativity and add improvements to the project.

As I said earlier, I work with wood and crafts, and I'm also a big Watch lover. Putting this and the European landscape together, the result was this concept that I created specifically for my internet portfolio. But I couldn't imagine ever winning a prize with him.

Currently my project is just a concept. The process to make it physical is quite difficult and involves engineering specific mechanisms for Watch. I will need to analyze and search for companies interested in the Watch idea or the Brand.

Undoubtedly the work in crafts with wood and my passion for wristwatches. I had already designed a Watch concept in my portfolio with metal textures, but I ended up discovering the wooden Watch and how an ecological approach would be more interesting for this project.

In my research for this project, I sought to learn more about the wooden wristwatch market and found a few brands that I was interested in for their designs. I analyzed the types of wood and models and created my own concept version. There are some German brands that inspired me, like Holzkern, Kerbholz and Zeitholz.

The concept I developed was aimed at the male audience who are interested in being in constant contact with nature, hiking in the forest, camping or fishing. Even in the city, your wooden wristwatch will always remind you of contact with nature. I also already have some ideas in mind to design another concept for the female audience.

I believe it is the idea of showing the European landscape, as if it were a painting of a picture. As I like to make art with painting on wood I think it was a good idea to represent this on a wristwatch. The differential is also on the back showing part of the internal mechanism and a brief message in German that reads: "Nature gives us everything we need." it's a small gesture on my part to show the importance of our life with the natural.

The name "Holzwolf" I wrote in German because the main idea was to create a product concept for the German domestic market and it means "Wood Wolf". And let's face it, it's a strong animal archetype, don't you think? The wolf is also an animal typical of the cold regions of Europe. A curiosity is that I am currently living about 16 kilometers from the German city Wolfsburg where the renowned Volkswagen automotive industry is located.

As Graphic Design I always use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator software. I honestly can't live without Photoshop, I love playing with images, whether creating or editing.

Undoubtedly the look with the European landscape, as I mentioned before, I thought of the hands of the Watch giving a more aggressive look, the Logo that gives a greater personality to the project and the back I think it was very interesting. When I develop a project I like to think about every detail.

I developed this project by myself. But generally I always want to know the opinion of someone who is not from the Design area to have a different perspective, with a different idea for possible improvements.

Well, without a good computer and design software, I wouldn't be able to produce any graphic project. So at this point technology was key.

Yes of course, it's a major part of starting a project. I researched the types of wooden wristwatches on the market and their brands. The type of materials and wood used in the product. Test with digital textures of wood, leather and metal. Test colors and sketches to have an initial base of what the project will look like.

The biggest challenge is always organizing the pieces, diagramming the look so as not to leave each item loose or lost. Color testing with the blue metal made me apprehensive because the color is the one that stands out the most on the Watch, but the blue button helped to balance it out. Another challenge was creating the back of the Watch in short time to add to the competition because I didn't have enough images in the presentation. In the end it all worked out.

Good question. In fact, at the end of October 2021 I received an email from the A' Design Award to participate in the Competition, however in November I already had a trip scheduled to Brazil to meet my niece. I returned to Germany in December and started the process to apply. The competition system is very complex and with a lot of information, so it was a very busy period. But I am grateful to have always had guidance from the organizers of the A' Design Award, they helped me a lot and clarified many questions. It was an opportunity that came up and I decided to invest in this idea. Before that, I didn't know this organization existed, they found me through my portfolio on 'Behance.net'.

I think that with each new project we always improve and learn new things and we have a better sense of our potential for Design. This competition was a test to see my professional level and in the sense of creating a well-crafted Design project. It's one thing for you to create projects to add to your portfolio and another for you to participate in a great international competition such as the A'Design Award with several professionals on the Jury evaluating you. Seriously, having won this extremely competitive competition with so many good professionals around the world made me very happy. It was a huge challenge. I believe that I grew a lot as a Designer and as a professional through this project and this competition. I can only be grateful for this opportunity.

I always liked to draw, Art & Design has always been present in my life. I think my creativity motivates me to always develop something, be it an illustration or a project.

I think my artistic path led me to design. I always wanted to have contact with it.

I draw a little bit of everything, so I don't have any idea priorities. I like to design utensils like wristwatches for example.

His knowledge in art and dedication to his projects. I am impressed with the artistic level of many Designers.

I usually evaluate the techniques artists use, their visual quality and the complexity of their projects. The more complex and more details it has, the more it catches my attention.

If a client wants exemplary work, then I think it's worth investing heavily in good designers. About value, hard to say, depends on your technique, creativity, everything counts.

I love space exploration, so for sure Nasa, Space-X or ESA - European Space Agency.

It would be a dream to develop some project ideas for NASA, Space-X or ESA - European Space Agency.

Well, I don't consider myself an example of success, the Design path is very difficult. I can only say that the ideal is to continue dedicating yourself.

I usually see a lot of good Anonymous Designers, many of whom I follow on social media. I also really like concept arts used in pre-productions of Films. Lots of great Artists and Designers, HR. Giger (already deceased), Adi Granov (Iron Man Movie concept)... Hard to choose.

As I said, I love space exploration, I'm not a designer of this segment but I love space vehicles, Rover, Starship, space uniforms, planetary exploration instruments and everything related to this.

My best design so far is exactly this project that I submitted to the A'Design Award competition. I put a lot of effort into this wooden wristwatch concept.

In my case, whenever possible I develop some illustration or project, even if it is a small project, it helps in development and creativity. Studying other techniques by watching other artists, taking courses, there are many ways to develop.

I can't say, I find it difficult and sad to have to work on something we don't like. I can't see any other way for myself away from art and design.

Art & Design for me is a way of life, it's part of me, that's what I breathe today.

Certainly my father and mother have always encouraged me with my creativity.

Não me considero um grande designer, apenas estou caminhando ainda.

I don't consider myself a master designer either, but there really have always been obstacles and there always will be. It is a difficult and very disputed path. My biggest obstacle without a doubt was moving to another country.

With as much dedication and creativity as possible.

Hard question. I start a project, finish it and start another one. In the future, hard to say.

I don't have an end goal. I just go one step at a time focusing on my projects.

I think that through self-sustaining projects aimed at Art & Design, it is already a great social and environmental help.

I think this watch project I submitted for the competition. I really enjoyed seeing the result at the end and being able to send it to the A'Design Award and have a good score on it.

Projects increasingly self-sustaining, this helps a lot in society and the environment.

Depending on the project it can take a few days or about a month, as was the case with the Holzwolf wristwatch concept I developed.

I start by doing research with what already exists in the market and having ideas of what a differentiated design would look like.

Work with what you love to do the most.

I think Design changes the trend as a whole. Car designs have always been ahead of their time, often futuristic. I believe this makes us always imagine what the future will be like and we automatically evolve so that it becomes real.

Technology is fundamental for the development of Design projects. For me software like Photoshop and Illustrator are fundamental.

For my iMac I use Photoshop and Illustrator and a Graphic Tablet Wacom to draw.

Fundamental, depending on the theme, the product, the trend. Everything must be analyzed and taken into account.

Depending on the project, I analyze the design, how it was done and its development process.

I've been very creative since I was a child, I think this helped me a lot in my direction towards art, painting and drawing. I took courses in advertising, design, technical course and University of Industrial Design.

Maybe Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla. Or someone from the future to help us with some clean energy solutions.

This is my first Design Award. A'Design Award is a big organization, I'm still absorbing all of this and I don't know what impact it will have on my career yet. I've already participated in a previous competition for ESA - European Space Agency, I think it's really cool to participate and promote my work. But winning this award made me very happy and excited.

I love yellow (a yellow sports car is my dream). Place: Brazil and its beaches. Food: usually natural and occasionally pizza and grill. Season: definitely summer, Sun & Beach. Material things usually utilitarian essential for everyday life, nothing that is just for status. I confess that I'm not very connected to brands, I'm more interested in the functionality of things and, of course, in Design.

When I am designing and at the end I manage to complete such a project. That's gratifying.

In no way, I just liked to play and create, I built paper toys with cutouts and collages, I was already very creative. As a child, I couldn't say what I wanted. That came over time.

First we need to focus on solving problems such as clean energy, excess consumerism, excess garbage and taking care of the environment and the planet, because we don't even know if we will have the next hundred (100) years. Imagine a thousand years. It's up to each of us to think as a collective and try to solve the planet's problems so that there are future generations.

Well, I like to think outside the box, so I'm always open to new possibilities and ideas. I like to think of the collective and the planet as a single body where we can all co-create and benefit. And of course, using Art & Design as a way of life and not just for financial gain.

At the moment I don't have a company or agency, I work with wood doing some small projects and crafts.

Today Art and Design is part of me. I couldn't live doing anything else. Nature itself creates design naturally all the time. I think Design is also about using what already exists in nature and working on top of it, such as the creation of planes, inspired by birds and the design of their wings.

Hard to say, I like to draw a little bit of everything, but I confess that vehicles and anatomy are not my specialty. When I have a project in mind, I try to do my best to make it happen, an example of this was the Watch Holzwolf concept that I released for this A' Design Award competition. I'm very interested in futuristic drawings, space exploration, I like to do some landscape paintings or just doodling in my idea notebook.

In general, I really like Concept Arts for movies, there are many Art-Books by excellent artists who make beautiful pre-production work for the cinematic, set concepts, costumes, vehicles, fictional creatures... An infinite amount of material to get inspired. Just to give an example, the movie Alien with the Fabulous Art of Hans Rudolf Giger.

In Brazil I worked as a web designer in a company in the production of e-Learning courses. There we created courses with scenarios and avatars with movements and animations in Adobe Flash. I don't specifically remember a first project but it was a very interesting concept because each course was different from each other and had a fun interaction for the student to learn. At the end, the student took a Quiz and when he scored well, he received the certificate.

Certainly Adobe Photoshop, I can't live without it, whether to create projects or edit images. I also use Adobe Illustrator.

Good question, sometimes I have many ideas at the same time, the problem is wanting to materialize all of them. So I write down the ideas and see which ones can be started or shelved. I don't have a specific time to be more creative, but when I'm on a project, ideas flow better.

Definitely the visual and creative aspect. I always try to do something different from what already exists, taking into account every detail.

Pleasure, joy and satisfaction.

Realization and satisfaction of a completed project.

I think the smile and happiness of those who see my projects. Seeing people's contentment looking at every detail of my work makes me very happy and fulfilled, even though I think there's always room to improve even more in each work done.

Again the visual and creative aspect I think is fundamental. The first impression is always the last one.

Great question and very important. In case we have a physical product already in production and not just a Concept, the main aspect for a designer is the type of material used in the product and if it causes any damage to the environment or to our health. Our responsibility becomes greater. Today the demand for raw materials/products is very high and not everyone is aware of the damage that unbridled consumerism is causing to the environment. A quick search on the internet and you will see the problem of islands of garbage in the oceans, the rampant production of automobiles or even mountains of discarded clothes that arrive from various parts of the world and are thrown in huge open-air dumps in deserts (as per example the Atacama Desert in Chile). I think all of us as a collective have a big responsibility on this unpleasant side, we as designers, companies and consumers. From my point of view, a more minimalist and ecological society is the way to go, using products that are only essential and useful in our daily lives and not just for aesthetics and status.

I see many innovative ideas emerging from the design and technology area. I really enjoy following the development of space exploration and I see that we are getting closer and closer to that no longer fictional reality of exploring other worlds. This will bring enormous advances to society in every way, not only technological but social. I also follow the efforts of many companies focused on taking care of the environment by creating important sustainable projects and in the search for clean energy. This for me is extremely important and the most correct way to go.

In fact, I haven't had a big exhibition yet, but I had the satisfaction of participating in a competition for 'esa - European Space Agency' in 2018, the winner of which would have their art displayed on the rocket coif for the launch of the Cheops satellite. I didn't win, but I received a certificate of participation and stickers as a gift in the mail. This was another project that motivated me a lot. In it I managed to finish and send it in just 2 days, because I knew about this competition at the end. The image can be seen in my portfolio at 'behance.net/HernaniRuhland'.
About future exhibitions, at the moment I have nothing in mind.

Good question. As a child, in addition to drawing, I read a lot of comic books, I loved playing with Lego, watching science fiction movies and many Japanese animations and series. Much of my creativity today was influenced by these factors. With so much content today, it's impossible not to be inspired to create my own projects. Today my inspirations are aligned with the environment, working with wood, researching Art & Design books, Concept Arts and many references from great designers.

To make my projects I really like to work with digital textures, be it metal, wood, I add light and shadow, crop images, I find it fun to "play" with it. I do the 2D concepts but with details and textures that in the end resembles a 3D product depending on the project.

I'm Brazilian and today I'm living in Germany. And certainly my Brazilian heritage affects a lot, we Brazilians are very creative in solving problems. I've always found the design field to be very difficult, you need to be very specific in which design segment you want to get into. I believe that in Europe Design is more valued and there are more opportunities than in Brazil. In my creative projects, when possible, I try to merge the two cultures.

In the most professional and cooperative way possible. It is very important to me that projects are well designed by a great team in development from start to finish.

I think listening to them and letting your creativity flow naturally. As I said before, it is a very difficult area and one that demands a creative effort that often requires solitude on the part of the designer to prepare a project. I'll take myself as an example, I like to produce a more elaborate and detailed project, sometimes even too perfectionist, I confess. Bear in mind that the time for one artist will differ from another. In Brazil, there are many designers who are giving up on the area due to excessive stress, pressure from companies and the devaluation of the profession. Many people are suffering from Burnout, which is very sad for such a beautiful profession.
For a good selection of professionals, checking their portfolio is a start. There are many talented professionals around the world on the internet.

I'll give an example from my last project which was a wooden Watch concept. Working with wood, I came up with the idea of ​​creating a wristwatch and I looked for more information about existing watches. The climate and landscapes of Europe inspired me to add some visual elements to this project. I researched types of woods that are used for Watch and digital textures. My focus is always to design a different and creative look.

I have a white wooden bookcase with a glass door and shelves to store my miniatures and some Action Figures; Next to my TV I have an Action Figure on display inside a glass box and wooden base that I assembled many years ago; My Bamboo Wristwatch that I used as a reference for my latest project; A small 13x18 cm photo frame with the image of the Fossil Archeopteryx that I acquired at the Natural History Museum in Berlin; And last and most elegant is my wooden box with a glass lid and internal dividers to store 6 Wristwatch.

On a routine day here in Germany I get up at 6 am, have breakfast, watch some news on my cell phone, then leave by train or ride to another city to the Social Integration for personal development and the German language. There I also work with wood, crafts and painting. Then I return home around 2 pm for lunch and in the afternoon I go for a walk on the lake, then I return home and sit at the computer to create something or just draw. At night I do some physical activity, have dinner, read a book, meditate and go to sleep.

Follow your dreams and never give up. One step at a time, even if the path is difficult. A tree does not bear fruit in a short period of time, each tree has its own time to evolve and bear fruit. I know this path well and I'm still on it.

On the positive side, the satisfaction and accomplishment of a work when finished. The negative side is the difficulties in finding opportunities and someone who is interested in your art and creativity, so I say again that it is a very difficult and disputed area.

Honestly, I think putting all of your effort into a project. Use our full potential and creativity with the resources we have at hand.

I think having a knowledge of drawing, light and shadow, perspectives, colors helps a lot, but they are not a rule. The main thing, without a doubt, is creativity.

As a Graphic Designer I can't live without Photoshop, I even use it to "play" with a simple image editing on the computer. In projects, I usually use Photoshop and Illustrator simultaneously. Source of inspiration I usually look on the internet and Instagram looking at Art, Design and Concept.

Great question. Yes, design projects can be quite time consuming. In my case, because I am very detail-oriented and perfectionist, I end up taking much longer. When I have a project in mind I first scribble on paper, research some references on the internet and proceed. When I see in the first tests that the look is interesting, I go ahead and dedicate myself if possible daily and even on the weekend. I do it in stages and as the days go by it takes shape. This lasts for days, weeks and even a month and little usually. It's something that makes me happy and focused on doing.

Compared to some artwork I did for my portfolio on the internet, about 3-5 weeks.

They usually ask how long it took me to do such a project and if I did it myself.

It was when I worked in Brazil as a web designer. I learned a lot there, grew as a person and professionally. Here in Germany I'm evolving a lot too, it was here that I started my portfolio on Behance.net.

I don't have a client today. Because I'm currently not working in the field professionally. I usually do personal projects to enhance my portfolio.

Undoubtedly, with graphic design and crafts with wood that is where I can have greater freedom with my creativity.

We never know tomorrow, I prefer to keep my feet on the ground and walk one step at a time.

Usually alone, but I always ask for the opinion of someone who might have a different perspective.

Well, depending on when you're reading this comment, I might be on one project or the other. It could be some wood craft work or some personal graphic design project.

Via my profile here at the A' Design Award, email or my portfolio at behance.net/HernaniRuhland.

Yes, about Design competitions. I think this initiative is extremely important for the dissemination of work by different designers around the world. A great idea for publicity.