Interviewe mat Diana Sokolic

One day I bought beautiful shoes but couldn't find the matching bag. Since I am making lumino-kinetic objects as well as necklaces out of plexiglas, plexy was my logical choice of the material for the bags.

The main focus was FUNCTION combined with BEAUTY. I wanted to achieve a bag that will become THE bag - different from other bags women wear.

I hope to conquer the world ;)))

The process of designing in my studio was relatively short, but the process of making the prototype needed time because of number of experts needed to be included.

I pursuit my inspiration, as usually when I design things I like to wear, to use or to live in...

I am producing this line of bags myself.

I needed a bag that is different and beautiful.

The target customer for this bag is every woman that has taste.

Although there are some plexy bags in the market, they look more than plastic boxes than like bags.

I have designed it, I like it and I have named the bag after me.

Paper and a pencil for the sketches, then a ruler for the exact drawing of the design and then a paper prototype....

Having two pieces of plexy attached to a textile clutch makes this bag unique.

I needed professionals from different fields to finish my project.

There is some but not much technology involved.

Finding the rignt material for the inner clutch was the real challenge.

People who saw the bag were thrilled as much as I was, so I decided to submit my design to a professional judgment.

Contacting professionals in different fields with skils and knowledge that I don't have helped improving myself.

I often g to the theatre and I like to dress for the occasion. I like to have something new and different every time I go. Once while I as thinking what to wear this time, there was a movie with Fred astaire on TV. I saw his elegant figure, his sleek suit, his cuffs...and viola! The idea was born.

The idea was to make something nice and wearable, something different from usual jewelry. I remembered cuffs and plastrons worn by men in the last century and decided to revive it in a modern way, this time as a part of women garment.

Plan is to distribute FRED to concept stores.

Designing was not a long process. I had a very clean picture in my head. So draw it, made a cut out of paper, tried several dimensions and that was it.

Being an artist by proffesion, for me art is the way of living. I have the strong urge to design space around me, things I use or wear... These cuffs are just one of things I have designed to meet my estetic standards.

I intend to produce work myself.

I have designed this because of a lack of stetement fashion details.

Target for my product is every self-confident woman .

There is no similar design or resembling concept :)

Being an artist by proffesion, the painter, my main tool is paper and pencil. I drew few sketches, than made a cut out of paper and than started making cuffs .

The uniqueness pf this design is that a piece of mans garment is used as womans jewelry.

Knowing contemporary materials is here more important than technology.

Chalenge was the LACK of technology i.e. trying to produce the designed item at home without any professional equippement.

I wear my cuffs a lot and they are both noticed and liked. I wanted to explore the opinion of professional audience.

Every new design is a new challenge because it puts new questions and new problems in front of the autor.

Solving those problems improves the author himself.

Being brought up in an artistic family there was never anything else I wanted to be but an artist myself.

Being a professional painter, for me art is the way of living. The same concept is implemented and practised through my painting, lumino-kinetic objects, photography, the space I live at and the things I wear.

Design is an immense field that includes so very different types of artistic creation ( like graphic and industrial design) that it can't be explained in few words. 80 categories of this competition verify that.

I like to design things I like to wear, use, read or surround me.

My newest design is always my most favorite one.

I create all the time - it has become an inseparable part of my life. New ideas come all the time, but only if a person is completely immersed in art as the way of living and thinking.

Simplicity and function enveloped in esthetic value.

Whenever I am creating something I feel overwhelmed with joy and happiness, I feel belonging to the eternal, and I feel as the part of the Universe itself.

When I finish my creation , when it becames TACTILE ( no matter is it a graphic design or a product design ) I feel contentment and satisfaction but at the same time I feel the urge to start with a new project, to realize a new idea.

The duration of the design is the proof of its approval and success.

Function , practicality and then esthetics are the first components I consider when judging a design.

A designer should design things that will be used and liked for a long time. In that way one would not throw something just because of its looks.

My last exhibition was in Zagreb, Croatia and in London, in 2015. Any place where a lot of visitors can see the exhibition is a good place to exhibit.

Whatever I do, from ironing and cooking to teaching, I have creative thoughts in the background of my mind. And then, like in the cartoon, an idea pops up an finds its way in front of everything. Reading, watching movies, going to theatre, travelling, seeing exhibitions, talking to connoisseurs in different fields... all of that feeds my creativity and strengthens it.

The style of my design is a part of my artistic creation, part of my artistic handwriting, part of my world view.

I live in Croatia, country rich with cultural heritage and inexhaustible source of inspiration.

It can be used as the inspiration in design in many ways but alas , I rarely come in situation to design for a client.

I do not work with companies.

Let them work and interfere as little as possible.

Chairs are my most favorite design items at home: Stark's Ghost, Le Corbussier's chaise longue LC-4,

BKF or Butterfly chair ( my parents had it long before I was born ), than Raul Goldoni's (Croatian artist ) glass ball and the table inspired with the Thonet brothers table that I have recently designed .

Lot of dull but necessary work and some joy acquired by creating.

Since I am not ONLY the designer and I don't have to deal with clients often, for me there are more positive sides than those negative. For me the most positive thing is that I can develop my ideas by myself , without interferences from aside.

Functionality , simplicity and elegance.

The most important skill for the designer is to visualize the finished project.

Being a painter by profession , my main tool is paper and pencil, PC comes later, when elaborating the idea.

The most beautiful time in my life is the time when I create. All other things in life are then easier to manage.

It depends of the object to be designed.

How much will it cost?

When I said NO to the potentially very well paid job because I didn't want just to draw the client's bad ideas. I never felt sorry because of it.

I like to design things that I invent and produce by myself (or with help of few connoisseurs).

The next thing I want to do is to try to present my designs outside my country.

I develop my designs by myself.

People can contact me through my web-site.