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FX Martouzet Interview

François-Xavier Martouzet is the winner of the 4th Design !ndex Awards Contest with BB Little Garden.
Here is an interview based on 10 questions the D! Team Asked FX. Thank you FX for your detailed answers!

D!: What about school ? Where, when and how did you studied design?
FX Martouzet: I graduated in 2010 from the UFRST of Evry with a Master’s degree in Industrial Design and Engineering in collaboration with ENSAAMA Oliviers de Serres. I originally have a « scientific » background. I discovered industrial design after a BA in Process Management and Logistics. Thanks to a friend and now my Associate in our company Hall Design, I pursued Industrial Design. Thanks Guillaume! 

D!: What was your 1st project?
FX Martouzet: My first post graduate project was for MBD Design who specializes in transportation design and more specifically in train design. It was a metro for China. So the first one was quite a big one. After almost a year in MBD, I went to Argentina for one year – in Buenos Aires. I worked there for Ar Estudio where I designed smaller products like GPS, bottle opener, child bed or a meeting room – which by chance also added another language skill. I then came back to France and worked again a few months for MBD Design. I created my own company in 2012, Hall Design. 

D!: What is you design process?
FX Martouzet: Our design process is defined by distinct steps or phases.
1- Firstly, research around the project. We underline the needs and the objectives to start the creation phase.
2- Secondly, a lot of sketches to find the right/good concept and shapes.
3- We then go through the 3D modeling and renderings phase.
Depending on the phase, we can deliver to our clients an adapted proposal in every step of the project: from sketches to modelization – going through the planning stage that we agree upon. We offer the industrialization support if necessary.

D!: Any tips to be a good creative?
FX Martouzet: In my humble opinion, to succeed in any creative field, you first have to be curious. Not only watching what the others do in comparison to your work but also continuously being open minded on everything that surrounds you. I personally take most of my inspiration from my travels, nature or science… 

D!: Can you explain us your products identity?
FX Martouzet: Depending on the project I am working on, I first try to understand the personal identity of the company I am working for , what they are trying to project as an image and their target use or market.  I then use that as a guideline and add creativity, usability and functionality around it. It is very important to take several factors into consideration to please not only the customer but also the end –user and remain ‘original’. The challenge is bringing something innovative and creative on the table all the time…. For personal projects, I use and get inspiration as I mentioned earlier on my travels, nature, science… keeping my 5 senses open to the world that surrounds me….always with a notebook and a pen to sketch anytime, anywhere and always taking into account my personal inspiration of the moment.

D!: Who is your favorite designer?
FX Martouzet:  It is difficult to answer that question in reality I don’t have any favorite designer but I can tell you some designers that I like for different reasons : Roger Tallon, Gerrit Tomas, Ron Arad, Jonathan Ives, Mathieu Lehanneur and more… 

D!: What is your opinion about product design today?
FX Martouzet:  n the world we live in today, the Marketing aspect of things is now a step ahead of the actual ‘conception value’ that a designer has put into a project.  It is quite unfortunate that the word ‘design’ is more used as an adjective than in its real sense – that it is a profession in its own right. I hope that Product Design and the Designers would be known for the global conception and not only for the appearance of the product. 

D!: What is the last design object you bought?
It was a Jieldé lamp for my drawing board.

D!: What is your favorite song today?
FX Martouzet: Today, it is GUTS

D!: Which book are you reading nowadays?
I am actually reading « design for a real world” by Victor Papanek

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