Interview with Touraj Saberivand
Designer Interview
26 April 2017
I never knew I was going to be a designer, in fact, back when I started, I didn't know anything about design at all. I think most of the time we become what we are by accident rather than by following a certain agenda. I started with designing social political posters and as I said I was led to logo designing by accident. And it's been a few years since I have been involved in that.
Designvand is not a crowded studio. It has black shades, instrumental music and the scent of coffee. Our studio is solely focused on logo design.
I believe design is 90 percent problem solving and 10 percent aesthetic qualities and it is not art for sure.
Well mostly I prefer to design logos but as a designer I sometimes like to design items such as traffic signs and road stripes.
The most favorite design I have done is for my client "VAV" studio. Because it not only is a Persian character but also it looks like a room with an opened door. "VAV" is a creative studio with the aim to open new doors.
It was a 5x8 cm ad!
Intellectual materials, paper and pen, and in the digital category I like vector applications.
I feel the most creative in the mornings and while waiting at traffic lights.
I think about how people would describe that work years later.
I have a combination of feelings, like a naughty child, an engineer who wants to build a road, a cultured politician who tends to lead people's minds in a certain way, and a mixture of all that.
I feel concerned that whether I have found the right solution or not. Normally after a few years I reevaluate the works and I redesign them in some cases.
I think what makes a design successful is the positive feedback from the society to the result of the work.
I wonder if the design belongs to the time it is designed, or is it far back or far beyond. I think a good design should either belong to its own time or be far beyond that.
Well I think a designer should not create anything extra and unneeded for the environment and as for the society I believe it should help it take the next step.
It seems to me that the design field is becoming more human centered each day and leading towards minimalism. I think each country with different cultures and characters are going to define minimalism with their own tone and language. So does my country Iran.
The last exhibition I participated was a group exhibition in United Nations Headquarters in Geneva. I guess the next exhibition could be in Belgium.
Well honestly I'm not that much into finding creative ways or fireworks but I believe that designs do start from the problem.
I tend to eliminate extra elements and the remaining elements either have an idea or have a thought behind it or has an effect.
I live in Iran. A country with decades of diverse visual identities; many of which have decreased in quality and I am trying to resuscitate that effect with my works.
I make friendly relations with the companies. It is much smoother than working with designers!
I think they should work with designers whom they approve have seen their past works. They should also discuss their issues with them rather than guiding them to what they already know how to do.
As a logo designer I believe that the design process is a never ending process. It has to be redesined over and over. You must keep studying the client's business and company, to see if their audience change, and the logo should change as well according to that.
A folding table hanged to a wall. 21 frames with white papers in them. A lamp made of newspaper.
None of my days is like the other so I cannot describe one.
I think they should not listen to previous designers because they will turn into them if they do, and as a result the design world will never go forward.
A negative side is that you have to answer a lot of repetitious questions and the positive side is that you face a new project everyday which is an exciting experience.
I believe that any extra element should be omitted.
To be able to review their designs as a non-designer and judge it.
People and clients are my source of inspiration. I use the common graphic applications.
When you are a minimalist, designing does not take that much time.
When you are a minimalist, designing does not take that much time.
They want to know how I came up with the idea and most of the time I don't have an answer to that.
Working with Mr. Rob Janoff as one of the world's greatest designers. I always wonder how he could be such a humble person and also a great designer as well. How you could work with such energy in your 60s and be such a source of motivation and inspiration.
We are currently working with Sarmayeh Bank and Sina Insurance. Rightel and Mofid securities were two of our other clients.
In addition to logo design I am quite interested in book design and interior design because I am an audience of them.
The next step which might take decades to fulfill is to find out how we could be minimalist Iranians.
Some projects are completed with a team and in other projects I design on my own.
We are redesigning an insurance company's logo and visual identity in Iran under the supervision of Rob Janoff.
people can reach me through the contact information on my website at: www.designvand.com
No I don't have anything to add to that.