Interview with Vasava
OFFF Barcelona 2015 is fast approaching. We are preparing to take you on a journey through the event.
As proud media partners of OFFF Barcelona 2015, we bring you insights from key speakers from the event. Last week we spoke to illustrator Steven Wilson about his colours, style and the brands he innovates. This week we take you into the depths of Barcelona-based studio Vasava.
Vasava is not only a model of creative experimentation, risk-taking and madness in design; they are also the studio that will be presenting the 15th Anniversary book for OFFF Barcelona 2015.
We spoke to Bruno Sellés, creative director and founder of Vasava studio about the evolution of Vasava’s work, and the studio’s ties and collaboration with OFFF Barcelona.
fluoro. How has the way you take on a design project changed, since Vasava was established in 1997, and how has it remained the same?
Bruno Sellés. We keep the original spirit of the foundation days. We still love what we do and we are still amazed by the never-ending ways to communicate and to express ideas.
I think we are in a wonderful age, everything is possible, the world is changing so fast, and we have the chance to make the things right. Everything can be pretty exciting if you engage with interesting stuff and don’t let yourself get bored doing the same things over and over. For us, it is easy to get excited with new projects and we’re always thinking about the next one.
f. Boredom is your worst enemy. How do you tackle it?
BS. The most important thing is to keep seeing the world with children’s eyes. Maintain the curiosity about the things around [you] and keep yourself wondering about the stuff that touches you and try to learn how to do it. Most of all, try to keep away the routine, try to travel as much as possible, do different things and do not keep work as an obligation, but as a gift and a chance to develop your skills.
f. You are speaking at OFFF Barcelona 2015, and have been involved as speakers for OFFF in the past as well. What is it that attracts you to this event?
BS. It is a global hub for creators worldwide. You can hang out with the most influential artists and designers and you can get tons of inspiration and food for thought. Also, it is very different to other design conferences. The OFFF spirit is very laid back and keeps its freshness during the years.
f. What can visitors to OFFF Barcelona 2015 expect to hear from you?
BS. We’ll be sharing the stage with Adobe for a while discussing how ideas are developed and what we do to make it happen, after this we’ll be presenting the 15th Anniversary book for OFFF that we had the privilege to create.
We’ll [also] introduce to the audience Urgil Vataar, a person who has been the key in developing the book. The rest of the talk will be an insight into the struggle we had to go through to realise what OFFF really is. We have unmasked it. We are showing what really lies in the inner spirit of the festival. It is something that is deeper than a design conference. It will surprise many people to know the reality of it. There is no single truth and we tried to compile all versions of it. The result is nothing to do with a corporate or a memorabilia book; it is a timeless piece that will engage people in so many ways.
f. What was the essence of this collaboration on the OFFF book and how will it come through?
BS. Héctor Ayuso, OFFF director, asked us to design the book. Since the beginning we knew we didn’t want to do a conventional book compiling 15 years of info or milestones.
Accidentally we met Dr. Vataar. He spent many years investigating OFFF and he gave us confidential information about it and shared with us his theories. Everything seemed wrong and mad at the beginning, but once we started to pull the string we couldn’t stop. Our imagination blasted and we saw the whole picture for an instant. There are some things that a are difficult to prove, but we tried to collect the evidence of the most relevant facts and put it together. I think it is up to the readers to judge the veracity of all of it. The truth is that we have enjoyed a lot putting everything together.
—
Stirring the anticipation further, Sellés advised that the creativity related to the OFFF Unmasked logo will be revealed on the day that Vasava will be speaking at OFFF; Thursday 28 May, at 4.00 pm CEST in Barcelona, Spain.
Stay tuned to fluoro for coverage of the event as we journey to Barcelona to bring you an inside view into this year’s OFFF Barcelona Festival 2015.
—
