Interviews met Roohollah Merrikhpour

I am working as an industrial designer for almost 10 years in the industry. I started as an industrial packaging designer designing plastic bottles and ended up being the head designer of my design studio RITOON. It’s about 8 years that we are busy with designing, producing and selling our design-oriented products in the Iranian market and partially in the international market.

At the very first, I studied civil engineering to become an engineer but soon, after I got familiar with the industrial design, I realized that I want to spend the rest of my professional life in industrial design. Industrial design in my point of view is a kayak that makes you able to go and see the whole ocean of majors and professions. From the engineering when designing a blender to medical science when you are involved in the project of designing a surgery instrument.And even more exciting about design is that most of the time when you start a design project you don't know what result would look like. That's why I love design. I love to be surprised by my design every time I design something!

Most of my designs bring a little smile on audiences' lips. I always try to have a WOW factor hidden in my design. There should be something special in my design. Something like a sarcasm, a metaphor or even a joke. Something that make audiences think about it, discover it and enjoy this discovery.

I am full of passion while I am designing. When I am in the middle of ideation phase, I become a child and I explore the world of non-existence. By trying to bring something new to the world, It's like you are sitting on the creator's throne! Which is great and full of pride!

First, being curious about almost everything unknown or unfamiliar and second, insisting to change and fix "things" and make them "better things". These two are what lead me to become a designer. As a child I always was looking for broke things, damaged things, problems and questions, and then It was my duty to fix them, solve them and answer them. I believe the main aspect of designing is problem solving. This was the quality inside me that made me designer.

As I mentioned before at first I wanted to become a civil engineer. I even got my bachelor in civil engineering. But after I got familiar with industrial design, I went to school and got my second bachelor in industrial design. I started my career as a packaging designer in a well-known company. The company was producing home-care, hair-care and other products and my duty was to design plastic bottles for those products. I worked there for 3 years and at the same time while I was studding in industrial design master program, I found my home studio RITOON. I moved to the US in 2013 to get another Masters degree to improve my knowledge about business and design. After Finishing my study I partnered up with my friend and we raise RITOON to a more professional design studio. Now I am working with my friend in our studio designing idea oriented products. We outsource our products production and we sell them.About the future plan, I would say that I plan to improve our studio to an international design studio. I want our products to be found in all countries around the world.My dream design project is to design a prefab wooden hut.

Have a plan. Write your plan and follow it step by step. Don't think wanting to become a great designer is enough. Although hardworking, remaining excited and being enthusiastic are necessary factors, but they are not enough. Having a realistic plan is as important as they are.

The key point I want to mention is "knowing what you don't want to do is far more important than knowing what you want to do". Life is too short to becoming successful in few fields. Remove all other unnecessary paths and focus on what you really want. Don't let things distract you from your main path which is becoming a great designer.

Since we are not a very big company I have many things to do every day. I personally may be busy with design, sale, negotiation with business partners, etc.. But my favorite task is when I am busy with detail-design of our products. Detail-design makes my brain busy one hundred percent. This stage which is very important in the design process makes my brain fully engaged. Being fully focused on design is really satisfying and relaxing.And of course having a day with a good sale is always makes us happy!

Staying up-to-date is really important in the design world, from reading design news every day to learning about new technologies and software. Knowing design trends and more than that finding out future trends forecasting from credible sources, for a designer is as vital as knowing language for a writer.I believe designers should pay attention to what audiences wants. Trends are always important. As a designer I need to reflect my style via my design language in my design, at the same time I have to deliver what customers and market expect. And the best reference for market expectations are trends. So I try to find an optimum point between my style and design trends.

In my point of view good design should meet 5 main criteria:1- It has to convey right messages to user according to use of it.2- It must do perfectly what it is designed for.3- The product must be comfortable for user while using, physically and mentally.4- Style of the product has to be beautiful from the user's point of view.5- And finally, the design should bring a souvenir for user. Something new, exciting and unexpected which makes user excited and happy. This part refers to the creativity of the design.The first four parts are expectations and the fifth is the gift.

A perfect design does not exist. You may develop your design for weeks and weeks and you still can say "that could be a better design". There is always space for development. The point of reaching to the final design is defined by time, energy and money you have for your project. The more you have time the better design you deliver.But sometimes during the process you reach to a solution and you just know that this is the one, and you are sure that even if you spend lots of time and energy on the project, no outcome can compete with it. In this situations only gifted designers can choose confidently and they take the risk.

My biggest design work which I hope can rock in the market is a product in IOT field. My friends and I are working on the project and you will hear about it from Kickstarter.com in the near future.

Dieter Rams is my favorite designer. Comparing all other designers after 1950, I believe he has the most impact on today's product design. His definition of good design is a road map for every single contemporary designer. His principles of good-design also has influenced UI-design very much.Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to meet him but if I meet him, I would ask him to give me one of his products with his signature on it. If I have chance to select the product, I would choose Braun SK_2 Radio which is my favorite.

I am from IRAN. The culture I came from, is the culture of Iran which is also known as culture of Persia and is among the oldest in the world. As an Iranian I love Iranian ceremonies, traditions, arts and architecture. Iranian culture and arts are very decorative. It means that we Iranians bring so many details in our everyday life just for decorating our lives. In Iranian architecture, you can see very delicate and beautiful details like well-known Iranian mosaic art, while in our everyday-life speaking in Persian we use so many metaphors, analogies, sarcasm and jokes to decorate our talk and make it more interesting for each other.Iranian culture is the culture of families, friends, foods, party and poetry. We love talking, joking, reading old poetry books and hearing each others' memories, until midnight.

We believe in sustainable development. We improve slowly but sustainable.About products we keep it simple. We design cool products and we sell them to people who love cool products!Our products added-value is the idea behind them. Each and every RITOON's product has to have an unexpected cool message for the user. In this way our customers are always sure that each time they buy a new product, we have a surprise for them.About our business partners, we see them as our friends. We are easy to deal with and we keep everything transparent and friendly. While doing business, we make sure our partners feel winning as well as we do. Although sometimes we face problems, but all problems are solving by friendly and honest negotiation.

We try to be faithful to certain principles. One of those is to be green. We try to manage our designs, production methods, advertising and whatever we do, as green as possible. We always try to design and produce our products sustainably and green. We specially avoid plastics in our products as much as possible.About the quality also we have rules. We don't produce low quality products. Although our products are sometimes a bit expensive, but we are proud that customers feedback shows they are satisfied with what they paid for.

The fact that A' Design Award is examining your work before the final judgment and tells strengths and weaknesses of your work, makes the competition more fair. That is the nicest thing A' design Award does and I haven't seen this in any other award. A' Design award is also a well-known media for design professionals, young designers and even students who want to be seen.

I am Roohollah Merrikhpour, an industrial designer from Iran. I started my education with civil engineering and I got my bachelor in 2003. Since I have been fell in love with industrial design I saw no choice but starting my education from the first in a very new and very different major. I successfully passed the national university exam and started studying bachelor of industrial design in The University of Tehran which is the first-ranked university of IRAN.

Honored as an outstanding student I received a full scholarship from the university for studying Master of Industrial Design. I finished the MFA program and then worked for about 3 years as an Industrial designer in GIG which is a big holding company in Iran. As a hobby I also was designing small design-oriented products and was selling them in design exhibition around the world. I participated in several Design exhibition in Tokyo, New York, Seoul, Stockholm etc. In 2013 I decided to start another master program in College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI. Due to my good resume I got a scholarship and a dean award from College for Creative studies so I moved to the USA.

Design is about changing and creating. This is exactly what I live and it makes me feel alive. You change your environment, you influence things around you, so you make sure that you exist!

As I said I changed my professional way significantly to become a designer. So, yes I myself chose to be a designer.

I like to design products. Products that are having a big wow with themselves. We call them design-oriented products.

Becoming motivated based on their feeling and acting based on their logic. Becoming a designer needs to have an active brain in both left and right part. So, keeping child inside curious and fresh is very important as well as having a brain that work logically like a Swiss clock!

My background is interdisciplinary, combining engineering, industrial design, product design, furniture, and sustainable design. My education and professional experience have allowed me to work between creative thinking and technical problem-solving. Over time, I became particularly interested in how materials, manufacturing, and human experience can come together through design.

I co-founded RITOON Design Studio, where we explore product, furniture, and industrial design through a balance of creativity and practicality. Our work connects thoughtful design with everyday life, creating meaningful experiences that bring joy to people while embracing a sustainable approach.

Design is a thoughtful way of solving problems. It is not only about appearance; it is about understanding people, materials, technology, and context, and bringing them together to create meaningful solutions. To me, good design goes beyond being merely functional or visually appealing. It carries a message—a subtle story within the product that connects with the user, sparks curiosity, and brings a sense of joy.

I enjoy physical products, furniture, and objects where function, material, and form are closely connected. I am also increasingly interested in sustainable materials and wood-based design.

MeggNote is one of my favorite projects. It was designed with Satar Sa’adatmand. We took a very ordinary refrigerator reminder and turned it into a playful object inspired by the appearance of a fried egg. I like the project because it demonstrates how a simple idea can make an everyday experience more enjoyable.

Some of my early professional experience was in industrial and packaging design. Working within industry taught me how important it is to balance creativity with manufacturing, cost, functionality, and real-world constraints. The very first memorable product I designed was a package for baby shampoo with the shape of a koala! One of the first products I designed that remains especially memorable was a baby shampoo package shaped like a koala!

I have a strong interest in wood, particularly because it combines structural, aesthetic, and environmental qualities. I also enjoy digital fabrication because it creates a direct connection between digital ideas and physical objects.

Usually when I am deeply involved in a problem and have the freedom to explore different possibilities. I find that creativity comes from observation, research, experimentation, and curiosity.

I focus on function, user experience, material, manufacturing, and simplicity. I try to make sure that the visual language comes naturally from the purpose of the product.

Mostly curiosity and excitement, mixed with a certain amount of uncertainty. Design is a process of exploration, and not knowing the answer immediately is part of what makes it interesting. However in some special projects you already know the answer when you start the project, just like MeggNote. However, there are also special projects where you already have a strong sense of the answer when you begin. MeggNote was one of those projects.

There is always a sense of satisfaction when an idea becomes a physical object. At the same time, realization is a learning experience because manufacturing often reveals things that cannot be fully understood through drawings or digital models alone. Things that needs to be figured out at the production and prototyping stage.

A successful design solves a real problem, works well, communicates clearly, and creates value for the user. Ideally, it should also be responsible in terms of materials, production, environment, and longevity.

I first ask whether the design is unique enough and whether it solves the intended problem in a new and meaningful way. Then I consider usability, function, proportion, materials, manufacturing, sustainability, and aesthetics. Of course, the importance of each of these factors varies depending on the type of product and its purpose.

Designers influence what we produce, consume, & eventually discard. We therefore have a responsibility to consider environmental impact, and social consequences.

However, the way these responsibilities are understood can vary across cultures. In a country like USA, with its strong market-driven culture, design is often heavily influenced by industry.

In Italy, where design has a deeply rooted cultural role, designers often have a strong influence.

Iran, the country I am from, offers yet another perspective. With its long history of art, craftsmanship, architecture, literature, & philosophy, Iranian culture has a deep appreciation for the relationship between beauty, meaning, and everyday life. This, give designers a strong sense of responsibility,

Design, particularly product and industrial design, is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. The boundaries between design, engineering, architecture, technology, and sustainability are becoming less clear. I think future designers will need to understand not only form and aesthetics, but also materials, technology, systems, and environmental responsibility. They will need to connect these different areas to create thoughtful, meaningful, and practical solutions.

Lately, I’ve been much busier. If I remember correctly, the last time I participated in a show was the Toronto Interior Design Show.

Inspiration comes from everyday life and from the things you care about most. If you are a good observer, you might find inspiration in something as simple as a bird sitting on a branch. If you are a good listener, you might hear the same bird’s chirping and translate it into a beautiful product. Inspiration is everywhere.

Simple, material-conscious, and experimental. I don''t try to impose one visual style on every project. I prefer the design language to emerge from the problem, material, and context.

Definitely. My background has influenced the way I see objects, craftsmanship, architecture, and problem-solving. At the same time, working across different cultural and professional environments has taught me to approach design from a broader perspective.

I see the relationship as a collaboration. I first try to understand the company''s needs, users, manufacturing capabilities, technology, and objectives. From there, design becomes a process of finding the right solution together.

They should look beyond visual style. A good designer should be curious, able to listen, communicate clearly, understand constraints, and have the courage to question the original problem when necessary. I would encourage companies, especially avant-garde ones, not to be afraid of hearing strange or unconventional ideas from designers. Good designers often see beyond the present, which is why their ideas may sometimes sound unusual or even strange at first. They have the ability to imagine what tomorrow could look like.

My process usually begins with research and observation, followed by sketching, concept development, modeling, prototyping, testing, and refinement. It is not always linear; I often move between these stages as new information appears.

I prefer not to focus on personal possessions, but generally I appreciate everyday objects that are simple, functional, durable, and thoughtfully made. the simpler the better.

My work varies between design development, research, collaboration, project management, and education. I enjoy having different types of activities because each one contributes to the way I think about design.

Stay curious and learn how things are actually made. Don’t limit yourself to design—learn about culture, people, business, materials, technology, and manufacturing. Most importantly, keep experimenting and making things with your hands. Don’t spend too much time sitting in front of a screen; go out, observe, touch, build, and experience the world around you. That is where much of the best design learning happens.

The biggest positive is continuous learning and the opportunity to turn ideas into something real. The challenging side is that design can involve uncertainty, revisions, deadlines, and many decisions. But those challenges are also part of what makes the profession rewarding.

Understand the problem before trying to solve it. Understand the user before offering them a product.

Observing carefully, visualizing ideas effectively, prototyping, and having the ability to judge and refine your own work.

My toolbox combines traditional sketching and prototyping with digital modeling, visualization, and fabrication technologies. But I consider observation, research, experimentation, and conversation to be equally important design tools.

I divide projects into stages and identify the important decisions that need to be made at each stage. I also try to protect time for focused thinking because creativity requires concentration.

It depends completely on the project. A simple product may take weeks, while a complex product involving engineering, testing, and manufacturing can take months or longer. The process should be driven by the complexity of the problem rather than an arbitrary timeline.

"Where do you get your ideas?" I think ideas usually come from combining observations, experiences, personal background, and curiosity in unexpected ways.

Each stage of my career has contributed something different. Working in industry taught me about real-world production, while developing my own design practice taught me about collaboration, entrepreneurship, and independent design thinking. My interdisciplinary education also strongly influenced how I approach problems today.

I have worked with different organizations and companies through industrial design, product development, and design collaborations. I prefer to focus on the nature of the work and the problems being solved rather than simply the names of clients.

I enjoy projects where I can participate from the early concept through development and realization.

I want to continue exploring the intersection of design, engineering, materials, and sustainability. I am particularly interested in wood, sustainable materials, and new ways of thinking about different aspects of products. Whether it is a small stationery product or a prefabricated cabin, I am interested in exploring how thoughtful design can make things more meaningful, functional, and sustainable.

Both, depending on the project and its complexity.

I am currently working as a Technical Design Specialist on a unique pergola project with an unconventional shape. We are currently in the fabrication process.

People can connect with me through professional networking platforms. They can search for me on the internet and I am sure they will find a way to get in touch.

I believe design is a lifelong learning process. My journey through engineering, industrial design, product and furniture design, and sustainability has continuously shaped how I think about creating.

One principle I strongly believe in is: The best design is no design. Because No matter how careful you are as a product or industrial designer, the moment you create a new product, you introduce an unknown element into the environment. It then becomes the environment's job to adapt to it. From nature's perspective, even the best products are just waste.