Igor Komov

Specialized in Design.

Igor Komov

About Igor Komov

Igor Komov is a jewellery designer from Moscow, Russia, art-director of Alchemia Jewellery brand and director of Jewellery Design course at British Higher School of Art and Design, the winner of Russian Artweek contest, Competition of Author's Jewelry Art in Amber Museum in Kaliningrad, participant of many exhibitions in Russia and abroad. In his design concepts, he investigates various themes and theses: architecture, biology, culture, mechanics and many others, making cross-discipline researches and creating unusual jewellery pieces.

  • Winner of the A' Design Award.
  • Specialized in Design.
  • Original Design.
  • Creative, Diligent and Innovative.
  • All Designs

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Interview with Igor Komov

Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
For as long as I can remember myself, I was always mad about finely designed objects. It was like a discrete abstract world where stories are told in the language of forms, textures and colors. I've entered Moscow Architectural institute because I knew that its fundamental design education gets the doors to almost every design field opened for its graduates. Some years later I've chosen jewellery design because of its sacred proximity to the human body and the wide range of its artistic means.
Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
Today I occupy the position of Jewellery Design course director at British Higher School of Arts and Design in Moscow as well as the position of art director at "Alchemia" jewellery brand. "Alchemia" is a brand of designers' untraditional jewellery and BHSAD is a place where I structure and share my experience.
What is "design" for you?
A way to get connected with high esthetic qualities and elaborate functionality.
What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
It is not created yet :) The journey into design and experience never ends.
What was the first thing you designed for a company?
Together with my co-author Katerina Komova we transformed ceramic bowls into the ring set. The collection is still being produced, it is called "Chalices".
What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
I widely use 3D-modelling. Manual labor doesn't look friendly to me :)
When do you feel the most creative?
My mind should be totally calmed down and concentrated when I begin to design something. This state of mind is necessary to achieve your goals accurately.
Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
Most of all I concentrate on accuracy of expression of what I am going to put into a project.
What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
A huge variety of emotions, you know) As every project represents different aesthetics, the design process is filled with different emotional experiences every single time.
What makes a design successful?
Speaking of social success, it's the correspondence of a design to the demands (sometimes unconscious) of the audience. But sometimes I notice design masterpieces which were never really popular. And that is a philosophical question, actually: should we name an object "a masterpiece" if it is geniously designed but has never played a significant role in a life of an audience it was designed for.

Extended Interview with Igor Komov

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?
I'm a graduate of Moscow Architectural Institute, Architectural Environment Design faculty. Thanks to the exceptional quality of design education in MARCHI, it became a launching pad for my career in jewellery design.
How did you become a designer?
For me, design is a kind of bridge between human and the world of perfect aesthetics and elaborate functionality. So when you become a designer you often find yourself looking into that perfect world.
What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?
It's completely an act of free will :) Design is a language most suitable for me.
Which emotions do you feel when designing?
Contemporary jewellery design has expanded the idea of what jewellery should look like. This applies not only to the appearance of jewellery pieces, but the jewellery types of the product themselves were reconsidered. 20 years ago we had rings, earrings, necklaces, brooches and bracelets. Now we have shoulder brooches, ankle bracelets, full finger and knuckle rings and so on. I think that is the organic result of a positive evolution of jewellery design and that is exactly what I'm focused on: reinvention of jewellery product types.
What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?
I do not consider myself a design legend at all. My teachers used to say that in order to acquire skill one have to study the legacy of famed masters a lot. Contemporary jewellery design is rather a young discipline but nevertheless it has many renowned names worth studying.
What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?
The design process consists of necessary stages like formulation of the thesis, research, selection of references, sketching and so on. Really good design comes when a designer does a good job at every stage.
You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?
It determines the quality or our life. I mean not only the lifestyle but our being in the broadest sense of the word. Good design makes us more satisfied, more inspired and more peaceful.
What is your day to day look like?
Well, I have the time :) currently, I'm improving my skills in assemblage techniques for the new jewellery series.
How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?
The status of my projects changes from "dream" to "sketch" and then to "3D-model" very quickly. At present, I'm developing 3 "dreams" at once :)
How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?
I study a lot. By "study" I mean investigating historical heritage, modern designers' work and exchanging of experience with my students.
How do you decide if your design is ready?
First of all I should mention greatest architects that left their trace in jewellery design: Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Oscar Niemeyer, Ettore Sottsass and others. Then I should mention designers that didn't work in jewellery field (as far as I know) but they shaped XXth century: Philippe Starck, Dieter Rams, Le Corbusier and others.
What is your biggest design work?
In jewellery field, we usually overview the whole collection or ever the whole portfolio of a designer rather than a single design. So here are a few of my favourite jewellery designers: Yutaka Minegishi (for his solid and concise forms), Parts of 4 (for the brutalism), Gigi Mariani (for his sense of material), and Heeang Kim and Susanne Elstner (both for the gentle touch of bionics).
Who is your favourite designer?
Speaking of good design, people often mean something thoughtful, technological and intelligent. From this point of view, I consider the "Industrial" rings to be my best designed work.
Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?
Train your attention to see details in everything. 'cause there hides the designer's devil :-)
What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?
Design is the way to transform wise thinking and marvelous aesthetics into material objects and human experience. This is what enriches our life.

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