Mohammad Mirzamohammadi

I was no stranger to the concept of art and design, for I was born in art loving and artist family. I started drawing when I was a kid and have always loved fantasizing and visualizing my thoughts on paper. During teenage years I was a cartoonist and won a few international prizes. At college years I decided to take it to the next level which is how I characterize “design”: It’s as beautiful as fine arts, but in more useful kind of way.

After my attempt to cofound a Jewelry brand for some reasons didn`t go through, now I’m working on another technology based fashion startup. The company consists of me and a couple of my friends whose skills are complementary to mine.

For me design is the journey of finding the simplest & most efficient solution which is also aesthetically pleasing.

I can’t limit myself to one branch of design, however I often prefer the kinds that give me the opportunity to be myself and express my personality more.

“Juicy Salif” by Philippe Starck, which is a manual lemon squeezer inspired by the form of the squid. But other than that one single object I’m mainly a huge fan of Issey Miyake’s designs who is a Japanese fashion designer.

It depends on what I`m designing; I prefer gold for my jewelry design executions. But I also enjoy designing user interactions and user experiences in tech industry.

My creativity peaks when I feel most positive and optimistic which usually coincides with evenings and nights. I consider myself a night owl.

Creativity and minimalism whether it is function or form. I just want to find the right approach that other people might have missed.

A combination of joy, satisfaction, pride, and excitement. And honestly the best part is the moment that I figure that “YEAH I STILL GOT IT!”

A little bit of satisfaction and gratitude, and some regrets when I reach the final result I usually experience second thoughts about the ways I could have made it better but I missed. However, since nothing is perfect and nothing will ever be, I don’t beat myself up over it and try to learn from my mistakes.

The ability to actually fulfilling it’s task and function whatever it is. Because the design is not just meant to be pretty it must works perfectly.

A good design usually is simple, intuitive, useful, functional, innovative, honest, visually compelling, un-obstructive, and user-oriented and so on. And a bad one possesses the exact opposites.

I believe it`s obvious that nowadays being sustainable is the first and most important attribute designers are responsible for towards the society and the environment; the designs should be not only harmless for the nature, but preferably advantageous.

Although with the technology growth rate, the quantity of the designs that are introduced every day has skyrocketed, and has made the design world evolution somewhat unpredictable. But it is still obvious that some trends will be big in near future like internet of things which integrate our smart devices more than ever into our lives. 3d printing products right at home instead of buying them and having them delivered to us. Niche market will take over which have major effects on the design industry. And finally mastering the sustainability and taking it even further into regenerative approach in design.

My last exhibition was a group one which I’m proud to say that was the one showcasing the winning designs of “2015 A’design” Award competition on August. Next will be a solo exhibition next year in Dubai.

Mostly mother nature: directly and/or indirectly. But I also like to translate abstract concepts into forms in my designs. By observing and musing deeply and constantly, I try to keep my current project running in the back of my mind even during everyday life activities, because the answer I’m looking for could lie within anything.

Smart and simple. It’s just how I like everything, unpretentious and yet beautiful. My approach is Minimalism.

I currently live in Iran where I was born and raised. I do believe Iranian cultural heritage has affected my designs; I have designed a complete line of jewelries inspired by geometrical motives that has used in Iranian architecture for centuries. Like most underdeveloped countries Iran faces major technical shortage in every industry, however on the bright side Iran has a huge and rich history of culture and art.

I`m usually working on few commissioned custom pieces and/or collections, and in my down time I personally make appointments with well-established companies of my network to present my ideas and make a pitch.

The most important characteristic that companies should be looking for in a designer is his/her problem solving skills and whether they can think out of the box about the subject matter that they are going to focus on. Another important attribute is being a team player while constantly wanting and being open to learn. The companies must keep an open mind that although the designer may not know everything from the get-go, but it’s the attitude that counts. The designer should not settle for what they already know and be willing to go above and beyond to come up with novel ideas and solutions.

My process starts with thoroughly understanding the problem. Analyzing it from different aspects and breaking it down to detailed requirements. Afterward It’s time to research around that list to sidestep any previous made mistake by designers before us. Then ideation and creating concepts and prototyping them and evaluate them by getting feedback from targeted focus-groups and refining the concept till it’s ready to manufacture and that’s a wrap. So in a nutshell: research, idea generation, idea development, evaluation, refining and production.

Juicy salif lemon squeezer by Philippe Starck , an Issey Miyake watch designed by Tokujin Yoshika, ann Australian vintage boomerang, the Lytro camera and finally my Matryoshka doll collection.

Continuous process of musing and designing interrupted by meals, socializing with people and most importantly staying up-to-date with my surrounding and world’s news via social media which is essential to a designer. We must stay connected to the world If we want to design for the world.

I'm still learning myself and I hope It never ends but if I want to share what I've already got I can tell: Get educated, be on top of the new innovations of the world, keep an open mind, and stay focused and you`ll figure it out.

It’s all good and positive except that tending to be a perfectionist sometimes leads to impracticality rather than being pragmatic.

My golden rule can be summed up in the phrase “less is more” which was originally in a Robert Browning poem and later on was used by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as a precept for minimalist design in the 1960s.

Problem solving! I think the ability to think things through and analyze them properly is the most important skill that a designer should master.

It usually all begins with a simple pencil and paper, and based on the type of the design I use Gemvision Matrix 7.0 CAD software to make a 3d model of my final design, then if necessary I use Keyshot v.4 to render and/or make a wax model with Envisiontec or 3D-system 3d printers.

It’s the hardest part of not only design but life in general in my opinion. I think It’s all about setting the priorities straight and being able to say “no” to people embarging in your schedule and avoid interruptions.

It is more a question of “how much time given by the client”, because a design is not ever finished to a designer and can always be perfected in a way or another (the perfectionism thing that I mentioned before). I personally prefer to overestimate the time that I need for the project while negotiating with the client to overdeliver at the end.

I majored in Industrial design, which is why I`m often asked “What is industrial design? And how is it different from product design?” which I replied by how exactly IDSA (INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS SOCIETY OF AMERICA) defines it: “Industrial Design (ID) is the professional service of creating products and systems that optimize function, value and appearance for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer.”

The opportunity of designing and bringing to life an entire jewelry brand from A to Z; which meant not only I designed the actual products, I also designed the interior of the showroom, the logo, the graphics, and etc.

Mostly individuals and among private companies that I worked for I can mention Iran Gem Society, Zamos, Mina, and etc.

I like design to be smart and make a difference. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a huge impact; big or small I’m happy as long as it has a positive influence.

Observe, learn, think, design, create and again: Observe, learn, think, design, create and again: Observe, learn, think, design, create and again … it`s a never ending cycle and there is no stop.

I love being part of a team, and I’m doing so currently. Although coming up with the main concept or idea doesn’t have to be a one man job but I prefer do this part alone. However, for the rest of the production I always share the process with others and there is no doubt that the outcome would be incomparable.

As a matter of fact I do have an interesting project in process. It is a novelty jewelry ring and I wish I could tell you more but I prefer keeping it secret until it comes out to the market and talks for itself.

The interview was pretty thorough; however I take the opportunity to thank the A` design Award and Competition board for the opportunity and hope there will be more design competitions like this to keep the minds of todays` designers stimulated and motivated.