We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer João Faria about their original and creative Seat design work. João Faria is an award-winning industrial designer, that makes our world a better place with their original seat works.
João Faria ("JF") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Mix and Match Seat. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
JF : Fun, you must have fun with our work.
JF : When you look for this kind of furniture pieces, to place in waiting rooms or entrances, you realize they are boring. Either you have sofas, benches or individual chairs, they usually are not very special. Unless in luxury places; but this is not for that ending. We could have in the future a luxury version of Mix & Match, with different colours and materials, but these are young, fresh and edgy.
JF : Make design variations. In fact, version 2.0 already exists, with different bench design. And we will continue to look for different chairs, as well.
JF : Designing the first idea took about one hour. After that, we spent about two months solving problems and making the prototypes.
JF : I followed an inspiration. This was my first piece with upholstery. For a long time, I was afraid of design chairs and sofas. This piece has a compromise. The chairs are not mine, only the concept of a new interpretation.
JF : The idea is to produce with other partners. As I said, the chairs are not mine; they are produced by Portuguese factories and I change them and adapt them to my piece.
JF : As all Emotional Objects, it´s a fun piece that can bring joy to those who use it.
JF : Chairs always fascinated me, mostly the classics from the first half of the 20th-century. Until now, I don´t understand how designers were so forward-thinking in those days. It also happens in architecture and engineering; they were extraordinary and bold. Designing this piece was the way of paying tribute to them. Not copying as we see a lot, that is unforgivable.
JF : It´s more suitable for commercial and hospitality projects.
JF : I never saw anything like this, frankly. I love the idea of changing things, mixing and matching objects, colours, materials, etc. In all our emotional objects I always create a lot of different choices, because people like to choose. Marketing experts would say that is a mistake, giving clients, many different choices, but I disagree.
JF : It´s obvious. People can choose different chairs, up to six; different colours and fabrics; different combinations. This is all about personalization, mixing and matching as they like.
JF : AutoCAD, always; 3D Studio and CAD/CAM tools, as well.
JF : It´s its originality and versatility.
JF : I had to speak with other Portuguese companies, discussing the chair's specifications. Besides that, I worked with all my suppliers - Laser-cutting, welding, carpenters and others.
JF : In fact, it has! We have included a USB charger for phones and tablets. Many times, when we are waiting in airports or for meetings, we need to charge our phone. This can happen while you are seated in the Mix & Match.
JF : We are not so analytical; we are more emotional. We haven´t done any research for designing this object.
JF : In fact, adapting the chairs to our designs was a challenge. All the chairs had to have the certifications for contract and hospitality projects, saying that we couldn´t only look for a good design chair, we had to combine the two requirements. Beautiful chairs, with fabric options, but also with certifications. Besides that, the large bench has to support the weight of up to five users and that is not easy to solve. But it´s solved.
JF : Because in the end, we realize we have achieved a nice design piece. The concept was tested during the Valencia 2019 trade show, last September, and it was a huge success. People stopped by our booth, seating, changing chairs between them and having a lot of fun. That was the time we decided to go further and submit the piece into this contest.
JF : I lost the fear of seating category. Since that time, I already drew two more different pieces.
JF : I would like to add that this product, like all others, is made in Portugal, by Portuguese artisans, respecting the best practices of social responsibility.
