Dieter Rams is one of Carlos’s greatest inspirations, and he believes Rams has shaped the design of the last century. Nowadays, Carlos is inspired by the designs of U.K.’s Jasper Morrison and Japan’s Naoto Fukasawa. He really likes the idea of honesty and is inspired by the principle of “less is more.” Another source of inspiration for Carlos is nature. Currently, he is working with biomimicry, the idea of getting inspiration from nature, with sustainable and environmental design in mind. Another very important source of inspiration for any designer is his/her cultural background. Being Colombian, Carlos says he is inspired by the unique tradition, colors and music of his culture. Every designer tells a story of what they know and who they are. It is inevitable to bring your own culture into your work. Carlos gets inspired about everything that is Colombian. Music, food, colors, dance. Crafts, in particular, have influenced Carlos due to the fact that he worked with the Colombian Handcrafter’s Association (Artesanias de Colombia). Carlos says, “The use of natural, renewable materials and the richness of Colombian crafts and traditions are always very inspiring.” As a designer, you have to understand people to design for them and to do so, you have to be able to observe people and understand their culture. Given the time he has spent in Japan, Japanese culture and design has also had a very big influence on his design. Japanese design is very detail oriented, with a particular attention to quality and aesthetic refinement. Many of the contemporary Japanese designs are about simplicity and honesty, and that for Carlos is the idea of good design. Sustainability: Carlos has been working and researching about sustainable design for approximately 10 years. He believes that sustainability and eco-design are a must nowadays as most of us are very aware of the problems of the industrial revolution and how much harm industrial processes and capitalism have done to the environment. Through design we can fix many of these problems as they belong to the overall design of systems, manufacturing processes and life cycles. In the end, it is all a matter of design. Unfortunately, sustainability has become a boom and everyone talks about it. The typical definition is the balance of social, economical and environmental aspects of design and many people are trying to work on these three different aspects. Sustainability is about balance and respect towards people and the environment. Sustainability could also be about changing our current economic model as we have seen that it is definitely in crisis. In fact, the current economy has been labeled oil-based economy, but it is evolving to a carbon based economy, or natural capitalism as described by Hawken. These definitions highlight the importance within sustainability of looking at the
Design with Respect: An Interview with Carlos Alberto Montana Hoyos
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