Interviews with Ksenia Zagaynova

I love dancing and find some kind of magic in the movement of dancers. My idea was to capture the moment and translate it into graphic language and further into real objects.

The main focus was to analyze the processes occurring in the body of a dancer and to choose a principle that would allow to translate them into graphic language and into real wearable objects, bionic and sophisticated.

I'm planning to dye these pieces in different colors using gradients as well and selling them in the Russian market.

The whole proccess took me around 3 months – from idea to research, 3D modeling and printing and implementation.

This design was my diploma (graduation) project in the Higher British School of Art and Design in Moscow. So I chose this topic as dancing inspires me greatly.

This design is produced by myself for my brand XENIA GAI.

As I've mentioned before, I've always been inspired by dancing and as I design wearable objects, I wanted to capture the processes ocurring in a human body and transfer them into jewelry.

I was mainly inspired by the captured positions of contemporary dancers.

In my view, the target customer is a woman that would like to express herself by adding interesting accents to her simple look, aged 30-45, working in creative industries.

I think it's the shape and structure which is very sophisticated and a light weight as it's 3D printed in nylon.

As I studied dancing and the processes ocurring in the human body, namely the tention in different muscles, I called it Dance Anatomy.

Research, sketching, 3D modeling using Rhino and Tsplines.

As I studied the dancers and my references were the exact dancing positions, I would say that the shape of each piece is unique.

I collaborated with the company that prints objects in nylon from 3D models.

The role of technology is crucial here as without knowledge of 3D modeling programs it would be difficult to create the needed shape and further to implement it in material using 3D printing technology as it is hard to create these pieces in metal and they would be fragile. Nylon allows flexibility and the pieces are less fragile and more light and some of them can be worn both as pendants and earrings.

I took pictures of dancers in captured dance positions and analyzed muscle tension and stretching in different parts of their bodies. In order to detect the state of muscles I consulted the anatomy book and a former dancer. I used a solid color for those muscles that were keeping balance and were the most tense, the waved lines - for muscles being more relaxed and straight lines - in order to show the stretched parts.

The hardest part of the research lied in the detection of the right principle that would allow transferring a dancer position into graphic language. I studied different aspects of dancing: the geometry of different dance positions, the cinesphere of a dancing person but these principles didn’t lead to a necessary esthetic result. In the end the research of the muscles behavior allowed to achieve the right result.

Secondly, it was hard to create the 3D models of the objects as they consist of many lines that couldn’t intersect.

I already took part in Adesign Award competition with my other collection Transforma that won a Silver Award. I decided to submit this project too as it is my graduation work and is sort of a quintessence of my knowledge and effort.

First of all I learned a lot about dancing and the aspects that constitute the theory of dance. Secondly I studied the Tsplines plugin in order to create the needed shape. And finally, it was the first time I worked with nylon.

Yes, I think I've always wanted to be a designer. When I was little I drew different fashion outfits and dreamt of becoming a fashion designer. But I didn't take this path right away and I have a master's degree in business and business administration. So I could finally realize my dream only 2 years ago when I started my studies in the British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow. Namely, I chose jewelry design as I couldn't find pieces that would meet my expectations and I had my own ideas of how they should look like. Therefore, my desire to create something beautiful but simple, unique and ergonomic made me become a designer.

At the moment I act under my own name as an individual designer and my own brand is XENIA GAI.

Good design makes us happier by combining a functional solution and aesthetic pleasure. As for jewelry design, apart from the above-mentioned, it helps to express one's unique personality and style.

I tend to create interactive jewelry, transformable pieces or constructors as I like the idea of game and interaction.

It's hard to choose one favorite design as there are so many wonderful designers in all spheres that I truly admire.

The first collection I designed in course of my studies was inspired by Calatrava architecture. It included 3 pieces based on 3 buildings: 2 mono earrings and one pendant.

At the moment my favorite materials are all kinds of metals. As for technologies they're all interesting to me but of course 3D modeling and 3D printing allow solving and creating the most sophisticated pieces.

I feel the most creative when I travel abroad and see something new or when I stay in my own city and go for walk. When I walk I always discover something new around me even in Moscow.

I focus on simple lines, geometry, ergonomics.

When I design I feel that I'm doing the right thing, I feel inspiration, brain work and satisfaction.

There's a long path between the idea and realization, a lot of work and challenge so of course I feel just great when it's finally there, I can wear it, others can wear it and feel happy just like me.

Correspondence of the final result with the initial designer's task.

Functionality, clarity of the idea, aesthetic image.

I think it's the idea of making people happier by simplifying their lives and satisfying their aesthetic perception.

It is becoming more digital, I think it already follows and will follow the IoT trend.

My last exhibition took place in a new design gallery and shop created by my colleagues and called ZVENO in Moscow. As for the future expos it's not decided yet.

I seek to create unusual but wearable objects that could fit the unique character of the owner. I prefer simple lines, interactivity and mechanisms. I'm inspired by architecture, existing design objects and natural shapes. I feed my creativity by travelling, going for long walks, listening to my favorite music.

I would say that my design style has not completely formed but I tend to design geometric and movable pieces. I try different techniques and instruments and that influences the final design. We'll see where it all takes me.

I live in Moscow, Russia. I wouldn't say that my country's cultural heritage affects my design. I would point out one disadvantage related to the Assay Chamber, the work process is poorly organized and represents obstacles for jewelry designers working with precious metals.

I haven't had such experience yet.

First of all I choose the sphere I'm inspired by. It can be a process, an existing object, anything that inspires me and makes me eager to investigate it. After that I start my explorations, i analyze what exactly interests me, I come out with the main features and leave all secondary attributes behind by using the techniques of analytical drawing. This way I develop a visual language for my future pieces and start designing the objects themselves. Then after doing the necessary calculations comes the 3D visualization of my sketches followed by the final production process.

Man Ray chess, towel hanger, art deco wash basin, Eichholtz lamp and a tape dispenser by Cantili.

I wake up at 8 or 9 a.m., at around 10 I start working on my current collection, I go out for a walk or meet my friends.

Practice more in drawing and sketching, follow your initial designer's task and don't be afraid to try new methods and test new ideas.

Positives: design makes me always train my brain, imagination and explore and discover something new every day and create something physical that could make someone feel happier. Plus it is possible to plan your day the way it suits you. As for negative aspects, well, you always have to seek for this balance between creating something you could easily sell and something that inspires you but could be hard to realize in terms of technology and thus could become an expensive object of art.

Formulate your idea clearly and follow your task.

Drawing skills, imagination, extensive knowledge, multitasking.

Drawing tools, software: ZBruzh, Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, Keyshot, "The art of jewelry design from idea to reality" book by Elizabeth Oliver, and also some kind of inspirational journal where I place my ideas and things that inspire me.

This is still a hard issue for me but I try to plan my day accordance with the identified project stages and I range my tasks by priority.

It depends on the difficulty of the technology, if it is complicated it can take up to 6 months but usually it takes me 1 or 2 months.

Why did you decide to be a jewelry designer?

To me every experience is important. My previous marketing experience helped me to refine my organizational and communication skills. Most important design experience includes the development of the drawing, technology and software skills.

I enjoy the analytical work when I explore the object, identify the most important features to work out the visual language and then based on that come up with the design of a piece. This is the most important and difficult part for me as a designer.

My future plan is to implement my new collection and further develop my brand.

I develop my designs by myself.

At the moment I'm working on a collection devoted to traveling and taking something to remember with you from each country.

They can check out my personal account in Instagram - @xenia_ova.