On your website you claim that inspiration results of your travel and contact with other cultures, do you think it is very important for a designer in general, or not?
MBN: I think so. It is important that people are not sealed in their little world of day-to-day. Traveling allows you to discover commonalities with different and more distant cultures, this causes people to grow and be more open to exploring other technologies, or other ways of thinking. These aspects and how they influence each others work.
When one idealizes a projects beyond the travel what do you to create a piece?
MBN: I might be inclined to explore a material that I project and try to find a technology which can approach it differently. Sometimes I want to explore some music, or artwork that inspires me in some way and want to take to turn it into a product. Or address the technology of matter itself, often the materials are already chosen and then I have to give back.
Not long ago, you mentioned your partnership with Gonçalo Campos, these co-creations are important for a designers?
MBN: I think so, because all projects are the result of a team effort, you can design alone, but turns out to be another to produce. It is important to have these works in partnership, in the sense that people think differently and complement each other to become a richer and more interesting product.
You are leaving to the Kotrijk to biennial, in what sense that the fairs are important for a designer?
MBN: They are important in the sense that this is what we see happening in that area if this betting not only on product and order, but it is presentation in terms of the market. What colors, materials and type of language used in the media, ie, how positioning the brands, how they present themselves, it is very interesting and often you can see when going to the fairs. The biennial is important because I am working in a company as director of design, as I've never been to this show in particular that happens once every two years, it is important to understand why certain companies will be present, we will also verify if companies are only local or not and how they present themselves in Belgium to a very specific public.
When you start a career as a designer, you have to always be in mind that you have to take the leap in international terms and not just be content with the national market?
MBN: Yes, because it makes little sense to remain in the domestic market, because we are a tiny country.
So how did you do the international leap in qualitative terms?
MBN: For me it was at the time important to know what I wanted to follow in the design and wanted to identify. I made a selection of ten designers who I wanted to learn even if it might seem impossible and unreachable and wrote asking if I could go to their studios learn from them, I could go to work for the studio Tord Boontje and have that more international perception, because their work is spread all over the world, from America, Europe and Asia. It was very interesting, because the world turns out to be small, thanks to new technologies such as the internet, you can get anywhere and make this approach to several countries. At the time, I managed an
innovart scholarship that helped me a lot financially to take this step.
Do you think the new designer in Portugal are viewed positively, or is there still some suspicion by the industry?
MBN: I do not think there is distrust of the new designers. What there is is a solid idea about these professionals, there is a perception of the brands in this respect are changing. Before people had the image of that Portugal was a bit more of what was done in Italy, or they went to a fair in Milan and copied a little of everything, the idea was to subvert this, why now are surprised by the very good quality products and completely new projects, which will not find anywhere else.
And already this image also extends to the domestic industry, which does not face the designers of such a biased way?
MBN: I think in the domestic industry there are many who still do not understand the role of a designer and how they can give added value to the products, because what ends up happening is that people come from outside, hire national companies for french and spanish products and the industry never allows the designers to be in contact with these customers.
In addition to these international steps within the company, whould you like to achieve other goals in professional terms?
MBN: I would liked designing products for foreigns companies to see them produced, prototyped and be able to sell.
Legend:
1- Sophia Sofa for Munna
2- Tables / Benches Seven Little Helpers for Audiri.
3- Flamenco stool for wewood.
