José Manuel Ferrero on the Art of finding your Signature Style

"Discreet, educated, elegant and immensly imaginative, for Ferrero, Design is a lifestyle that keeps him fully active in creation!" This is how Spanish Designer José Manuel Ferrero describes himself on the website of his design studio estudi{H}ac, based in Valencia. He calls himself a "Design Gentleman". If this is not a clear-cut, sophisticated design(er) personality, what is it then? We asked him about his personal style in design, how the product and interior designer works between different fields and how he finds the right projects.

iF: You studied industrial design and engineering – today your studio is known for interior and product design. How come this “change” in disciplines?

JF: I studied Industrial Design Engineering at the Jaume I University (UJI) of Castellón and after collaborating in different design and architecture studios, I decided to open my own design studio, my DESIGN ATELIER. The origin of my roots has always been part of the essence of estudi{H}ac. Ontinyent, my hometown, is full of textile companies, large companies that have always opted to believe in something and turn a dream into their companies. That passion and effort to bring your project to the entire world was the starting point for me 20 years ago. For me, product and interior design are two complementary areas that provide me with extra knowledge in order to face new challenges. It's been 20 years combining the two disciplines and why change something that works?

You have a multi-faceted design background. Where do you find inspiration?

José: I have always had a very close professional and personal relationship with the world of textiles. After several years working in design and architecture studios, I decided to return to the origin of my roots, to Ontinyent, my hometown. Another of my passions is Anglo-Saxon culture, which has had a great influence especially due to its style, culture, humor and a conservative and transgressive way at the same time. Added to all this is my passion for fashion, tailoring and great inspiration from the tailors of the famous SAVILE ROW street in London. Their methodology and way of taking care of a client, creating something unique, tailored for each one of them, provokes in the estudi{H}ac style that same passion for the textile world, textures, and color treatment.

Other things that inspire me are the enjoyment of life in its facets of gastronomy, travel, sports, music. There is a whole world of continuous inputs that make the creative day-to-day life exciting.

You do not only work in different fields, you also know how to use resources and materials for your design. What value does sustainability have in your design process? Do you have examples maybe?

JF: I think that generating sustainable projects is in everyone's hands, both when conceiving them, studying the selection of materials that the market offers us, and manufacturing processes. Yes, it is possible to generate projects that pursue sustainability, but that requires the involvement of all the teams that participate in this type of projects with us to reach this goal. Both from the briefing phase, ideation of the first concepts to its sustainable feasibility study.

A clear example has been the FEEL FREE project that we have designed for KRISKADECOR (some kind of room divider with chains). It is born from a 100% recyclable product such as the aluminum link, or the research work on materials and textures that we developed together with the Krion R&D team.

How do you see the growing role of sustainability in design? Your studio just celebrated its 20th anniversary - where are the challenges?

JF: There are many challenges that a design faces, both today and 20 years ago when I started my design atelier. There are many factors when designing a new product. The positioning of the brand, the level of investment, the new functions and the technology that the client wants to provide. To me, there is also the story from which we generate everything and which serves as a basis for searching for materials and textures. Each product must respond and contribute to the whole story with a differentiating detail that integrates perfectly to form a visual image. It is the completeness of the product that is also studied from a very industrial point of view, of process optimization to make it a competitive product.

When you indulge in the creative process, at what stage do you first consider materials or sustainability?

JF: There are many given factors, as I already mentioned. But for me there is also the story from which we generate everything and which serves as a basis to search for materials, textures. Each product must respond and contribute to the whole story with a differentiating detail that integrates perfectly to form a complete visual image of the product. Textile is a material that contributes and inspires me in the post-flash idea phase. They give me texture and if you work creatively on it, the results are surprising. Quilting, patterns, wefts and warps have always served as the basis for many of my projects.

Not only the fabric makes up a project. The combination of them with noble and technological materials allows me to create truly surprising projects and all of this will be reflected throughout the exhibition.

iF: How do you see the responsibility of designers – concerning the environment or society?

JF: For me, the past 20 years have made me mature in the way that I understand clients and the market in general. With the passage of time, everything evolves and you have to adapt to different situations but without losing your own essence. The world of design is increasingly global and has entered many sectors where it was not valued before. It is an essential tool so that each new product that goes on the market has been designed in a better way.

For our part, we have always been very clear about this industrial base, fusing creativity and technique. The concern and responsibility for how a product is communicated once developed has also had an important weight within the study. How to tell it, explaining the origin concept of the product and then how to present it? Here, there has also been a change within the world of design, that thanks to new technologies and applications there is a new way of communicating more dynamic and faster.

Take a look into the future with us: The next 20 years – where do you see yourself and your work – and the world of design?

JF: For me, my formula is to continue with the enthusiasm every day to always have fun in each project. At this point is where I never forget and my favorite literary character created by Jules Verne comes into play, the English gentleman Mr. Phileas Fogg, where his creativity and
ingenuity allowed him to travel around the world in 80 days and led him to achieve his goal. The same techniques are applied today in my design atelier, I study to develop all new projects.

The first objective of estudi{H}ac has always been to develop projects while learning and having fun. Solving in a creative way, as Mr. Fogg also did during his adventure. 20 years have served to polish the methodology and creative technique. However, 20 years is not enough! to continue dreaming, continue creating new projects, sharing experiences with so many clients, or rather, with so many people who have given us the opportunity to design projects under a tailor-made Mediterranean elegance.