Interview with Jonathan Beldner
Jon Beldner is a results driven designer focused on creating innovative products for companies. These are achieved with thorough and meticulous research, extensive sketching, and endless prototyping.
Design Legend Interview
27 April 2020
I was fortunate enough to move many times as a child. This opened my eyes to the world as my family moved overseas to Denmark. Being surrounded by such a design focused society had a profound impact on me, and as we moved back to the states I grew up watching my mother impeccably decorate our new homes. I found myself intrigued by many of the furnishings and accessories she chose. The objects and products I personally gravitated towards were often more minimalist and efficient in their design, Scandinavian in a sense. I made it my goal to study abroad in Scandinavia and learn more about design, which I did my senior year of high school. In rural Sweden I studied design at a college prep school and learned all about form development with a Nordic flair. To continue my design education, I studied Industrial Design at Purdue University.
I became a designer to express my creativity and put my style to good use.
I chose to become a designer out of a passion for the arts and creativity.
I design everything from instrument cases to telecommunications systems. I would like the opportunity to design plumbing fixtures and lighting.
Work hard in school and seek out meaningful internship experiences.
A good designer creates products that are aesthetically pleasing now, whereas great designers can create concepts that are timeless and anticipate the future.
A good design will never date or look out of place. It will anticipate the needs of its user years into the future.
Good design enhances the lives of its users and improves their everyday experiences.
Building a tiny house for myself.
I approach problems from many different angles to generate various unique concepts early on.
Frank Lloyd Wright, Hans Wegner, Zaha Hadid
My greatest design was a pressure cooker I created for a client. I focused heavily on solving various pain-points such as a lack of aesthetic sensitivity, difficulty navigating cluttered interfaces, and app integration.
Listen to the feedback of your peers!
I likely would have become an architect or engineer.
Design is creating purposeful, aesthetically pleasing objects that offer a user hesitation free operation.
My parents have absolutely been my biggest supporters, I would not have made it this far in my design journey without them.
Varied educational and corporate experiences. An innate curiosity and adaptability helped too.
Designers should be prepared to present their work digitally, each should have their own professional website.
I will be working in the appliance industry for a second time.
My ultimate goal as a designer is to work overseas for a firm where I have exposure to a variety of projects and clients.
Design enhances the lives of people by making objects or spaces more beautiful and livable
I love doing furniture design projects and building the subsequent concepts. Working with my hands is incredibly satisfying for me.
I would like to see more of an emphasis on designing low environmental impact products.
The "design field" is becoming much more technology based, we will likely see many more connected products.
I can create a design in anywhere from a couple of days to a number of months, it depends on the scope of the project.
I start by defining the problem I would like to solve or purpose for my design.
Stay curious and ask a lot of questions!
Design sets trends as consumers use their purchasing power to dictate what is most fitting with their tastes at the moment. In this way, products that sell well encourage manufacturers to emulate them which in turn creates a trend.
Technology helps me visualize my design and quickly conceptualize what I am thinking on the computer.
I typically sketch by hand and with a Microsoft Surface tablet. As for software, I predominately use the Adobe Suite, Solidworks and Keyshot.
Color, materials and finishes drive the final look and feel of a product. The wrong choice here can make an expensive product seem cheap or even have the potential to make a product more difficult to use.
How did you come up with that?
I am often curious as to their thought process behind their design.
My professors have been extremely influential on my design, their input is incredibly valuable.
I heavily prioritized my education and worked hard in school.
I would love to speak with Frank Lloyd Wright, he must have been so interesting to speak with.
My favorite color is blue, place is Sweden, food is ice cream, brand is Volvo
I motivate myself by making my clients happy, when they are impressed by my work my day is made as a designer.
I was always intrigued by creation. You could find me making elaborate block houses, refinishing my parent's teak table, and I was a photography buff.
I think our planet will be uninhabitable at the rate we are warming it if we do not make any big changes.
Please visit my personal design website for more of my work:
https://jonbeldner.wixsite.com/home
https://jonbeldner.wixsite.com/home
Designer Interview
27 April 2020
I was fortunate enough to move many times as a child. This opened my eyes to the world as my family moved overseas to Denmark. Being surrounded by such a design focused society had a profound impact on me, and as we moved back to the states I grew up watching my mother impeccably decorate our new homes. I found myself intrigued by many of the furnishings and accessories she chose. The objects and products I personally gravitated towards were often more minimalist and efficient in their design, Scandinavian in a sense. I made it my goal to study abroad in Scandinavia and learn more about design, which I did my senior year of high school. In rural Sweden I studied design at a college prep school and learned all about form development with a Nordic flair. To continue my design education, I studied Industrial Design at Purdue University.
Design is creating purposeful, aesthetically pleasing objects that offer a user hesitation free operation.
I particularly enjoy designing furniture and other objects for the home. Aside from the products that go in them, I like conceptualizing houses or buildings too.
The first product I designed for a company was a hand blender.
The organic, story telling nature of wood is fascinating to me.
I feel the most creative when I am in beautiful environments and inspiring cities. Listening to music also helps immensely for me too.
I tend to focus heavily on intuitive operation, experience improving features and overall aesthetics.
I feel accomplished and happy.
Successful designs require little thought to use and are pleasing to look at.
I consider the value it has over other competitive products or existing designs, as in what makes it unique. I also look for consistency in form language and thoughtful development.
A designer needs to progress the needs of consumers and evolve to suit their and the environment's needs.
The "design field" is becoming much more technology based, we will likely see many more connected products.
My last exhibition was at Purdue University in a library gallery space. Our formal senior show in Chicago was unfortunately canceled...I would have loved the opportunity to show my work there to professionals.
A lot of my design inspiration comes from nature and architecture. Beautiful, historically significant cities are incredibly inspiring for me. Breathtaking landscapes and cool plants are amazing too. I enjoy the contrast between my two inspirational realms.
My design style is pared back and intentional in nature. I think I can attribute this to all the time I spent in Scandinavia during my educational and personal endeavors. I have a tendency to use very crisp, expressive lines and muted colors with purpose.
I live in the United States which has such a variety of cities and natural environments. I personally enjoy diverse cities with well preserved, historic architecture in mountainous or hilly areas.
Designers should be well-rounded individuals that offer a wide skill set. That being said, designers need to be capable of working with a range of others and capable of taking criticism.
I typically start by conducting research on the product at hand before diving into an ideation phase. After I have generated many different concepts, I narrow down my focus and refine the best of my initial ideas. Finally, I create my final design either physically or rendered on the computer.
My Shinola watch that's all stainless steel with a black face, olive green Swedish weekend bag, and the furniture I have created as I cannot afford designer pieces yet
I love the creative importance of being a designer and watching concepts develop before coming to life. Tight deadlines and exacting clients make the job stressful sometimes. The pressure to create revolutionary products in a space that in reality sees slower evolution can be frustrating as well.
In my opinion, a designer's ability to think of quality new ideas is the single most important skill.
I typically sketch by hand and with a Microsoft Surface tablet. As for software, I predominately use the Adobe Suite, Solidworks and Keyshot.
I write down itemized lists of what I need to accomplish within a given time frame. Crossing off what I have completed is extremely satisfying.
A design can always be improved, so is one ever truly complete?
Where do you get your ideas from?
Working at an appliance company has been very rewarding for me and taught me a lot about the industry.
Bruni Glass, Midea America Corporation, Fujitsu Network Communications
I enjoy developing beautiful objects, so more aesthetic based challenges are always fun for me.
I am currently looking for permanent design opportunities as an Industrial Designer in the United States and European Union.
I often ask others for their input and opinion on my designs. Criticism is extremely important in the field of design.
My email is jonbeldner@outlook.com
Please visit my personal design website for more of my work:
https://jonbeldner.wixsite.com/home
https://jonbeldner.wixsite.com/home