Aida Mehranfar

Specialized in Accessory Design.

Aida Mehranfar

About Aida Mehranfar

  • Winner of the A' Design Award.
  • Specialized in Accessory Design.
  • Original Design.
  • Creative, Diligent and Innovative.
  • All Designs
  • Accessory
Sarban Leather Bag

Sarban Leather Bag

Accessory Design


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Interview with Aida Mehranfar

Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
When I was a seven-year-old child, I had a drawing teacher. The teacher read me stories and asked me to draw pictures on paper at the same time. And I fell in love with drawing stories and after that I started drawing more. And when I grew up, I went to art school and studied graphics. And after completing the university course in the same field of study, I got acquainted with bag design, and little by little this work became a part of my life.
Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
Fida is a small and exclusive design studio. Fida's main focus is on the quality of design and production of works, not the quantity of production. FIDA has an orderer instead of a customer. People talk to us about their personal life experiences and we make exclusive designs for them. Fida bags are a part of customers' lives and are not just bags for carrying things. Also, music has a great influence on Fida's designs. Sometimes music is Fida's source of inspiration for design. Each music has its own design.
What is "design" for you?
Design is a way of life for me. It is also the language that I use to speak. Basically, I am a person who does not talk much, but I convey my opinions to my audience through design and color. When I start listening to deep music, designs and colors form in my head and become a coherent whole. I transfer them to paper, and then I make patterns and implement them. Each of the bags I design has many words to say. Through design, I communicate with the parallel world inside me. A world that shows me the true way of life.
What kinds of works do you like designing most?
I love designing exclusive bags because it allows me to enter the inner world of another human being and design according to his words and his worldview. Entering the different world of people is very enjoyable for me and helps me to have a more accurate and deeper view of life. For me, this work is like therapy sessions. Where I get to know myself through the knowledge of other human beings. And this is life itself in my opinion.
What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
I am currently designing a new collection that has not yet been implemented. This series examines psychological issues and mental injuries. Doing this project is really fun for me because I learn a lot while designing. It's been months since I started designing this collection and I've had a lot of fun since then, because I have to do a lot of anthropological research to design each piece and it's a lot of fun for me. is the departmen.
What was the first thing you designed for a company?
The first thing I designed was a bag inspired by a violin design. I live in a country where there are many prohibitions for women and girls. Music is one of the prohibitions. I started playing the violin when I was a teenager. I worked in this field for about 8 years and even performed on stage. But there are many problems for a female musician in my country, that's why I stopped playing an instrument. I put it aside forever, but I always had a dream of playing an instrument in my head. For this reason, I decided to fulfill my wish through design. I designed and made a bag with a violin design. Because I design and make my wishes in the form of a bag.
What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
I love using different materials in my work, but the main material I use in making bags is natural leather.
When do you feel the most creative?
When I make designs that depict the deep and inner feelings of another person. When a person understands the concept of my design and communicates with it without speaking to me. When the design, color and form speak to my audience without the intervention of language. When I get a strong and deep connection with my audience.
Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
The thing we need to know about the design of products like bags is that bags are essentially a functional product. From the most basic bags that have been produced to this day, the bag has been and still is a means of comfort for people in their belongings. The point that I pay a lot of attention to when designing is that each product must maintain its practical nature while respecting design, aesthetic and visual points. In addition, the bag is a product that shows the culture of a country. Therefore, it is very important and interesting for me to observe that every bag design should be able to display the culture of the country where the designer grew up.
What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
When I start drawing, I feel like a person going through therapy sessions. Drawing for me is like meditating. Because in order to design each of my products, I need to do a lot of research on different aspects of a human being, and this helps my personal growth a lot. The world of designs and colors and the inner world that originates from my subconscious is very lovely and enjoyable for me.
What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
At this time, I am experiencing the feeling of a mother who has given birth to her child. Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to give birth to a baby, but I have had this experience a lot in my field of work. Every time a bag is born, I like to look at him for hours because I get peace from him and I feel that a part of me has been transferred to the outside world.
What makes a design successful?
What makes a design successful is that it can grow from the subconscious mind of the designer. This will help you establish a deeper connection with your audience. At the same time, we must consider other aspects of it, such as the practicality of the product.
When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
‏Basically, I don't label any design as good or bad. Being good and bad is a man-made standard. Maybe a design that is called bad in my opinion is very good in someone else's opinion. But in general, I relate to designs that have a strong background
From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
Since I myself am a designer who cares a lot about social issues and I use them in my designs, I think the designer is responsible for his society. Tah must be a good sociologist, he must be a good anthropologist, he must be familiar with psychological issues. He should know the history of his society and design with the help of these issues. The designer can contribute to the awareness of his community about many social issues.
When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
My last exhibition was last fall in Iran in Tehran. And an exhibition will be held in the future until 2024, which will be held in collaboration with my composer friend Behrouz Paygan.
Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
There are many things that I am inspired by. including the culture of my country, music, social issues and psychological issues.
How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
When I was just starting my career, I chose the traditional work style. Little by little, over time, I combined this style with the modern style so that it represents the art of my country and can be more easily connected with international art.
Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
I live in iran. My country is full of art and ancient ruins and cultural heritage. Kasuri with a 2500 year old civilization. Full of different and rich traditional arts, each of which can be a good source of inspiration for producing new works. That's why I get inspiration from the culture and spirit of my country for my designs. Architecture, painting, poetry, music are the things that inspire me in my designs. The only problem I have in my field of work in my country is that despite the good history of my country's culture and art, it has been sanctioned by most countries and it is very difficult for me to communicate with outside my country. We all know that one of the main pillars of the world of fashion is communication, and without it, the work becomes very difficul.
How do you work with companies?
We have been working privately and with our own brand name, but we would be happy if we could cooperate with big companies.
What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
In my country, there are many good designers who are unable to communicate with the world market due to communication restrictions and sanctions in the country. I will be happy if one day big companies can see the abilities and art of Iranian designers.
Can you talk a little about your design process?
My design process is a little different from others. I design by listening to music. I am even designing a new collection in the same way. This is very enjoyable for me. Music notes and sounds inspire me to design. Then I transfer the designs to paper and the patterning stage begins.
Can you describe a day in your life?
My days are summed up in these words: love of food, music, walking, driving, drawing, looking at nature, researching and writing.
Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
My suggestion is that they should first research and study the ways famous designers of the world have gone. Valuable manipulations of designers over many years can help them not to repeat their mistakes and find their way more easily. Listen to your inner self and try to design with your subconscious mind and use design as a way for human growth and improvement. In fact, live the design.
From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
In general, every job has its own advantages and disadvantages. Being a designer has been a lot of fun for me so far. But it also has its issues and problems. As an Iranian designer, it is very difficult for me to keep up to date with the modern world of design and communicate with the world outside my country. If I want to talk about more personal things, I must say that being a designer changes your outlook on life. At times, your vision becomes deeper and this may cause you to be lonely and not understood by the general society, but on the other hand, it allows you to live the way you like.
What is your "golden rule" in design?
My golden rule as a designer is to be myself. To have my own limits and maintain my own identity in my designs.
What skills are most important for a designer?
If we want to talk about personal skills, I must say that a designer must be able to establish a strong relationship with the inner self and the external environment and create a balance between these two. He must have a high understanding of the issues and problems governing the society, see the society with different strata and analyze the behaviors, he must be a good anthropologist and have reached self-knowledge. But if we want to talk about executive skills and techniques, I must say that he must be familiar with design programs. He must be able to implement at least the prototype of the design he makes. He should know different materials in his field of work and be familiar with different execution techniques.
Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
First of all, I find the source of my inspiration and research it. After that, I execute the design manually and then enter it into the software, and after that, the pattern making and making of the prototype starts.
Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
I think all designers face the problem of time constraints. Because the audience only sees the main result of the work, while many steps take place behind the scenes, the fog creates the final design. I can't tell you that I use a special sugar to manage my plans, but meditating and listening to music speeds up my work and helps me manage things more easily.
How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
This is a very general question. Design time depends on many factors. My personal experience has been that sometimes the design of a work may take an hour and another design may take days. It depends on how much time it takes to form the plan. Sometimes a plan is inspired in a dream and when you wake up you just implement it quickly. Sometimes you need to do research for days to find the source of inspiration
Who are some of your clients?
Our customers are of two types. The first group is from the general public and they only buy practical bags, and the second group is people who want customized bags from us and we design and produce them according to their wishes.
What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
I enjoy special designs. Because this is exactly related to the inner world of humans. They play a music player of mine and ask me to design for them. Or they talk about their traumas and I make a sketch of their pain. Or they talk about their pleasant life experiences and I start to design according to them, and this new connection conveys a great feeling to me and makes me experience a good personal growth.
What are your future plans? What is next for you?
My overall plan for the future is to connect with the world through design. My next project focuses on psychological issues. In this way, I am trying to help people to deal with the problems and hardships of their lives and draw a beautiful drawing of their injuries and wounds through the world of design to turn them into a tool for their growth and improvement. I decide to have a deep connection with people and help them to bring out their inner injuries with the help of design. Because design is my language and I have learned to communicate with people in this way.
Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
I work individually for design, but I get help from the team to implement the designs
Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
Yes. As I explained in the previous posts, I have a collection in hand that talks about social harm and psychological problems and also about the solution to these problems. This collection will be inspired by rock music.
How can people contact you?
Currently, I am working in the Instagram environment, but I am busy designing my personal website and this website will be activated soon.
Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
There is no other case. The fact is that I strongly hope that the world of fashion and fashion will get to know Iranian designers more and the art of these designers will be seen.

Designer of the Day Interview with Aida Mehranfar

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?
When I was a teenager, I studied graphic arts in art school, and after that I went to art university and continued this field of study until my bachelor's degree. After university, I entered the world of handicrafts and combined art with the handicrafts of my country so that I could create different products. Since I started my work as a graphic designer in an advertising company as a student, and gradually by introducing handicrafts into my life, I entered the world of bag design and took specialized courses on sewing leather bags. I got the relevant documents from the Handicrafts, Technical and Professional Administration of Iran and continued my activity under the name of Fida. Our customers are looking for a different bag with a special design.
How did you become a designer?
When I was a 7-year-old child, I had an art teacher who told me a story and asked me to start drawing when I hear the story and draw whatever comes to my mind, and I loved it. Since then, I realized that I have a lot of image. And after that I decided to enter the conservatory when I grew up and I did the same thing. As a field of study, I chose visual communication (graphics) and this is how I entered the world of design, and every day I entered the world of design more and more, and I chose it as my job because I believe that humans must do something loves it.
What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?
The main theme that I use in all my designs is combining the traditional designs of my country, Iran, with modern art. Because I really like to introduce the art of my country in a language that is attractive to other nations in different parts of the world. Most of the designs that I present have a special concept and carry a special message with them. After choosing the subject, I start researching about its background and history so that I can find the right material for my design. After that, I start to model and make a mock-up of a bag so that I can get the exact and correct sizes and after that I use my hands for all the steps of the work because I like work with my hands.
Which emotions do you feel when designing?
What I feel when I design is life itself. In my opinion, anything with design makes a person feel better. Designing for me is a job but a way of life that makes everything more beautiful for me. When you combine design with love, all its steps become attractive and exciting. From when you can create the initial idea to when you go through the design time and when you can see the final joy that is the result of the work. Sometime after completing the design samples, I spend many minutes looking at it, enjoying every bit of it and getting the liveliness. Because creating gives you an imazing feel.
What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?
I started playing the violin when I was a teenager. I was a musician for 8 years and even gave a concert, but something happened so that I could not continue playing the instrument. But my love for music was always in my heart. But I am a human being, I don't ignore my interests, and I bring my dreams back to my life and evaluate them in any way I can. For this reason, I combined my love for design and music and became a designer who starts designing bags when he hears music notes. This is my difference from other leather bag designers. Even the first bag I designed resembled a violin instrument and became one of my most famous designs.
What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?
A few years ago, I started taking self-awareness courses. This changed my life completely. Everything changed, even my worldview changed. This had a great impact on my design style. I always wanted my designs to have a concept. After many hardships that I experienced in my life, I decided to create a plan from my fears, failures, failures, wounds and injuries in my life. For this reason, I am talking to my musician and artist friend, Behrouz Paygan, who now lives in Canada, to design a collection together that examines and analyzes psychological injuries. Injuries that both of us had experienced in our lives. This collection is a combination of music and the design of leather bags and is currently being designed and we hope to find a good financial sponsor to show it outside of Iran.
What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?
‏my advice to designers is to try to do everything with love. If you don’t love something, leave it. It's not just about design. Love is needed in all work fields. Only then can you stay. Because love gives you the power to fight and solve problems. It helps you look at things differently and move forward every day. I use this method for my movement and progress.
What is your day to day look like?
I start my day by checking work messages and e-mails so that I can make a plan that prioritizes my whole day and I go to my workshop and create a new design if needed or search for a new design or select a prototype. . All steps are accompanied by music. What gives me energy during the day to continue till the end of the day is music and sometimes a walk in the fresh air. Because that's what gives me the strength to keep going on busy days.
How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?
In my opinion, a design can be called a good design that creates a connection with its audience. When I hear from my customers that: your bags up close are completely different or much more attractive than the photos we saw. I feel very good. Because I understand that my audience will see my bags up close, relate to them, and that's exactly what I want. You must communicate with your audience and understand the needs of the audience by paying attention to the design of visual points and aesthetic principles.
How do you decide if your design is ready?
I design entirely with the help of my emotions. When I feel inside that this design satisfies me, I stop working on it. But sometimes I always feel unfinished towards my designs that I can go back and work on again. But in general, I believe there is always room for improvement. Sometimes after a few years I revise and create designs again. The designs are always good and perfect and meet the needs for a long time. I use a more intuitive understanding for this because I believe that art is human emotion and spirit, not calculations.
What is your biggest design work?
In fact, the work I'm most excited about designing isn't just a job. It is a collection of works that I think is the best work I have ever done. A collection of works inspired by music made by an Iranian composer and still under design. I designed this collection at the darkest point of my personal life, which consists of 20 designs, each of which represents one of our emotional traumas.
Who is your favourite designer?
I don't believe much in categories. There are many designers whose work I like. I mostly look at the design to think which designer designed it. Because every design during its lifetime can create a unique design and this is what attracts my attention and makes me admire a designer.
Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?
One of the things that can be seen in most of my designs is the reflection of the culture and art of Iran. I was born in the city of Shiraz, the city of Iranian civilization and art. I also lived in Isfahan for several years. A city full of designs, colors and authentic Iranian art. Even for the design of the Sarban bag, I was inspired by an old minaret in Isfahan. I love all the cities of my country because each one has its own arts. I also love Iranian music and I get inspiration from music for designing my works. In my opinion, the art and culture of a country can be the characteristics of that society, and its integration with the world of design is one of the best ways of global communication. and also by meeting the needs of the society, it gives it an easier and more beautiful life.
Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?
‏am for product design. I work alone, but I get help from others to produce them. In order to choose my colleagues, in addition to issues related to science and technology, I also pay attention to other issues. It is very important for me to work with people who love their work. And I believe in producing art for art's sake. If a person has this quality, I can easily cooperate with it. Because I have a personal brand called Fida, which took 12 years of time, and in a way, Fida is like my child to me, and it is very important to me who enters into cooperation with me. The main challenge in my career is finding people who work with love. Because in my opinion, the successful design is that which creates the design with the help of the power of love. It is looking for work itself. This is an example of commitment to work.
What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?
In my opinion, a designer has many responsibilities towards his community. Because it can take a positive step in improving the situation of its society by affecting human senses and affecting the depths of human existence, and if it knows how it can affect people, it can be of great help in solving social problems. I admire artists who deal with humanitarian issues, and by the way, that's one of the things I'm doing right now. In addition to the topics that help a better life, I choose techniques to implement projects for which I get help from original and native artists of my country and take a small step in the prosperity of their business. For example: I design bags in which needlework technique is used, which is performed by the Baloch needlework artists of my country who live in the villages of Baluchistan.
What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?
Participating in this competition gave me the opportunity to have my work evaluated by good and professional judges and I am happy to draw attention to myself. Obtaining this title is very valuable for me and I am happy that one of my dreams is coming true. Because I have so many ideas in my head that just need to be seen and supported. I am very excited to have the opportunity that has been presented to me and try to make the best of it. Because with my ideas, not only my own business, but also the business of the artists of my country who depend on my work will flourish. And this is my biggest wish in my professional and personal life. I am an independent person who strives for my dreams and I am glad that I am on the right path so that I can support other women in my country.

Extended Interview with Aida Mehranfar

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?
I studied visual communication (graphics) from the conservatory and then at the university, and from that time I worked as a graphic designer in advertising centers. After some time, I got to know more about the field of handicrafts and I passed the leather bag production courses at the Iran Handicrafts and Technical and Professional Administration, and little by little I integrated design with handicrafts and started producing bags with different designs from what I have seen so far.
How did you become a designer?
I always designed the decoration of the room myself and it was important to me what clothes I wore. I was very fond of painting. As well as turning anything into an image. I have a strong visual mind and I can easily picture any event in my mind. My good relationship with images led me to design. Something I am more interested in than sports or other skills. Art has been part of my life since I was a child, and without it, everything would be meaningless to me. I always like to dress beautifully and see beauty around me. The appearance of every device around me that I use during the day is important to me. Design is a part of me that I live with. So I chose to be a designer.
What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?
My relationship with colors, paper and pictures was very good since childhood. What I always needed and lived better with was paper, pen and paint. I realized that I don't have a good relationship with numbers and writing. But I fell in love with the images from the very beginning. It was the images that drew me in. Design is a part of me.
Which emotions do you feel when designing?
‏I am a bag designer and the most material I use in my work is natural leather. Bags have always been attractive and lovely to me. This is the reason why I chose to be a bag designer. It is very important to me that my designs convey a message. I don't like to design just one device for moving tools and equipment. Each of the bags I design has its own story, and this topic is very attractive to my audience.
What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?
In my opinion, the best thing he did to succeed in anything is to have a lot of perseverance and work with love. These two things will always help you to progress. In all the years I was engaged in designing, I never lost my perseverance. Despite the many difficulties that came my way, I continued to move steadily and did not despair. My advice is to never give up and keep going.
What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?
A good designer can create a good design, but a great designer can create a huge transformation by creating a good design. When you solve problems and solve problems in a design way, you seem to be a great designer.
What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?
A good design is one that grabs the audience, not only in the first moment, but still has something to say when they look deeper into it. Or if the design is for a practical product, you should also follow principles while being simple in using and meeting people's needs.
You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?
The value of a good design is its usefulness. In today's design world, one can find many similar designs, but distinctiveness is what makes a design good. A good plan should have a history and a philosophy. He must have a lot to say and convey these messages.
What is your day to day look like?
Ever since I started designing bags, I've been picturing my love and designing and making it into a bag. After that, I learned to convey my feelings through design and communicate with the world around me. I designed my failures, fears, wounds, failures and desires and I would love to do this for all people. I like being able to picture people and help them control their thoughts. This is one of my dreams.
How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?
One of my dreams is to be able to design a collection inspired by music and display it all over the world. Because I am a designer who designs with the help of music and depicts the notes. I would like to have my own exhibitions around the world with this theme, like the music that organizes a band's music tours.
How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?
I design with my heart. I listen to music with all my heart and then I convert sound to image and image to volume. This is a distinction that has made me successful at work. This is what I do instinctively.
How do you decide if your design is ready?
People who inspire me are not only designers. There are successful people who may teach me things that will help me in the design process. Actually, before being a good designer, we have to learn to be human and this kind of worldview helps us to be able to do the best in everything. If we are conscious humans, we can learn lessons from our surroundings and apply this in the field of design as well. So, I don't follow a specific person as a model, but I learn small tips from each person, and in my opinion, if we look carefully, we can learn one tip from all the design masters and find our way with their help.
What is your biggest design work?
I love all design categories. The designs that I am interested in are only related to the design of the bag. I might consider an architectural monogram to design, or even the pattern of a dress or even a flower. Design is a great category, and in my opinion, all the things that design plays a role in are related. For this reason, I follow designs in the fields of architecture, fashion, clothing, decoration, etc., and design excites every part of me.
Who is your favourite designer?
My biggest plan is a partnership project. A project that is being formed by me and a composer and is still in progress and has not been exposed to the public. This project will be implemented by the end of this year and I am very excited about it. Because the strength of these designs is a very strong connection with the inner world of the audience and it helps to improve the mental problems of people. There are many problems they face in today's world.
Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?
What helped me become a better designer was looking at everyday life issues. Everything seems simple, but it is a lot. Everything in life is connected. My personal experience was as follows: When I decided to take self-discovery courses, I found a different understanding and perception of the world. Somehow, my worldview changed and when I looked at everything with a different perspective, a window appeared in my life that affected all aspects of my life and my design style became more different and more. It gets better for the designer. Besides technical issues, there are also internal issues. Technique and skill are only part of the matter. Part of it is related to you, because in my opinion, part of design is a completely sensual work and it has a soul.
Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?
In addition to design, I am also interested in cooking and growing plants. I think if I didn't become a designer, I would be a chef who designs himself in a different way with a lot of food, or I would have a big greenhouse that could be a library.
What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?
Design for me is not just a profession but a lifestyle. I experience a more beautiful design. My design world consists of design, pattern, color and music, and this is life itself in my opinion. Design plays the role of soul. A chair without design is what you need to sit and relax, but a chair that is designed and has a soul. He has a background and has something to say like a human being. Therefore, design can give life to objects and this is self-creation. Design can also be a solution to problems. For example, when you bring design into the world of technology, you can solve problems with it.
What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?
A lot of people helped me get here. Those who were with me and those who left me. I am grateful to all of them, because if it were not for these donations, I would not be standing here. Every person you meet throughout the day can influence your life and path. From the painting teacher I had as a child, to my mother and the friends who accompanied me, everyone was influential in reaching this point.

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