Discover the interview of Ivan Abbadie, located in Mexico.
Website: www.behance.net/pizelato
How did you become designer?
At first, I was determined to study architecture, but while I was in high school I remember always thinking of ways to improve the look of brands, packaging and advertising ads that I saw every day, and then I began to discover the importance of graphic design in visual communication.
I was born in 1977 in Mexico City, I studied Graphic Design at University of De La Salle Bajio, obtaining a bachelor’s degree with honors. A few months later I founded my own studio, first called Origen Corporativo, then in 2002 renamed Pizelato™, as it is known today.
I technically became a designer when I graduated from university sixteen years ago, however through time and thinking over this question, I believe I become a designer when I do it consciously; when, through a design process, I’m able to get an optimal and efficient solution, researching, analyzing, abstracting, diverging, synthesizing and conceptualizing; when I’m able to understand my profession with ethics and responsibility; in addition, when I’m able to contribute my ideas and thoughts to a guild as diverse as design.
How would you define your vision of design, your style?
Great question! Well, my view on design has definitely been growing and maturing through time. I think the term ‘design’ has been trivialized and used in the wrong sense on different internal and external circumstances; however its value is unquestionable. I think it is so important to be coherent in it; DESIGN is a researching and conceptualizing process that fulfills needs in a decisive way.
About style, I don´t agree with the term because the design process approach must be flexible, dynamic, timeless, practical, functional and never limited; but if we had to define it I’d list three principles I always follow: simplicity, authenticity and purpose.
I try to be clean and clear on my proposals, removing those unnecessary elements and avoiding shadows, gradients or effects. I like to design on a well-balanced grid, each graphic element´s presence must be justified
For the future, what are your professional projects?
Personally, I’ll be concluding my research on the term ‘design’, which I’ve been doing for years and I will consolidate it in a book, as I´ve had the opportunity to offer seminars and workshops both in universities and in the business and government sectors.
About my firm, Pizelato™, I will surely continue working on design projects, particularly on brand identity design programs, expanding our consulting services on design and intellectual property in an integral way.
Finally, in terms of collaboration, we’ll be strengthening our alliance with Grafo-Logos™, firm specialized in advertising graphology with whom we’ll be developing an important graphic identity project.
What do you like the most in your job?
Being able to do what you love and what you are passionate about makes you enjoy your work tremendously. However, I think that the thing I like the most about my job is to be an influence to make a better world. Also, working with different sectors in several parts of the world is amazing. But the greatest satisfaction is the value that design offers the user.
My objectives as I grow are to make a difference, to transcend and to achieve my goals in the best way possible; being published and getting awarded will always be rewarding and motivating.
