Interviste con Mikhail Chistiakov

Perhaps the fundamental thing here is the desire to create. Create new forms, new objects, new meanings. I have always had this desire.

My studio is engaged in industrial and object design for customers around the world. Starting with porcelain (this is our favorite material) and ending with plywood.

n the process of the evolution of professional development, this word meant quite different things. At first it meant a beautiful form, then a solution to the problem, then a beautiful idea. Now it is rather a complex of several factors such as shape, ergonomics, response to the needs of society, sustainable production. The perfect design is the perfect balance of all these factors.

The very first project was a manual dental X-ray. Now this project seems a little naive, but it is still relevant. And it is still used in clinics.

Of the materials, these are porcelain and wood. and in technology, research in the field of 3-d printing of artificial intelligence and the reuse of materials is especially interesting. Working with these technologies, as it were, opens the veil to the future.

On a trip and in discussions with colleagues. Brainstorming, discussions with like-minded people allows you to give birth to great ideas.

First of all, I am looking for new entities, additional layers of meanings of the subject, so that the design is not limited only to appearance or commercial success. I strictly follow the proportions and usability of objects. I also try to agree with the production technologists so that the solution is reasonable and technological and of high quality.

First of all, this is the excitement of the search, when a new and non-trivial solution may arise at any moment.

At first, after the project is implemented, it always seems that something else can be improved. But as time passes, pride comes from the fact that the world has become a little better.

My last exhibition was held in Moscow. Plywood objects of my project Fanera.Design were exhibited on it. This exhibition is a reflection on sustainable production, and a creative rethinking of the use of industrial waste. Now an exhibition of my porcelain works is planned. Possibly in early 2022.

Travel, ethnographic expeditions, nature observations. The strict and precise beauty of the northern edge of my country inspires and constantly pushes new ideas.

I live and work in Russia. It is a country with rich traditions of wood processing, ceramics firing, as well as culture, architecture and crafts. Therefore, this whole cultural layer inevitably affects my work. And although some design features are very distinctive and are not always accepted by people with a different cultural code, in general, the appeal to ethnic motives is very interesting.

Do more with less.

Empathy and curiosity

Project work requires strict time management, deadlines at all stages. In this case, project management methods from IT technologies come to the rescue. For example, compared to the classical approach, the agile approach to development can have more control over the project management.

As a rule, on average, a project takes six months, with design research, approvals and the launch of production.

How much does it cost? And why is it so expensive?

PJSC Aeroflot, SDI Gifts, Pirkenhammer Manufactory,

This is conceptual design, sketching. When hundreds of ideas are born and developed on paper in the form of simple sketches. Never again in the design process is there such a concentration of meanings.

The directions of metamaterials research, sustainable production, 3D printing are very interesting for me.

It very much depends on the project. Complex industrial design projects cannot be done alone, you need the interaction of designers, designers, managers, technologists. And I have a team that I attract for this kind of projects.

Another thing is creative projects of subject design. Here I can develop a project on my own from start to finish.

I try not to disclose details of current projects. But it will be a series of plywood art objects.

The easiest way to do this is via mail m@chistiakov.design

The Russian avant–garde is a truly powerful and significant art movement that has had a huge impact on the entire world of art and culture. The composition of simple lines and color spots creates an amazing tension of shapes, making the viewer feel all their energy. Combining this approach with the functionality of the Bauhaus highlights the rationality and inner energy of my Riposo project.

Contrast is one of my favorite visual language techniques for the new subjects I'm developing. The use of contrasting nuances and attention to accents allows you to more fully reveal the main material and emphasize its advantages. At the same time, it is important to maintain an excellent balance of details.

This shape of the handles is the result of a large number of ergonomic tests. While working on the project, we tested everything: the convenience of carrying, the pouring process, important features for left-handed and right-handed people, as well as the degree of heating of the handle when using hot drinks. All these tests are designed to ensure maximum user comfort and convenience.

In order to get the perfect shapes, when developing the design, several tasks had to be solved at once at the intersection of design, engineering, and technology. The optimal wall thickness and profile were selected, as well as experiments with the firing temperature curve to obtain better results.

The philosophy of deceleration addresses basic human needs: balance, balance, simplicity. After the postmodern era, inclusivity, combination, harmony, and sincerity became important to us. We began to appreciate comfortable things with a simple, though not primitive form, but at the same time with a strong personal connection. That is why working with textures and tactility of objects has become so relevant in modern design.

In this project, first of all, I wanted to highlight graphically the individual elements of the form in order to make them more visible and expressive. Therefore, the first sketches of the service were drawn with porcelain lids with black glaze, which gave them an elegant and stylish look. However, in the process of design search, it turned out to take a step beyond the boundaries of habitual thinking and choose a unique material that stands out not only externally, but also in structure, tactility and physical properties, thereby opening up new horizons for a creative approach to design.

Of course, good objects are obtained on the basis of harmonious proportions from the golden ratio series. At the same time, a good education and a lot of viewing allows you to create such forms more naturally.

It is extremely necessary for a designer to have experience working with a variety of materials and be able to feel them subtly. Therefore, the experience of working at a porcelain factory helped me to move confidently in this project. Understanding the material allows, on the one hand, to limit oneself to technological solutions, and on the other hand, to maximize the beauty of the material.

Working with porcelain is a fascinating process that is fraught with many nuances. The apparent simplicity of the lines hides the amazing complexity and capriciousness of this material. However, true connoisseurs of porcelain are able to see how such a seemingly uncomplicated geometry hides painstaking work aimed at creating the perfect shape.

If we talk about the Riposo set, it is an example of an eco–friendly design made of monomaterials. The use of a cork lid as the main graphic technique made it possible to abandon the classic methods of decoration – decals and underglaze painting. This reduced the amount of harmful materials, and also reduced the number of kilns in the furnace, that is, it reduced the carbon footprint. In addition, cork is a natural and eco-friendly material that can be recycled.