Interview with Luis de Arquer Recio
Luis de Arquer has the luck to live surrounded by great creators in different disciplines. His great grandfather was a catalan modernist architect who designed the Columbus Monument in Barcelona.
Design Legend Interview
26 April 2018
My training is self-taught and has its bases in a family environment related to aspects as diverse as architecture, engineering, painting, decoration.
It is very possible that by reflecting on the bad moment that some of the artistic disciplines are experiencing due to lack of knowledge and connection with society, I have been encouraged to approach the world of design, a more lively and closer to a society more and more demanding in all aspects.
Life has led me to become a designer and I appreciate it.
I am interested in the designs of things that can improve the lives of people in all kinds of aspects and offer their users comfort, ease and aesthetic rest.
I do not consider myself a legend ... hahaha, but if I can tell you something it is that they pursue their ideas until the end.
As in any profession, perseverance and the daily search for your own truth allows you to form a personal vision that in the end is visible and appreciated by others. I believe that you recognize a great designer when he lets flow through his works some or many of those personal aspects that make him unmistakable and unique.
When I can not contribute anything to the design! ... hahaha because then, my mind rests and I appreciate that someone has thought of me and reached the end.
A good design can become timeless and make life useful, enjoyable and more beautiful to many people.
Every company should invest in good design and good materials if it wants to have a long life ...
Every company should invest in good design and good materials if it wants to have a long life ...
I would design products for Stenway, create a line of gadgets of high quality and design for companies that have not yet considered it.
A novel project related to the improvement of road signs and new technologies.
I have always been faithful to my instinct and what really makes me enjoy design.
The illusion to share and enjoy what I do.
The illusion to share and enjoy what I do.
If we place the design in the place that corresponds to other artistic disciplines, we could say that Velázquez, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Queen, Porsche, Pininfarina, Milá, Gaudí, Jack London, Oscar Wilde ... All of them have created worlds parallel structuring and ordering their thoughts and each in its own way has designed the form of its artistic discourse in a recognizable and personal way.
I am not a passionate follower of any in particular, I like very few things and in general we know the name of the brand and not the designer (which could possibly be corrected). I usually like elegant and simple designs. I like the balance between form and quality of materials and I prefer austerity to opulence because I put utility before bad design, but I demand that within the possibilities of that utility, maximum beauty should be uncovered.
Today The Frog ... hahaha. Form and utility are one. The form, in addition to being the minimum expression in size and height, also fulfills one of my most important premises: every time I see, touch or use The Frog gives me a different type of satisfaction from the first day. Its touch is pleasant, its form relaxing and harmonious and its comforting utility.
Each one plays with his cards so we should know as soon as possible what we are good at and get the most out of it by being very demanding. In my case, I have the facility to translate the ideas I visualize through the drawing, applying to them a certain knowledge of mechanics.
In fact, my usual means of expression is music, although I do not rule out undertaking new challenges in the world of design ... possibly sculpture is another of the artistic disciplines that I would approach.
The opportunity to continue creating useful art for others.
Family, friends and all those who simply trust the dreams of others.
I do not consider myself a great designer ...! I have designed something big and I hope to have the inspiration and hope to continue doing it.
The obstacles are always the ones you create because we all know that doing anything right is always a difficult path. Perhaps the biggest obstacle faced by those of us who believe that things can improve are the many people who have lost the illusion and prefer that everything remains as it is.
If the designs are good they do not need too many explanations ... that's what the books are for, but in general today there are tools that are available to most people to be able to present a work that corresponds to the aesthetic and aesthetic demands. finishing of the market.
Everything depends on the repercussion that The Frog generates in the market. I would love to make some motorcycle glasses for The Frog brand.
Be satisfied and proud of my projects.
That is coherent and that does not go to my head.
It is a means of bringing creativity, intelligence and art to society so it generates improvements in some of the most important aspects of the human being.
In all the designs of the product marketing The Frog
Apart from The Frog, I had the opportunity to make the scenery of my own opera. A decoration of 6 meters wide and two meters high that represented the famous painting of the room of the painter Vincent van Gogh in Arles.
More demand in the quality of the products and more durability.
Towards greater recognition as a new art.
I am quite fast finding the solutions of form and aesthetics, moving them to the computer costs me more.
Be very clear about what I want to achieve
Be true to myself
The veracity and authenticity of the design should establish the trends
The steps after design absolutely necessary to bring the product to reality
Adobe and Mac products.
For me very important, are indispensable elements that bring you closer to the final design.
I want people to enjoy it and use it, if the design is good, the questions are not necessary.
Rest and gratitude.
Someone who reinforces your ideas and complements them but whose aesthetic and emotional base flows in the same way. Yes, I believe in the possibility of wonderful human relationships.
A good friend who died was a great partner in the process of The Frog and a small company that gave me technical advice in the prototyping process.
There is an essay about the creation of Giovanni Pappini "Masculinity" that explains everything that a creator must not become.
Not being afraid to try and learn. Everything is possible if we propose it.
Steven Spielberg, John Boorman, Clint Eastwod, Ingvar Kamprad, Elon Musk, and if was possible with Steve Jobs, Chaplin... :-(
I feel comfortable with the premise and I would like to have more ... hahaha I have obtained some recognitions in the world of music and it is wonderful that someone noticed your work, but about the fame "still" I can not speak ... possibly be uncomfortable for your own freedom.
My favorite colors are Gray and green or a combination of both ..., Some corners of Mallorca, spring, steinway piano, Bmw
Before calling my design The Frog, I looked for a frog with 3 fingers and found a biologist in Brazil who had discovered the only species in the world that has this characteristic. After talking with him and getting to know his work, I decided that was the name. Never give up!
Creative freedom and contact with materials, forms and ideas. I constantly think about possible improvements.
No, my goal was to be a musician but I've always brought a designer inside.
I hope that good human values and emotions remain intact and that not only intelligence and immediacy take over our human condition. I hope we know how to preserve our instinct and intuition and turn this world into a much more pleasant and balanced place for everyone.
Make sure that what you do each day can give you something or a lot of happiness and that you keep your hopes and hopes afloat.
Designer Interview
26 April 2018
My professional experience in the world of art is mainly related to music, - I am a composer and pianist - I have composed music for genres as diverse as opera, film, documentary, theater, concert music, as well as creating my own style that I called Pop-Class that unites classical music with pop. However, the influence of the world of painting and the aesthetics that I have lived through the figure of my father as a painter, has led me to get involved from a very young age and in the same way in other less intangible aspects such as the designs of the covers of my albums, designs of my programs, scenography of my opera, drawings and animations in theatre works, etc.I come from a family whose works constitute some of the most emblematic elements of the city of Barcelona, the Buigas family. In the field of architecture, my great-grandfather - Cayetano Buigas - was the architect of the monument to Columbus on the Ramblas, my uncle-grandfather - Carles Buigas - was a world-renowned engineer who created nearly 700 international projects and the well-known light sources of Montjuic. His brother, - Joaquin Buigas - was the creator of the T.B.O. first national children's magazine and my father, - Arquer Buigas - was a very reputable painter ... so there was only one musician missing, which is what I have dedicated my life passionately at a professional level.From a very young age, I had the good fortune of being able to use drawing and crafts, so I tried to put into practice those things that artistically completed the intangibility of music. I made interchangeable fabric belts for watches long before the Swatch brand existed and I loved the world of modeling in clay and other materials as well as the decoration and admiration for all kinds of products, motorcycles, furniture, cars and appliances. design called my attention, so today I can say that it is very possible that I also wanted to be a designer :-)
In principle the company or brand The Frog, has been created around a gadget ... but I would love to continue with other projects related or not to the world of the helmet that gave the category of design studio ... :-) Ideas I have many and very good, so if someone wants to hear them always after signing a confidentiality contract ... it would be a pleasure to continue shaping new challenges. I believe that just as concepts and ideas that are still anchored in old designs are being updated, each need and or object created by man can find a shortcut to be more useful, more comfortable and offer advantages to its users. This would be the motto of our company.
Design, is to find the perfect balance between art and utility.
My designs come from ideas to improve things, so in a way I'm interested in the invention first. The utility of the invention itself must generate its own design, so it could be said that I like to design innovative works that involve a complex process of creation.
A portable stand for grand pianos. After long hours of study in a grand piano, the cervicals are damaged because the high position of his lectern is not designed to study but to offer concerts. My design allows you to keep the lid of the closed piano by attaching a lectern of variable heights with which it is solved besides the problems of cervicals, the excessive sound and allows you to keep the piano with its cover so that it does not fill with dust.
I have never designed anything for any company except mine.
I love wood and metals, but logically each product claims the most suitable material.
I am a tireless creative and any opportunity to carry out a design grabs me from the beginning. Of course, as in music, apart from personal projects, it is very encouraging to find yourself in the situation of getting a commission that you also like!
At the beginning I consider it essential to eliminate everything that is not absolutely necessary and useful, and then dedicate myself to achieving within those premises that aesthetic that makes me happy.
I have a lot of fun looking for what I have inside me. Sharpening intelligence to achieve the balance between aesthetics and utility is comforting. As in any creative process, you go from moments of euphoria to disappointments in tenths of a second ...
Satisfaction or disappointment ... it all depends on the time you let your idea rest ... I have often had disappointments that in a very short time have been great satisfactions ... in every creative process you must learn to let the work be done herself.
Believing in your design is what can make it more successful
The first thing I notice is its elegance, since it is generally linked to its quality ...
The main responsibility of a designer is not to deceive anyone disguising products with unnecessary innovations and poor quality. I think that those companies that decide to make products that abuse their users either through programmed obsolescence, bad qualities, constant changes of operating systems solely to generate profits will tend to disappear in the long run. I dream of a world where cars can easily be fixed again and a computer can be built that can accompany you for 30 years.
What is the future of design?In general I hope we are coming out of an "involution" and I also hope that the future of design is at the service of a much less consumer world and much more durable products, more natural materials and better quality.
My last exhibition was a concert tour: -) ... I have not done exhibitions of my designs ... yet! :-)
From a prevailing need for elegance, beauty and utility combined ...I feed my creativity constantly, analyzing why I like or do not like the things I see, hear or touch.My sources of inspiration are the good things in life ... eating, drinking, smelling, nature, love ...
My design style is clean and elegant. It does not seek to impress, it aims to generate rest and enjoyment.It made me explore in my style the search for solutions to problems. I think my style is basically sincere with my aesthetic tastes and needs: Elegant, it has quality and usefulness.My approach to design is to combine simplicity and elegance in one.
I live in barcelona.Yes, Barcelona is clearly a city that has always been interested in design. That has given us the possibility to appreciate and learn.The pros are that ability that Barcelona has always had to be attentive to what is happening in the world as well as a large number of great independent designers who have fought hard for their projects. The contras are always the same in almost all countries, "no one is a prophet in their land" ...
Well, I can only talk about my relationship with film directors, documentaries, theater, producers ... In all creative process I consider myself a person with a high level of performance provided that I have a lot of aesthetic freedom because I am very clear about where I have what to go On the other hand, I am very open in terms of technical aspects because I believe that everyone knows what they know as you do in yours and also deserves the same freedom as you in their field.
I think a good company "should" know what he wants to achieve ... this way he will know which designer he should hire. After all, a team creative process is almost like a marriage, so the more admiration there is between the two, the better. This will offer more freedom to each and above all, more confidence.
My design process is very intuitive since I have easy drawing, perspective and mechanical and technical aspects, with which I can quickly pose forms linked to logical mechanisms and functionalities.Then I refine and look for alternatives always within an aesthetic that I like.
The 5 favorite designs of my house are:The old golden Kaweco pen of my great-grandfather. The vintage Breitling chronograph 1942. A Thonet chair. Scissors solingen wasa. My bike Brompton.
A day in my life.I get up about 8 in the morning and after drinking a coffee with milk and play with my cat "Fluff" I give a good shower. Lately I listen to the radio for a while to know how the world goes while I do some Pilates exercises ...!I look at my mail and send the emails to clients and suppliers and then I work at the piano for about two hours composing and reviewing works for concerts. At the moment I am working on the design of the stand to market my product The Frog in addition to a new packaging in blister format as well as the design of the stand for some fairs that I have in perspective. As a late afternoon, as my wife arrives around 4:00 p.m. and at 6:00 p.m., I return to work on my designs again until 8:00 p.m. Every once in a while we go out for a drink with friends or just go for a bike ride when the good weather arrives. I have little dinner and if I'm inspired I usually write, draw or compose music until 24h ... or later ... I like the silence of the night. Before going to sleep, we usually go back to playing "fluff and me" and I can not tell more things because my wife would get angry ... :-)
To the young designers I would say that in addition to training, they approach all the artistic disciplines that they can and as soon as they stop competing with others to find what they really like themselves ... and remove the complexes as soon as possible , because we all have something unique inside of us
The positives are that you can live a life creating, full of illusions with which you can improve the life of others and yourself, the negatives are the same as in other professions ... competitiveness and not believing enough in oneself .
As in everything, follow your instinct and be very demanding with yourself
From my humble opinion, I think there are many types of designer.But to become the designer we all have in our heads we must keep our ideas free and clean and always defend them.
A pencil and paper ... :-) a lot of paper ... then come the materials such as plastelina or plaster molds ... later i have to pass the work to clean already entered in Photoshop, Indesign, ilustrator .. .
For the preliminary processes I am very fast, I find the idea in a simple way so I do not use too much time. Then and at the software technical level, I'm much slower ...
Without passing it to clean not too long, of course it depends on its complexity, but in general the definitive ideas come to me very quickly.
What do you want to get?
The realization of the set design and decoration of my own opera
I am in talks to sell The Frog in Natura
Anyone in whom I can feel free creating. Because freedomIt is one of the great things of this profession
I hope to have the opportunity to bring another design to the world. Equal a new electrical product ...?
I develop my own designs but I would love to find a good team and grow together.
Not right now
By email, on Linkdin, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube ... :-) and if you want by phone.
Nothing more ... just a pleasure to have participated in this beautiful dream