This is the latest installment of our Core77 Questionnaire. Previously, we talked to Sam Hecht of Industrial Facility.
Name: Benjamin Hubert
Occupation: Industrial designer
Location: London
Current projects: Most things we can't talk about, but we're working on everything from furniture and lighting to smaller desktop objects and interiors and installations and wallcoverings. It's a very large range.
Mission: To create objects that solve problems and are innovative.
When did you decide that you wanted to be a designer? When I was 18. It was a decision at school to continue studying design rather than art, and I made it by choosing a course at university in design.
Education: I studied industrial design and technology at Loughborough University.
First design job: Being a design intern at a company called DCA
Who is your design hero? I don't really think about things like that. We tend to think about things outside of our industry, and we don't focus too heavily on what people have done and what they're doing. So I wouldn't say we have a hero.
Describe your workspace: It's a studio space painted white, with white concrete floors and a very large desk in the middle that eight of us sit around. There's a workshop facility and shelves with prototypes and tests and experiments and sketches everywhere. And the walls are covered with various hanging samples and other bits of work.
Other than the computer, what is your most important tool? Well, it wouldn't have been the computer. I would say just thinking about things, whatever you might call that. Your mind. That's the most important tool. Everything else just enables it.
What is the best part of your job? There's lots of good parts, so it's very difficult to say what's the best part. I think it's when you see people using your product. That's quite a nice moment.
What is the worst part of your job? It's a very long process, designing something, and you have to be prepared to go all in and dedicate enough time and energy for it. So that is the joy and the pain of being an industrial designer, that you're not doing things that are super immediate—things take years.
What time do you get up and go to bed? It varies. I get up anywhere between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m., and I go to bed anytime between 11:00 p.m. and the next day at some point.
How do you procrastinate? I like to socialize with friends, I like to go out, I like to listen to electronic music, and I like to see a lot of live music.
What is your favorite productivity tip or trick? Intense periods of focus and constantly trying to reasses a problem—so starting again and starting again and starting again. And then doing nothing at all—having a break.
What is the most important quality in a designer? Determination
What is the most widespread misunderstanding about design or designers? Design isn't glamorous. I think the reason why there are websites like Core77 and everything else is because people think it's a glamorous industry for one reason or another. But that's a huge myth. When you talk to any designer about that side of the industry versus the work put in—you know, you have to put a huge amount of work in, and then you maybe spend five days a year that are nice, celebratory moments.
What is your most prized design possession? I carry a Moleskine with me at all times. That changes every two weeks, but having a sketchbook is the most important thing to me.
What is exciting you in design right now? The way people are changing the way they live. The pressures of things like globalization and smaller dwellings and travel—all of these things create new issues and new problems to solve. And that's what a designer's job is, to help the world move forward.
If you could redesign anything, what would you choose? Transatlantic travel. I don't know whether it's redesign exactly, but it would be nice to travel around in shorter amounts of time. Whatever that solution is.
What do you hope to be doing in ten years? Be designing things that work and are worthwhile and necessary
Lastly, who's more fun to have a drink with: architects, industrial designers, or graphic designers? None of the above. Most of my friends fall outside of that. I think it's nice to escape sometimes.
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Comments
CANNOT AGREE MORE
I agree it might have been a bit harsh but to clarify I have nothing against this designer, I actually really like his work. I guess what triggered my rant is the systematic approach designers have with interviews and that type of questions. Not everyone but so many just say the same thing and that all feels so formatted it's a shame. It's the sort of branding the design world agreed upon.
I think I agree with you regarding the hero thing, because it's a word so strong that it doesn't make much sense. I think all they are asking is who inspires you or respect in the field which is more in line with the point you made about Renzo Piano. It's more of a semantic issue with the way the question is presented.
My other point though stands, I'm tired of designers pretending they're helping the world to be a better place by designing a $3000 chair. Just admit that you love what you do and love to design beautifully crafted object, there is no shame in doing that and you do this really well.
Other than that, I love the table :)
When I read that someone doesn't have a hero and is not interested in its field, that smells like a big cattle feces to me. It's either incredibly arrogant to say such a thing or simply a big fat lie. It's also extremely sad to think that those people have so little interest in the work of others.
Then the pretentious statement of trying to solve problems by designing objects such as yet an other table or chair than 99% of the planet can not afford is an other debate.