Savvy Studio In 99 Percent Lifestyle
Savvy Studio In 99 Percent Lifestyle
Starting A Design And Branding Agency With Savvy Studios
Can you give me the history of the studio and how it started out?
We started out almost 7 years ago, Bernardo, Pablo and I. Before, we were all living in different places, I was in San Francisco, Pablo in Madrid and Bernardo in London, but somehow we ended up connecting through life, ideas and work. I meet Pablo in Berlin when I was commissioned to work on a branding and interior design project. I was looking for someone to collaborate with who was living in Europe and we got connected, we met, we worked together and it just made sense. After Berlin I went back to Mexico where I met with Bernardo in a coffee shop, he was writing an article about a chocolate project I had. He was coming back from St Martins, we shared ideas and here we are now. At the beginning it was more about Mexico and how could we bring all these interesting and good things that were happening out of there and that we were enjoying, and evolve it into a studio with designers from all over, with Mexico as our home but doing design projects with a global approach. I and Pablo moved to New York to open the studio two years ago, we were hired by a sunglasses brand to design their shop in LA. Then in 2 months, we got a hotel project and things have luckily and organically been quite busy, a great type of busy. When did you get your first big break? I couldn’t specify how. We launched the website after 2 years of work and all the projects became interesting for some people or media, I guess it all happened in 2012.
What are you currently working on?
We are working with two restaurants in New York, Tribeca, they are going to be really nice; the branding, packaging and whole visual experience for a tea company; a gallery in the Lower East Side NY; creating the whole concept and visual identity for a Parisian skin care line; and a hotel in Plaza Zocalo Mexico City. We are also in the process of developing the studio’s own furniture line, it will be very simple and all about materials, technique and function.
What advice would you give to people looking at perusing their dream career?
Understand yourself, your strengths, your skills and weakness, be aware of your substance and share it.
What does the term ‘being creative’ mean to you, what’s your personal definition?
Creative, creating, exploring, everyone could be creative in their own way, it’s a bit of exploring something else within ourselves and then being able to materialize it into something. That is the hard part—how to translate an idea into the right piece, feeling or aesthetic. Sometimes it’s quite easy, sometimes it can get complicado!
Who is your idol and why?
Bob Dylan… A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall. What is the biggest creative challenge you have had to overcome and how did you do it? Last year, we designed a new shopping experience for Zara in their future shops from 2018, it was new for us, challenging but it went so well.
What advice would you offer to someone starting out in your field of work?
Confidence on one’s ideas, humbleness and the right amount of flexibility will make things smoother.
If you could go back and tell your 18-year old self one thing, what would it be and why?
I dunno, I pretty much believe everything that happened has gotten me here.
What do you do in your spare time outside of work?
I have this side project, I make chocolate. I use some of my time on that, then the usual, exercise, read and eat and drink wine with friends. I like over the weekend to check galleries and museums, most of my inspiration comes from it. If you would like to see the best products and pieces of entertainment in the world right now, recommended to you by Savvy Studios then check out this weeks newsletter here!
