Interview with Ermanno Aparo

Ever since I was a child I have been wondering why the objects, whatever I had on my hands, dismantled them. I built many of my toys or most of the time I played with Legos. Invention and creation have always fascinated me. When I grew up, I assumed that my design dimension was design.

My project is born from the structure of the process, starting to define all the parts involved in the design process, the companies, the experts or those professionals who can help improve the product.
I do not rely on a routine, I develop drawings, physical models and prototypes, but the sequence is more circular than linear, the result of a hermeneutical methodology that has neither principle nor end but is cyclical.

I like to see every project as a challenge and all the parts are exciting, the gradual development of the project and taking shape of the product is a unique emotion. I cannot highlight a part or a moment, each of these is important, it is an walk towards success done step by step.

Being a designer requires a constant process of research and development, all our experiences, everything we have gone through in the previous processes will be useful for many of the projects we will be doing during our career. My Master at Doms Academy taught me the correct methodologies but my design stubbornness is something that comes to me from birth. Every project requires culture, humility but also passion, a lot of passion.

I grew up knowing how to observe the culture around me. I was born in a city, Agrigento, surrounded by history and art. I have always had strong artistic stimuli around me and my studies in architecture and design have taught me to use these stimuli in designing. I hope my students can one day be able to use my teachings and be remembered as a good teacher and a great researcher.

I teach design because I believe in design and its role in our society. To my students I say that we must bring design into new areas, into new areas of life to help people even more, to be able to better understand how to plan, how to live. Design must always dialogue with others.

I don't feel like a successful designer, but one who does what he likes. I think that those who make designers must do this job because they like it but must be a humble person, with a desire to know and learn, a person capable of working in a team with other people. A designer who isolates himself from the outside will never do a good job.

I don't have a routine, because every day is different from the other and for this reason it must be lived differently. I read everything I like, magazine or design books but I also read literature, philosophy, stories and music.

Trends are important, also because today we all know that those who make trends are people. But it is also important to know how to make our contribution to history and to do this we must study a lot, know well what surrounds us.

For me there is no good or bad design but design. People make design, design without people design would not exist. There is the capacity to formulate a question and to know how to build a correct answer to a question, now if the question is bad the answer will probably be very bad.

My design is ready when, as Nigel Cross states, we approach the one that among the many hypotheses we formulate is the best one. This is the result of a cyclical process, which comes back to correct and improve itself and depends very much on the initial question, that is to say from what we set out to do at the beginning of the process.

My biggest work in design is undoubtedly the trumpet awarded in the A 'Design Award. This is a project that brings the construction of wind instruments back to Portugal after almost 70 years. The project is the result of a process of almost 3 years done with 12 companies (11 of them Portuguese) that in the majority had never produced a musical instrument. The project, articulated with the help of luthier Rui Pedro Silva, has been tried by some of the best trumpet players in the world who have judged the trumpet as a unique and exceptional instrument. I will never forget the joys and sorrows that this project gave me.

My favorite designer is Leonardo da Vinci. my answer may seem obvious but I have always had an incredible passion for this incredible character and his vision of the material world. Not even a greater genius ever existed. I also like other designers such as Alessandro Mendini, Ettore Sottsass or Vico Magistretti, but the one for Leonardo is a passion that I have since childhood.

I am a normal person fascinated by everything around me, I am extremely curious.
I love the metropolis but I also love the provincial towns. I love music of any kind. Music has always been part of my life, regardless of this project, I play the trumpet (bad) and it's a passion that helps me to do and think in design. I have always believed in the approximation between music and design, starting from the terminology (scale, color, composition ...) and up to the methodologies.
At the moment I am developing two other projects related to music and I believe that this type of experience is also helping me with other projects. I love teaching design and being able to transfer my experiences to my students to help them work in the world of design and be able to contribute to building a better world.

I am a person who loves to work hard, every project for me is like a challenge to live intensely and, above all, to win.
I always work in multidisciplinary teams, this helps to better understand all the aspects related to the project.
I always like to listen to the opinions of the people I work with and take advantage of the different opinions that may exist on certain themes/areas of a project.
I try to convey this mentality to my students because I believe that today it is important to instill in future designers the importance of collaborative creative processes.

I always try to work with the community and for the community. Already with my students and some of my colleagues we have developed humanitarian projects giving our contribution to various causes.
This kind of project are as important for external communities as it is for our students, who learn to work with the values that must make the difference for our society.

An award is always a recognition of our work for the community. In my case it was very important because it led the Portuguese media to speak again about the construction of wind instruments in Portugal.
This award is important for all companies that have worked with me, to thank them for their commitment to this project. He offers me notoriety but mainly gives me greater responsibility as a teacher and as a designer.

I became a designer because I always liked the world of objects, how they are made and why they are useful.

I chose to be a designer

I am a design teacher and a researcher, I don't choose my project challenges, it depends a lot on what comes before me.

I don't feel like a legend, I'm just a person who does what he likes. And to do what we like we have to work a lot.

I don't know, maybe the great designer is just the consequence of a good designer.

Good design is the one that responds well to the questions that are proposed to it, good design is the one that knows how to give a design dimension to the reasons of a project.

Design is always important and its value is a reflection of the value that the product or service will have for the people who use it.

I design what presents itself to me as a challenge and for good challenges, time is always there.

A cure for cancer, but I'm not a doctor, just a designer ... maybe, maybe one day I'd like to be able to create something to help these people, creating a synergy with a team of doctors and researchers. Yes, I would like.

I don't think that I have success, I think I do what I like and that's why there are no ingredients or recipes, just a lot of work.

Leonardo da Vinci, Beethoven and my grandfather.

I can't answer this question because I like a little bit of everything. There is a lot of good people who make incredible things in design.

My design has no particularity, mine is a method based on the creation of territorial networks. it is more a strategy than styling.

Remember that before being designers they are people.

Probably a musician or an archaeologist.

Design is a creative discipline that brings knowledge to society, in the sense that it considers and crosses practical, aesthetic, ergonomic, use, imagination, construction, prototyping, market, sustainability and innovation issues. The design can be revolutionary and quiet, practical and effective, without having to be exuberant or glamorous. Like any good story, design should always teach something. For design it is the choice that transforms old concepts into new instruments, using them with a new efficacy according to the current reality.

My wife and my children, the family in general.

My parents and the excellent professors I had during my studies.

There are no obstacles, only challenges, and these are made to be accepted or rejected.

I think that designers must dialogue with companies, with people and know the market.

My next project is in the area of musical instruments. In the future I expect new challenges, new goals, new projects.

My goal is to respond to what is asked of me as a designer, as a teacher and as a researcher.

People expect me to be good at what I do, expect effective and innovative answers, expect good design.

Design can improve society by designing for society, knowing companies and the territory and accepting the challenges that arise.

The trumpet, because it was the most difficult project I've ever done.

I'd like to see more companies create products with design.

I don't know yet, the world is constantly changing and we must be ready to design in a continuing mutation process.

I do not know, it depends on the project, it cannot and should not be generalized.

I begin by reading the premises and studying the areas that involve the project.

I don't have a motto.

I think the truth is in the middle, design influences the trend and the trend influences the design. But people, yes people do trends and need design.

Technology is as important as everything that involves the project, technology is also important but not fundamental.

It depends on the project, from high to low technology, from hammer to CNC.

Color is as important as shape or as patterns or textures, all important parameters.

People need to ask for good design.

A won challenge, a good example of a well solved problem.

Clear, I really believe in co-design, my partners are chosen depending on the type of project but mainly they are people who believe in design and in the project in which they work.

All the people.

All the books, it is not important what we read but how we read it.

It depends on the challenges and the skills.

I would like to travel through time and talk with Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Beethoven

They are important but not fundamental, in design people are the most important thing.

It depends on where I am, who I am with and what I mean. Each scenario has its own reason, every food is the reflection of a culture, every form is the consequence of a function. We need to look at things in a "bigger way".

The first time I designed a product, when they asked me for the product name I decided it would be my wife's home address ... I couldn't explain why, I liked it as an idea. The name was not important for that project but then it turned out to be decisive in the marketing campaign .... don't ask me how it happened because neither I know it.

I don't know what a designer is great but what motivates me: my children.

No, as a child I liked to take things apart, build my toys, maybe I didn't know it but I was already a designer.

I do not know it and I do not know if I would like to know where the world also goes because I probably won't be already here.

I have no fans, I hope my students can say that I was a good teacher.

I am a professor in Design at the Polytechnic of Viana do Castelo and researcher at the Center for Research in Architecture Urbanism and Design of the University of Lisbon.
I deal with Design and networks of territorial production systems.

Design is a creative discipline that brings knowledge to society, in the sense that it considers and crosses practical, aesthetic, ergonomic, use, imagination, construction, prototyping, market, sustainability and innovation issues. The design can be revolutionary and quiet, practical and effective, without having to be exuberant or glamorous. Like any good story, design should always teach something. For design it is the choice that transforms old concepts into new instruments, using them with a new efficacy according to the current reality.

For me, every project is a challenge and every challenge has its own charm. I love all the challenges.

My favorite design is the one that manages to interpret the project taking into account space, time and circumstance. My favorite design is the one that speaks to places, to people, which helps people to be happy.

My first product designed and built was a line of brochure holders for a travel agency brand.

I don't have a favorite material, I like all organic materials and I mainly like, when I can and I when it's need, to design the material.

have to work with other people to be creative. For me, the creative is the one who is able to develop innovative processes enriching them with knowledge. To enrich a project we cannot isolate ourselves but work with other people and share with them what we know by building together. This is be creative for me.

All aspects of design are important, such as ergonomic, technological or aesthetic aspects but also social, production or market factors. It is the perfect symbiosis between these factors that creates the perfect object. It is clear that it is a difficult process, but not impossible, it is necessary to work hard and and well.

Design is a challenge and as such it always excites. Sometimes it gives us happy feelings sometimes less, but for me there is no project without this being the result of an emotional process.

When I see something I designed I always have a strong emotion, even more when I can share this emotion with the people I worked with.

Success for me is being recognized for what we do. From my point of view if we have done a good job we are always successful.

For me there is no good or bad design, but good or bad designers, good or bad creative processes. Design is not born by itself, it is the people who make the design. Each designer is an individual who is part of a community, every designer has to think about this before you begin project.

Design has a great responsibility for everything it designs and no one can get out of this situation. If we want design to play an active role in society, we must also accept the responsibilities we have in society.

Today, thanks also to the work of the media and some institutions, design has increased its role in society. I hope that this process can continue to grow in the future and that design can be active in other fields of development, research and people's lives.

The last exhibition I attended was that of some of my students' projects. The exhibition was linked to the April 25 revolution in Portugal and took place in Lisbon, in the Chiado district.

I am a designer, not an artist, but for example I like to look at other forms of design or art as ways to better understand where our society goes. I do not know if I can speak of inspirations or about references, however the signals that arrives to the senses of a designer are multiple and come from different directions, a designer must know how to interpret them correctly.

I'm not a stylist or an artist that's why I don't have a style, what I have are different methods and ways of developing design processes.

I live in Viana do Castelo in the north of Portugal, a spectacular place, full of history, beautiful customs and traditions. The territory of northern Portugal is rich in companies but also small artisans who work on ancient processes with ancestral techniques, such as the watermark. Living in such a place is fantastic because you can always choose the type of process depending on the type of product we need to develop.

As I am a teacher and a researcher and I work with projects with a high level of innovation. The projects I do are very connected with the creation of new collaborative scenarios between companies operating in the same territory, create new products that stimulates new markets and new business opportunities.

For me what is most important is that companies understand that in order to innovate they must have at least one designer on their staff. It would also be important for companies to understand that design is seen as a process that begins with the creation of a product and not just for the aesthetic touch.

My processes are different depending on the type of project. As I have already said, for me design is a hermeneutic and cyclical process that advances and when necessary returns back to seek a satisfactory solution. All the hardware are chosen according to the type of project, looking for those that best fit that type of process and that type of product.

My 5 favorite design themes at home are:
the relax;
the energy sustainability;
the light;
the sound,
the experience of life.

I don't have a routine, because every day is different from the other and for this reason it must be lived differently. I read everything I like, magazine or design books but I also read literature, philosophy, stories and music.

Even I would need some pearls of wisdom for designers. I think that today young designers must try to accompany all the creative processes they work with as much as possible and not just stop at their project. From my point of view it is very important for a young designer to know the whole path a project takes to transform into a product and understand that each product has its own history with different times, different places and different protagonists.

All the works have something positive and negative and the design is not an exception. I don't think that what's positive or negative can be generalized, this can depend on each person or the type of project we do.

I don't think I have a golden role in design, I am a teacher and as such I have many responsibilities. What I learned about my projects I teach my students by making them available to those who teach me to be a good designer.

For a designer there are many skills that must be had, some of them are learned during the academic course, others during the career path. In many cases the designer decides to work with external specialists and collaborates with them in order to better respond to the needs that the project requires.

My process relies on always different supports and hardware, which are chosen according to the type of project and that go from low to high technology.
I don't rely on a routine, I develop drawings, physical models and prototypes, but the sequence of the process is more circular than linear, the result of a hermeneutical methodology that has neither principle nor end but is cyclical.

I've never been good at managing time, the only thing I try to do is not stealing time to my family life.

There is no specific time, every project has its time. The time depends a lot on the circumstances of the project, on the situations, on the type of project, on the partners .... there are no rules on the timing but forms of better use of the time we have available.

Sadly, many people still ask me what a designer does. Many people still do not know what our profession is.

My most important work experience is teaching, because for me this is a laboratory in a process of constant development, a good place to create new ideas, new concepts and new design processes. Teaching is a design laboratory in continuous transformation, so the most interesting place where you can work on new design concepts.

My clients are companies that are interested in new development and innovation processes. They are companies that believe in processes of co-creation and want to collaborate with other companies to grow to develop new markets and new products scenarios.

I don't prefer one design area or another, I prefer one type of project or another, but even this is very relative. When I can, I like to choose to design in new areas or new project scenarios, I like to change and not get used to a certain type of process.

I don't prefer one design or another, I prefer one type of project or another, but even this is very relative. When I can, I like to choose to design in new areas or project scenarios, I like to change and not get used to always doing the same things.

For me design is a collaborative process, as long as there is a project on my table, the same project is on the table of those who produce, on the table of those who distribute and, sometimes, even of those who can use it.

Yes, right now I'm developing two projects in the area of music but I can't say anything more.

People can contact me by e-mail or by my Instagram page.

Yes of my family that helps me and supports me in my projects, my gratitude goes to them.