Interview with Samantha Chijona Garcia

Since I was little I had been related to the world of cinema because my parents, a producer and another sound engineer,
In my teens, while studying piano at the conservatory, I started taking drawing classes and discovered that I was passionate about it. It was so when I finished high school I decided to study a career that merged these two worlds and it was as I started with stage and costume design that 4 years later and until today would become my great passion.

I have been always surrounded by designers and artists so when I was 19 I decided to study design.

I love to work as a costume designer. The research related to the psychological and historical context in every script, in every character, the use of colors, textures, fabrics, is one of the parts of the work I enjoy the most. In the preparation of the movie and even when you are rolling already you always have time to take care of the smalls details to make the characters nearest to real life, nearest to us. I also work as an Art director but I enjoy costume design the most.

I think the distinction lies in their ability to self-criticize and adapt, to listen and analyze, to go back on mistakes, and rectify. If all of this can creatively transform it and make it functional, then you are a great designer.

If people take a design and make it theirs, if its functionality and use become it in an object that makes our lives easier or better, then, it is a successful design. The first four aspects to analyze in good design are functionality, usability, innovation, and aesthetics.

The value of a design lies in its practicality and durability. Good designs, quality design helps us to make life more comfortable and simple, to evolve as a society and solve daily problems, it can silently accompany us for years, letting us focus on how truly important it is to make life an enjoyable path.

I would love to be able to work and design for an English period series or movie and it would be a dream to be part of the team of Sandy Powell or Bina Daigeler, two costume designers that I admire and from whom I would love to learn.

Years ago I had a 3 armor project in hand, the idea was to reinterpret with materials from everyday life, the classic western, Japanese, and Viking armor. Until today I have not been able to carry out that personal project due to work and lack of free time. This project work demands a lot of hours and knitting tests and trying assembling methods but it is something that I would like to do without a doubt.

There is no secret ingredient, for me the answer is to work every day and try all the variants, exhaust the possibilities, colors, shapes but basically work, work, work.

I follow and admire the work of many colleagues, but if I had to mention designers who have inspired me, I would certainly have to speak first of all about Cuban designers such as Vladimir Cuenca, Diana Fernandez, Carlos Urdanivia, Aramis Balebona, all great professionals in the art direction and costumes in Cuba. At the international level, I would say that among the paradigms to follow are Jeany Beavan, Bina Daigeler, Sandy Powell, Pierre jean Laroque, Eiko Ishioka among others.

I have a lot of references and designers who I follow but I remember one with special sweetness. At the beginning of my career, I was studying the 30s, and I found Madame Vionnet. Studying her style and pieces I discovered that white crepé dress, the material, the pattern, the elegance, all talked in a natural and complete symbiosis, making it simple but complex at the same time. The perfection was not in the dress, it was in the way all the elections of the designer merge to get that point of beauty and functionality, a good design is invisible: it is made to feel it not to notice it.

I believe in design as a long-distance career, although it is true that you have to have specific talents that are essential, I believe that the hours of daily work, observation, and study of other professionals, the existing solutions and the constant improvement and consumption of information and references, is what makes you become a great designer.

Musician or Art teacher.

Design is solving problems by giving the human being a more comfortable life, it is functional art.

To talk about my pillars, the people who support me, I would have to first talk about my family and my partner, who have unconditionally supported me in my biggest follies, my moments of joy, and emotional depression. Then without a doubt, I would mention three friends who have been there to push me and make me believe in myself, Mario Corujo, Violeta Cooper, and Raul Ochotorena, three people who started as co-workers and ended up being tutors and family.

I don't consider myself a great designer yet, at 28 I think I have a lot to learn and climb. What I do believe is that what I have achieved has been based on a lot of work, perseverance, and rigor with what I do, taking each project no matter how small it is with seriousness and poise.

Every day I face new obstacles but I remember two difficult and crucial moments that have happened to me in the years that I have been designing. The first of them took place at the beginning of university, I had just moved to Madrid and at the first university meeting they made a questionnaire on basic knowledge of fine arts, I never forget my frustration when I realized that I didn't even know half of the answers, from that day on I knew that I would have to work twice as hard as my teammates if I wanted to excel and so I did. The adaptation was tough but good to learn. The second of the obstacles was my origin, living in Madrid but coming from Cuba, sometimes I had to face the immigrant condition that many people take advantage of to lower wages, give the worst jobs and ignore working conditions, recalls a designer with the one who worked told me once that he had too many ambitions for his taste ...
still many times today I deal with that.

I believe that the good presentation of a design proposal is essential, fundamental to win the trust of a client. For me, the work presented must go beyond a proposal, it must give information on the context, final finish, functionality, and usability of the product, exemplifying, showing the client that we have investigated and our proposal is based on solid information, with tests and prototypes included whenever possible. We should show that beyond our origin, age, or experience we are prepared professionals with a passion for what we do but with skills to develop anything.

Right now I work with the script of two future film projects and a TV series for Movistar plus. Searching for references, reading, and researching to build reference folders. Next year I have several proposals for international projects both as a designer and as part of the wardrobe team. I hope to continue making me a place on the international scene as a designer.

I have never set a final goal for myself, I want to learn as much as I can and climb, I want to do great period projects that really is what I am passionate about but before that, I want to grow. I would like to become a benchmark for young designers like me, to be able to see my work on the big screen more and more often but I do not consider it to be my goal, I just want it to be my way.

Although it is already part of our daily lives, I believe that design is making its way more and more definitively in the world of science, medicine and biotechnology. Definitely contributing to the future.

When I have a new project, be it a theater play, a movie, a short film, or a music video, I start by reading the text or script several times and analyzing the context and the characters that interact. Then I dedicate myself to studying the director's work, so I will get to know in advance the aesthetics that guide his work. From there ahead I start looking for my own references.

Try to enjoy every time, every work, every moment.

I think that both feedback, design, and trend. It is true that certain designs together with good marketing become trends, just as an individual can appropriate an object and turn it into a trend, so the individual acts as a designer while transforming the use of the piece. I think it is certainly an infinite relationship that evolves in parallel.

Technology is already an inseparable part of our lives. A mobile phone, a headset or a computer are part of our daily routines and they are also important in the design process. I always carry my iPad for quick sketches and my graphic tablet and my computer become part of my body while I prepared the sketches. Platforms like Behance or Pinterest become a source of references while Photoshop, Indesign, Magicplan, or Illustrator help me to shape Moodboard, drawings, and proposals that I will send them by email. As in life, technology is already a fundamental part of the design process.

Depending on the job, the use of programs such as Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, Magicplan, Sketchbook and others varies. It is also essential to develop the characters my Wacom and my cardboard and colored pencils.

For me these three factors are what give richness to a design, help determine the use of the object and the perception that the individual will make of it. These three elements are deeply related to our cognitive and sentimental relationship with the environment, the way in which we translate our reactions and adopt or reject certain objects, spaces or environments is given by the relationship between these and our personal experience, therefore, they determine the success of a design.

The first thing that comes to mind is how it was manufactured, I try to analyze the object, then I try to establish the links that led the designer to achieve that shape and its meaning in order to learn from the process.

My ideal design partner is a wonderful graphic designer with whom I have worked since University and who has become my best friend through the years. I strongly believe in co-design, as human beings and professionals we develop very specific skills and we lack others, having a co-designer often helps to have another perspective, to see where you have not seen to have an opinion many times different that will make you turn the subject or support you in some cases.

In the case of this contest silver winning design, potentially affecting three people who influenced the development of the piece, the first was Vladimir Cuenca, co-designer of the costume work, and my teacher and mentor, secondly, María Gabriela Sánchez, friend and part of the wardrobe team and Jazz Martínez Gamboa, director of the play.

I must mention ''Costume Design'' by Deborah Nadoolman, ''Madeleine Vionnet'' by Betty Kirke, ''El Signo'' by Humberto Eco, ''History of Modern Design'' by David Raizman

I think the design is a specialty in which you always learn, you are never a design master. Work experience, workshops, shootings, and hard work make a designer grow as a professional and earn tricks and knowledge every day. There is no formula, the important thing is to work and learn from mistakes, every great designer had mistakes, but they used it as an impulse to the next step.

Color: mustard
Place: Retiro Park, Madrid.
Food: Tamales
Season: Autumn
Thing: Books
Brand: Habitat

I always try to have a nice space to work and once there I put a playlist with inspirational themes that help me keep up with the work and keep me isolated from the outside. Usually, I feel like working with a task list, I try to start with the simple and a measure that women feel more motivated. There are better days and worse days, but you always have to start the day with the same enthusiasm.

No, never, in fact, from the age of 7 I started studying piano and everything pointed to my becoming a classical pianist or piano teacher, so when after 11 years of career I decided to completely change the course of my life, nobody knew what would be next nor did they trust me as a designer.

I began to work like freelancer 7 years ago in small projects, but today, I have added incredible experienced and junior professionals into my team through every movie, music video, or theater play. Now, we work as a family every time I have a project and it is always good to know I have them to learn and grow together.

Design is solving problems by giving the human being a more comfortable life, it is functional art.

I love to work as a costume designer. The research related to the psychological and historical context in every script, in every character, the use of colors, textures, fabrics, is one of the parts of the work I enjoy the most. In the preparation of the movie and even when you are rolling already you always have time to take care of the smalls details to make the characters nearest to real life, nearest to us.

My most favorite design it is a 1930's dress of Madeleine Vionnet. I remember at the beginning of my career, I was studying the 30s, that wonderful period which changed the woman's life, and I found Vionnet. Studying her style and pieces I discovered that white crepé dress, the material, the pattern, the elegance, all talk in a natural and complete symbiosis, making it simple but complex at the same time. The perfection was not in the dress, it was in the way all the elections of the designer get that point of beauty and functionality even when you realize you can not found relevant any aspect of the dress in an individual way. It is the merge that makes it great, spectacular, beautiful, from then to now, this has been my obsession, a good design is invisible: it is made to feel it not to notice it.

I was in the second year of my career and It was a logo for a friend's company.

Favorite material: Fabric
Platform: Behance
technology: 3d impression.

I don't have a special moment of creativity, I just believe in perseverance, work every day. During the process of creation, drawing, researching, testing, fittings, etc, creativity appears and disappears, the best ideas can come in the more unexpected moment, that's why I prefer to work and let the brain breathes.

For me, the most important it is the functional one, even in costume design, an outfit must fulfill a task related to the character of the scene, the physical action of the characters, the historical and the personal context of each character and only after that, we can add our stamp and create.

During the process of design, I feel peace overall, designing is a process in which I can forget all around, enjoying, drawing, letting time flies. Happiness, pride, peace, and gratitude to work in something that I really love.

When I see one of my designs on the big screen I feel grateful to be part of one of the most beautiful worlds the man has ever created, the cinema. Also, I feel that short moment on-screen as my little contribution to creating a better world together, to share my thoughts and feelings with people around the world.

If people take a design and make it theirs, if its functionality and use become it in an object that makes our lives easier or better, then, it is a successful design.

The first four aspects are functionality, usability, innovation, and aesthetics.

A designer's obligation is to create useful and durable objects, making responsible use of the resources that nature gives us, recycling and avoiding waste.

The specialty of design evolves day by day, it has become an inseparable part of our life, it accompanies everything we touch, do, see and help us to travel through a better and more familiar world. With technological development, 3d printing, the discovery of new materials and the use of recycling as a fundamental element in our society, the design has also evolved, ensuring a future full of more work and involvement in our homes and societies. Design will be an increasingly strong and necessary tool in the future.

My cultural and inspirational background comes from a lot of different sources. I really love history, so, I read a lot and I'm always collecting images and references from the past centuries, including pictures related to beaux-arts, cinema, and architecture. Also, I,m always looking and learning from international colleagues, platforms like Behance, Linkedin or Domestika, brings to me guidelines to follow, people to admire, and works to have in mind. Those are the main inspirational sources for my work.

I currently live in Madrid but I was born in Havana, Cuba, and spent all my childhood there. I left Cuba with 19 years so I consider myself a Cuban girl but I still work between Cuba and Spain, depending on the project. The influence of the Caribbean traditions, our music, our architecture, our colors, our way of living, it is something that I will carry on all my life. Of course, This heritage is an important influence on my works and my way of working. The worse and the best thing working in Cuba is the absence of materials, this forces you to focus on the aim and use what you have in your hands, reuse and recycle, it makes more difficult all the process but also more creative. After years of working between these two countries, I have developed a special trait to know how to work in the circumstances I'm into while I handling teams from different cultures.

I usually work with production teams from around the world, the key to a good relationship is to understand first what they want, that's why I always ask for a first meeting and work's references from them. After, I make a lot of research, sketches, style lines, mood boards, etc looking to find my style in the middle of what they want and the functional part of the design itself. With all the information I make proposals and we have a meeting again until the moment we find the road to transit for, just then, I begin the craftmen part of my work.

483/5000
I think that, in general, the client should risk more and listen more to the designers, in most cases the most innovative and effective designs are relegated by the client's fear of breaking the established, the classic.
To hire a designer, it is essential to see their portfolio, their style, and their potential lies in their work and not in their CV. I also believe that it is important to do interviews, take into account the chemistry with the team and their ability to listen.

When I have a new project my process begins with a good coffee, after that, I read several times the script or text directors sent me before. The research about the period, the historical context, the aesthetic, colors, etc is the next step meanwhile I meet the director to see their requests and references. With all the information I make mood boards of pictures, videos, fabrics to organize all in guidelines and finally I begin to sketch the specific outfit I will need to make or which belongs to an important scene. The mood boards and sketches are discussed with Directors and cinematographers to make the modifications we need. At this time the costume design of the project has already has born.

The best 5 designs items in my home are:
First: A Window, my room window has a special system to open it, letting a big hole in which I could see the entire clean view without interference. Second: Rocking chair. I have an antique rocking chair from the beginning of the 20th century which I use to read, I love the chair lines and wood, it is comfortable and useful.
Third: Ballet shoes. I have a pair of old ballet shoes framed. The beauty of use and aged materials became the object in something fragile, but the design itself is wonderful.
Fourth: Memo notepads. I always have with me a classical yellow memo notepad, it is a very useful object that I use or to work every day and replace in every new project.
Fifth: The black dress. This special and simple black dress all woman have in her closet, I have it, I use it to my first meeting with directors, my script readings and my conferences and always cause a great impression.

When I'm not rolling I wake up early, the first thing I do es to take a long cup of coffee while rechecking my memo notepad with the list of the daily tasks, after that, I go to the park with my dog. When I return around 9:00 am I go directly to my little workspace and begin to work in the priority tasks. I take 1 hour of lunch and with a long cup of coffee, I keep working. Sometimes I read the entire day, sometimes I look for references and sketches, studying and researching styles, other times I sew or work on the mannequin, and quite often I have to dye or aged clothing. My hours of works depending on the project, in most cases ones I'm inside the preparation I couldn't count the hours I spent on it.

I'm 28 years old so I consider myself a young designer, but for upcoming designers and young people desiring to study design, I want to tell them that for me, the key is to work day by day, always asking themselves to do it better, rechecking and rethinking, asking people, taking criticism like a way to learn. We work for the people, not for ourselves.

Being a designer is a wonderful gift, for me, it is one of the more beautiful professions in the world. You are in touch with everything surrounding human beings, from a simple floor to a big-screen movie. The main positive thing about being a designer is found a way to become daily life and objects in art pieces, keeping and improving its original function, and making our lives simplest. The worse part is that people still don’t recognize the importance of designers in our world, and it is difficult to gain recognition and respect for our work or to have good salaries.

Do so many tests as you can.

For me, the main skill to have and to develop is the observation and analysis, to feel through your eyes all the qualities, materials, textures, proportions surrounded us. It is very important also the good use of colors and shapes and the phycology behind them, resuming in human perception. I also value drawing a lot, It is a way to feed creativity and land everything we have imagined before.After those ones, every designer has his own book.

During my design process, I make a lot of research, so I use platforms like Pinterest, Getty, and Google images to make mood boards with information. Ones I finished the research I begin to draw, making sketches, during this process, it is essential to have color pencils, watercolors, and cardboard. I digitalize all the draws for after making little changes and retouched them in Photoshop. To finalize the design proposal I lay out everything in an Indesign document to present to the client.

When I have a project first I ask for the deadlines and always try to put my deadlines before the clients one, to have time between both. I organize the days I have in a calendar and I gave priority to some tasks looking for to don't lose time or the idea of how many days I still have and I make a list of tasks in my memo notepad every day at the end of the day. I try to rest, go to bed early, and to have 20 minutes walks with my dog when I feel blocked.

There is no time defined for the design process, it depends on the deadline of the client and the type of work. The preparation of a movie could take months, but an advertisement spot could take one week or one month a theater play.

People frequently ask about the design process I follow.

Until now I consider Chanel Cruise Runway in Cuba in 2016 my most important job experience. I was part of the Art team in this huge project.

Some of my clients are directors like Rodrigo and Sebastian Barriuso, Félix Viscarret, Olivier Assayas, Fernando Perez, Joseph Ros, etc. Production teams like: Tornasol Films, Bohemian films, Chanel, CG Cinema,TESAURO S.A, Division Q Spain for clientes like Netflix, Movistar Plus,Citroen, Puleva, Loteria Primitiva, Ausonia, Vodafone, among others.

I love the art direction and Costume design related to movies, music clips, and theater. I enjoy seeing the elections of fabrics and colors, textures, furniture, spaces, flowers, all coming from a deep study of the project period and the historical and cultural heritage of the place which is represented. The symbiosis of the historical truth, the psychology of the characters with the creativity of the designers, and the aim of directors made born a new reality, beautiful, poetical, and different, it is still a truth but it is so much enjoyable.

I want to enroll myself in bigger international projects, I will love to work in an English or French Tv series or movie to learn how they work and how a wardrobe team is organized there. Also, I will love to work in Canada or the USA because they have a completely different way to do cinema and TV. I want to grow up like a designer but also like a wardrobe team assistant, everything I learn like part of a team it is something new to make me the best designer.I want to enroll myself in bigger international projects, I will love to work in an English or French Tv serie or movie to learn how they work and how a wardrobe team is organized there.

I'm Costume designer, in this field, the process begins alone, the designer read the script, research, study, draw, sketch, has meetings with directors and cinematographers and after the team begins to work with him. So in the first moment I work alone and after my wardrobe team joins me, but in any case, I'm always surrounded by producers, directors, assistants directors, etc, always working in the team bigger: the movie staff.

They can find me and contact me through Behance, Linkedin, or Instagram like Samantha Chijona.