Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 36
Occupation: Designer.
Instagram: @jd_etienne
Hometown: Tampico, Mexico.
Studio location: Monterrey, Mexico.
Describe what you make: My studio works on a variety of projects in scale, scope, and objectives. We work with companies in Mexico and abroad on specific products for commercial release, conceptual exploration for new business possibilities, creative direction, and design consultancy. We’re a mix of a consultancy and studio—this gives us a good edge for approaching projects.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: Probably the three collections we designed to show at Salone Satellite (2016–18). It was a great challenge to present our work on such a renowned international platform, and it pushed us to make our best work.
Describe the problem your work solves: I think of design as a strategic means to make more and better business for our clients, designing products that create lasting experiences within a critical and global perspective.
Describe the project you are working on now: We’re currently working on a hotel contract furniture project for a Spanish client we’ve been collaborating with for a couple of years now. It’s a lounge seating system where we’re proposing configurations that break the boxy feeling this kind of furniture usually ends up with. Being locked up for so long, I’ve been visualizing myself on a beach resting in it for motivation!
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: In October, we’re launching a new project in collaboration with master craftsman Francisco Charles that works in the nearby town of Galeana, famous for its pure white alabaster stone. It’s a project that speaks of origin, craft processes, and materiality through sculptural functional objects. We extracted huge stones from the mountain and sculpted them with basic tools, just as the craftsman has done for 60 years.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: There’s always (very loud) music playing in the studio, and it varies with the mood. Our studio is filled with mockups, prototypes, experiments, and books. Many books. We create by experimenting, we learn by being curious. Of course, coffee flows freely.
What you do when you’re not working: I’m almost always working! Running and yoga help me free my mind a bit though. I like to travel (when possible) and visit museums, galleries, and architectural sightseeing.
Sources of creative envy: Ettore Sottsass and Donald Judd.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Phone calls and Zoom meetings.
Concrete or marble? Concrete.
High-rise or townhouse? A hut in the mountains.
Remember or forget? Remembering through photography.
Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts.
Dark or light? Dark.
