Tell us a bit about yourself, where are you from, what are you doing?

At the moment I’m working full-time in a completely different field. I am studying Business and Economics at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. Since four months I am the proud father of a little son! Graphic design, design and photography is what I am doing in my spare-time. These things are always in my mind and it is often the reason why I can’t sleep. Since I was a kid I was interested in creative work, at school I was rather interested in painting and drawing then following the regular lessons. I could finish school successfully though. But ever since my personal goal is to study arts university.

How did you hear from jovoto?

Actually I was looking for opportunities to realize my ideas in a real enviroment. It’s really a new and wonderful challenge, you can always have ideas on your own but it’s even better to combine your own ideas with the ideas from others. Besides that I think that a lot of the clients I can work for here are exciting.

Above all, It’s a wonderful feeling when others are interested in your idea and help you realize it. Thanks for this experience jovoto!

What was your first impression about jovoto?

I was positively surprised about the broad range of projects (from graphic to architecure) running here, with very fair conditions! The platform is a great enviroment to release your creativity and to get in touch with other creatives. It is good to see how everyone is working on their ideas and it is great to be part of this community.

Who or what inspires you?

I always try to look at my surroundings as intense as possbile and I try to be aware of all the very small details. I don’t have a role model or anything like that. I just walk with my eyes open through the streets, there is so much to discover even at places where you wouldn’t expect it.

What about your city – Linz?

Here in Linz we have Ars Electronica, Lentos and the university Hagenberg as well as further art institutions. But still we are an industrial city which is also reflected in the local art scene.

Is there anything you want to share with the jovoto community?

I’m proud to be part of this community and I am very thankful that you all welcomed me so positively. That was a very welcome suprise! My personal wish is to have a stronger team feeling or in other words I’m looking for more corporations – teams are always stronger!

Keep up the good work – you are doing a great job!

Remember back a few weeks when we had a really special chance to hear directly from the VP of Global Design of the Coca-Cola Company, David Butler?

Well we took that opportunity for a little review with our Coca-Cola Design+ Award Halftime Karma King, hangyel to do an interview to find out a little about him, his thoughts on the project & the interview with Mr. David Butler.

Take a look, another insightful interview from our community!

 Tell us a little bit about yourself, anything you want to share?

I’ve recently left my job to look for such new challenges which completely satisfy my professional needs. I designed the image of several brands and created the package of almost 3000 products all fitting its image at my previous workplace. After 5 years it became monotone and I did not see more challange in it. Two years ago I started dealing with interior design under the influence of a local noted architect but I was interested in product design as well so I tried to follow the innovations about it. I couldn’t really make up my mind about which one attracted me more until I found the Coca Cola Awards at Jovoto.com. Coca Cola is one of my favourite brands and when I saw the competition I felt such enthusiasm I had not felt for a long time. I knew that it is I wanted to do and not just for a moment but for long term. After all these influences I applied to an Arts University to study designing and my future plan is to learn all the bits and pieces of product design and to create such product you can be satisfied having it.

How did you find out about jovoto, and what was your first impression?

I found jovoto.com looking for competitions on the internet. I like competitions and challanges because they motivate me in doing the best I can when designing. I noted that this site gathers lots of talented people together. After completing the registration I realised how important the votes were. As a new member you might not get as much attention you`d like to thats why I tried to call the attention to my conception through mails. As I found out later on it is against the principles. My apologies Thats a kind of site which requires maturity and it took me some time till my votes reflected my real opinion. To sum up I am happy to join this great site Jovoto created providing a chance for professional developement.

Reflecting on the interview of VP of Global Design of Coca-Cola, David Butler, how do you feel about collaborative work and platforms?

I completely agree with Mr. Buttler that the future is this type of comunication.We can find solutions for the problems from different angles when working together and we can get such result which fulfills the expectations of a brand and its consumers.

When designing where do you get your inspiration from?

I am trying to widen my knowledge about the different fields of design by reading articles and watching pictures day by day on the internet. I read the articles of approximately 60-70 design pages while having my coffee in the morning. You can also get lots of inspiration by simply walking on the streets. If you keep your eyes open and focus on the details you might find such shapes, colour combinations and solutions you can use in planning a project. Listening to music while walking help you relax and get involved in the details.

Can you describe the creative scene in your city?

I live in Debrecen which is unfortunatelly not the capital of design so in order to see something brand new I need to travel elsewhere like Budapest.

And what are your favorite types of jobs/challenges, do you have an example for us?

I love everything related to design, I am interested in all fields of designing which help me create something which is a perfect solution of a problem and is also aesthetically perfect. I hadn`t had much experience in grafic design when joining Jovoto, it was interior design I had passion for. Then came the Coca-Cola Design Award which made it clear for me that it is product design I want to do in the future. That is what I am focusing on with all my energies.

Anything you want to tell the community?

I am happy to be a member of the community! I get the chance to express my opinion sometimes in a confident or rough tone which some people might find offending but thats not my aim. I think that calling attention to an error can only do good and can be inspiring to do better! Of course I had negative experiences about this issue but I still stick to my idea that a critic should be constructive and not insulting and pointless. We need to have a positive attitude towards others to make a constructive critic.

Thanks very much hangyel! And congratulations again on your Halftime Karma King win!

Hey there,

Before the big ITB extravaganza goforit was able to stop by the office and have a chat! It was a lovely meeting and here is an interview from her..

Tell us a bit about yourself, where are you from, what are you doing?

My name is Sophie, I´m 35, and I´m a freelance Designer from Bavaria, living and working near Nuernberg for Clients in different countries. Born in Transylvania with german and hungarian Origins. I live in Germany since my 5th year of birth, moved to Bavaria with 18.

I studied Communication Design in Nuernberg and started my own business 2005 with my Partner.

When I was 12 years old, my father brought me to visit the Atelier of his best friend, who is a great Illustrator and Artist – that was a really inspiring moment I´ll never forget: a place full of Creativity, a million Colours all over the floor and Paintings everywhere, a messy creative fascinating Atmosphere! Since then I felt encouraged to develop my talents and it was clear to me that I wanted to do something creative like that. Still I don´t have my own “messy” Atelier but the day will come

Is there any special story behind your username?

“goforit” was the first phrase coming in my mind when I registered at jovoto. Guess it was kind of a spontaneous and positive intuition to chose those words as my username and in that moment it was a statement as well.

When designing where do you get your inspiration from?

That´s not an easy question to answer….

I think Inspiration is something really difficult to describe because it just hits you suddenly and seems to come from nowhere.

I find Inspiration in everyday life – a scentence I read in a book, a songs lyric or music that triggers a special mood in you, a Story somebody told you, Impressions from a flea market, good humour, the ugly (what I rather call special and interesting! ), the gang of sparrows I can see taking their everyday bird-bath when I look out of the window next to my workplace, nature in general.

I´m a fanatic Collector of all these little Episodes and Impressions and I draw from that pool when I need an idea. A part of Inspiration might be Intuition aswell – you just feel something or create pictures in your mind you just need to “translate” and put in practice.

How would you describe the creative scene in your hometown?

Well… here where I live and work there are only few Agencies which I would rather call adapted to a more unsophisticated customers reference. But there are many Freelance Designers and fine little Design Offices around my Region with a great creative flow. Especially in Nuernberg where I studied you can find a lot of Design Creativity, for example our University and Academy brought up some outstanding young talents in the fields of Animation, Media Design and Illustration Arts – some of them even made it to work for great international Film Projects for example. So yes, there is definitely a magnificent creative Design Scene, cool Artists and Photographers around here in Bavaria which is remarkable!

How did you find out about jovoto?

I´ve been looking for a Platform like this for quite a long time: where I could join interesting creative Projects from good Clients with an acceptable payment policy. Money is not my motor when I´m fascinated by doing something, but a Project must be worth investing working-time or even attractive enough that you invest a little more work than you maybe should. But I never found something like this until I read an Article about Collaboration in the Designers Magazine “page” where jovoto was mentioned.

And what are your favorite types of jobs?

When I started to study, I first was more focused on doing Illustrations because drawing and especially Portraits has always been my passion. But soon I switched to a more diversified study with Graphic Design, Mulimedia etc. ; a classical Advertiser

My favorite type of jobs are those with a great liberty of action from Clients who trust me do the right thing and are open minded. I love print Projects and live a conceptional approach in my Design work when possible. And: I also love the brainstorm phase at the beginning of each new Project, when everything is possible!

Contrariwise I love about my autonomy in job is that I can allow myself the luxury to dismiss some Projects in case if I don´t feel comfortable with the product; just the same like at jovoto, where I can choose at which Contest I want to take part in. For example I don´t advertise meat products or fur clothing because this would be inconsistent with my attitudes.

Anything you want to share with the jovoto community?

1. have fun

2. act fair

3. have fun

Thanks so much for your very thoughtful interview goforit. And it was really a pleasure to meet you, thanks for your time!

So we took the opportunity to do an interview! So let’s hear what he has to say.

Thanks for stopping by the office, it’s always really nice to meet our community members. So let’s get started with your platform avatar. Why monkeys? You always have one as your avatar!

Why monkeys? Ha, I love monkeys. I was one time at the zoo and a monkey jumped over a fence and into my arms! And since then I love monkeys.

Wow, really? What a story. I didn’t think a real monkey would be behind it. So you were able to stop by so easily today because you live in Berlin. How long have you lived here?

Im born in Berlin but I left when I was 16 for the german army. Then I was freelancing and going to Swizerland, Austria, Munich and so on. The I came back to berlin 4 years ago.
But I’ll move to London later this year. But my roots are in Berlin.

What do you do in Berlin?

I started as a freelancer 4 years ago and started my own company, more of a marketing agency. Which I’m currently selling because I’m moving. Mostly doing marketing consulting and guerrilla marketing. Also normal everyday business like ads for magazines.

What do you like to do as a hobby or in your free time?

I have lots of hobbies. As you can see, I started boxing again. I do wood-working, making chairs and tables. I like to use no screws just from one piece of wood. I also like to play the the guitar, go hiking and swimming.

Any thing you’d like to share with us? An artist or designer you really like.

I love Jeff Koons. And I love Tom Clancey books, which is kind of embarrassing but true, hah.

What inspires you?

Sleeping inspires me. Dreams actually, I have a book next to my bed. And I sleep really lightly so whenever I have ideas I wake up and write them down.  And talking walks around the city.

What is your favorite part of working on jovoto?

I have many favorite parts but the main one is I can do what I like. I can care but I don’t have to. Unlike when you have a client you have to furfill his needs directly.
On jovoto you have a great briefing and then you can create your own idea based on that brief.

And I like the the supportive community. I met so many great people and they’ve become real friends.

Great to hear. Anything else you’d like to say?

Greeting to all my friends.

It was nice to meet you and great interview. Thanks for stopping by ReneCreate!

Tell us a bit about yourself, where are you from, what are you doing?

I am a teacher for music instruments and studied music pedagogy, psychology and arts in Passau. Now I live in the South East of Bavaria next to the border to Austria.

Is there any special story behind your username?

Not really, but if you want, you can find me on Youtube by searching for “MSTR” [check out his incredibly funny youtube channel here]

When designing where do you get your inspiration from?

I have the feeling, that the strongest ideas come out of nowhere, could happen when fixing dinner or at night when trying to sleep. Suddenly, WOOSSHH, I have a whole concept and in my case, I already see a whole Video and hear the music of it in just one fingersnap. So I guess, the idea already existed and just visited me out of nothing…

How would you describe the creative scene in your hometown?

Now that I live in a really quiet little village, there is no such thing as a big creative scene. I guess, that´s why I grew into this internet thing, to get to show my music or my videos to other people all over the world.

How did you find out about jovoto?

I found a video contest once, about Naturwatt. So I signed up and since then I am addicted! It´s great to give and get feedback, especially because there are so many great creative heads here at Jovoto. I feel honored that my ideas are among them and being rated and commented by the community.

And what are your favorite types of jobs?

Most of all I am a musician. I like to record all kinds of music, and I always try to make it entertaining. I´d like to do more team collaborations here, it was always great fun to develop ideas together with other Jovoto members.

Anything you want to share with the jovoto community?

I like the concept of Jovoto. We have a lot of great creative people here. Somehow I am still learning here and I seem to have a very different taste, because I don´t know how a lot of ideas can be ranked so high, or even so low. But maybe, one day I´ll understand and be able to produce jovoto-mainstream-like Looking forward to new contest, bring ´em on!

Hi Jonathan! Tell us a bit about yourself, where are you from, what are you doing?

Hi Britta! My Name is Jonathan Singleton, my name on the jovoto platform is funituresig. I’m from England originally, but now I’m living in Spain, in a tiny village near Barcelona.

I studied architecture, but moved to Spain 17 years ago and started building furniture out of scrap metal which I loved. I started my own shop in Barcelona, which was pretty successful, then started working with other interior designers and architects, we use the same language so I started to become a good way for them to produce one-off metal work.

I design and handbuild metal furniture. I really like working with my hands and getting dirty, it seems to help me think clearer when I’m moving around the workshop rather then being stuck at a drawing board.

How did you get there in this tiny village?

I needed another workshop space and an affordable garden area when the kids were born.

And how did you become an architect?

I think it was because of the kind of school I was at, mixed with a bit of parental pressure and I was good at drawing. So…

Is there any special story behind your username furnituresig?

No, my nickname has been sig since I was 11 , and I make furniture!. It’s the same as my website, furnituresig.com

When designing where do you get your inspiration from?

Definitely not from magazines! I try not to read magazines, they are dangerous! It’s because I try to avoid fashion. Design based on fashion may not look good next year. I like design which becomes timeless rather than simple of an era or particular fad.

For example, many of my pieces are sold in antique showrooms. Maybe it’s something special to Spain, but here the people are combining super contemporary furniture with other very eclectic styles from all periods.

What is good furniture for you – how do you design furniture?

For me a nice piece needs to be poetic. A piece of furniture should take you out of yourself and provide more to you than its simple function. A table can be a place where you eat with your family and friends, but it can be so much more, an arena for a heated discussion, a base where a new idea can be formulated. Practicality is important, but it’s only part of the problem. The soul of the furniture is very important too!

How would you describe the creative scene in your hometown?

It’s absolutely zero! Depressing! That’s the great thing about jovoto, you can have creativity in your laptop, on an international level.

How did you find out about jovoto?

I found jovoto via a link from a blog somewhere. The garden goes balcony contest was the first contest I participated in. Then I submitted ideas in other contests too. But no graphic design. It’s kind of an unwritten rule for me – I have an opinion on graphic design but no expertise. However it’s nice to comment on the ideas of others.

And what are your favorite types of jobs?

What really is important for me is a nice client. That means for me a human being! Someone who treats you like a friend not just an employee, who trusts your opinion, understands the projects and gives you freedom and respect. And of course it is important that the client like the result of my work. A happy client who proudly owns the piece you have made for him is much more valuable than the money he pays you.

Anything you want to share with the jovoto community?

I want to say thanks to the jovoto community. The only reason that I’m here at garden unique, is because of all the positive feedback and your comments. If no one would have commented then I wouldn’t have bothered and I would’nt be here. Thanks!

Hey there Tim! Tell us a bit about yourself, where are you from?

Hi, I’m Tim from Cologne. Actually I started my creative career as graphic designer. But then I wanted to work on something you can really touch. So I started studying interior design at the University in Aachen. I guess my experience as graphic designer is the reasons why my concepts are now very reduced and clear. Nowadays I’m self-employed and work as a freelancer. After my studies I moved back to Cologne, here are my friends and my family. I’m a “Stadtkind” (city kid) but in the greener part of Cologne.

How did your creative career start and how did you become a designer?

I think it is because of my family, who is very interested in art and design. My father is working as an illustrator. He used to work at home, so his illustrations were always around us. We went very often to musuems and exhibitions, we are a creative family. When I started working as graphic designer my father asked me several times, if I really want to work in the creative industry, he wasn’t sure if I would do it just because he is working in the same branch. I really wanted to do it!

When designing where do you get your inspiration from?

I suck everything what happens around me. For me everything is inspiration as a nice place in cologne could be as much inspiration as doing BBQ or talking with friend. The best inspiration for me is when someone comes to me with a problem he needs a solution for. Then I start thinking about this problem and try to make a concept, which is as easy as possible for the users.

How did the idea for the submission “Sight” come up?

I use to work in a typically process. So first I define and explain the problem. Then I start thinking about solutions for that problem. There are a lot of aspects, which have to be considered when you design balcony funiture. They should protect you from the sun, you should feel comfortable and relaxed, ideally they protect you from noise and give you a feeling of vacation. They should look nice and differentiate from the “standard”.

Here at the Spoga Gafa is now a prototype of your idea “Sight” and a lot of furniture manufacturers are running around here, how is the fair running for you?

This is the third fair where I present my work. I had a lot of very interesting talks, but let’s see what happens. I’ve a positive feeling about it, but I don’t want to stress myself. It costs a lot of energy to contact all the people passing by but the people who are really interested will surely come a second time.

What will happen to the prototype after the garden unique fair?

I’ll take it home with me, probably I’ll exhibit at further furniture fairs.

The “garden goes balcony contest” was your first contest on jovoto.com. What are your experiences about it?

The contest was huge fun for me, I got a lot of very helpful feedback. Especially the jury was important for me, because the were form a lot of very renown magazines.

Are you usually working on your own?

Of course not! A lot of friends of mine are designer themselves. We talk a lot about our work, their feedback is very helpful for me.

Anything you want to share with the jovoto community?

Keep relaxed and keep the distance from your work! For me, the distance is very helpful, then the inspiration will come all by itself. Let it flow!

Tell us a little bit about yourself, anything you want to share?

Born and raised in Hong Kong, I am a licensed architect practising in New York city.  It is fascinating to live in a city full of diversity and vibrant activities. I am also interested in mass-collaborative ways of social production in the creative field.

How did you find out about jovoto, and what was your first impression?

I found out about Jovoto through the $300 house contest. I think it is a great way to connect designers with clients, and the interface is well designed and user-friendly.

When designing where do you get your inspiration from?

Giving myself space helps, but constant bombardment of recent projects of designers also simulate thoughts (both positive and negative). Flipping through a library of architecture book is also a luxurious inspiration moment.

Can you describe the creative scene in your city?

Very active and diverse, like the city itself.

And what are your favorite types of jobs/challenges, do you have an example for us?

I enjoy problems that address design as part of a larger socio-economic context, that the act of designing would relate and touch the tangible everyday life of it’s inhabitants. We were working with a social enterprise in China who wants to introduce the good practice of organic cotton into China, a relatively new market. So we worked together to create a masterplan that would attract social-responsible tourism and training facilities for the local farmers with help from foreign and local irrigation and crops experts. The plan was received very well by the local community. We also started ‘architecture commons’, an open a collaborative think-tank to address these problem as parts of what we solve.

Some of my projects:

1) The Metta Sutta Orphanage, Lamphun, Thailand

2) An organic Cotton Farm, Puhan, China

3) Tsunami Safe(r) House (in collaboration with MIT Senseable City Lab), Balapitiya, Sri Lanka

4) School of Light, Uganda

Anything you want to tell the community?

I think the mass has a tremendous power and creativity that designers or architects seldom care about. But with the rise of collaborative ways of working (e.g. collaborative consumption , multitude), we are really beginning to see not only economic potentials , but the massive creative power through platforms such as Jovoto, OpenIdeo, etc… I have learned so much from the comments and suggestions throughout the $300 house competition it is just beyond any of my expectations.

So every vote, every comment matters to our creative world! Share your thoughts!

Anything else?

Yes, if you think of a great idea to work on that would affect lives in meaningful way through design, fire us an email or visit our site! We would love to bounce ideas back and forth or even collaborate, it’s our passion and curiosity.

And this is a very touching and inspirational video that motivates me, it talked about the work of Francis Kere and why he does what he does.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, anything you want to share?

I tend to have ideas that get me really excited but aren’t what most people think or care about. I’m so glad to share some of my excitement about building innovation for the poor with other people through jovoto! And if we can pool our energy to work  out some new techniques that will be tremendous (because testing out ideas takes forever alone!). It’s great to get to know the special crowd in the $300 house contest.

How did you find out about jovoto, and what was your first impression?

I only heard because Owen Geiger emailed me saying: enter it with this project we talked about. That got me started thinking. My first impression was ‘wow, look how the internet can get people together on this’. And I said to myself, these are a lot of well-thought out ideas. I was impressed with the people who had real experience working overseas on housing.

When designing where do you get your inspiration from?

My best inspiration comes from getting a glimpse of how people in different cultures like to shape their spaces and where they spend their time. For material innovation, I just mull things over for months, letting a concept simmer because I’m too stubborn to just admit it’s not possible.

Can you describe the creative scene in your city?

My city has a few artists who encourage me in terms of beauty and using my creativity, but builders for aid and in earth are non-existing!

And what are your favorite types of jobs/challenges, do you have an example for us?

I’ve enjoyed work for a non-profit in Gonaives, Ayiti called Haiti Christian Development Project. Since I lived for a week with some of them I care about them. The best was being able to work out layout plans with them, getting enough feedback from these Haitians to improve the ideas. Right now I’m working on an improvement to a dorm plan for them based on some new structural information.

Anything you want to tell the community?

If God has made you someone who cares about others in an unusual way, pursue it. It’s good for us to use our talents. And if we do whatever work we can do for others, it may mean the difference between hope and despair for one family somewhere.

this week we start with another episode of our jovotoans worldwide series: let’s get down with our boy Rogerio who made it 3rd in the $300 house contest – with a smart and convincing concept that was presented in beautiful hand-drawn sketches.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, what’s your background, what are your favorite jobs/challenges?

In addition to the graduation of  Architecture and Urbanism, I did the course of Permaculture in IPEC (www.ecocentro.org/en), the course of Construction with Bamboo with Luis Carlos Rios Gallego, of the Timagua (www.timagua.com), Radiestesy with the architect Edson Tani (www.pentagramaprojetos.com.br), and others.

Since college, I was enthusiastic about alternative technologies and structural solutions inspired by nature, researching construction options that would be less dependent on the industry, including infrastructure …

I always wanted to make a home “autonomous”, that even when installed in the city, was not necessarily dependent on the services infrastructure such as water, electricity, sewage, etc., but was able to produce their own electricity, capture your own water, treat their own sewage.

This passion is reflected in the projects I’ve worked on so far. The following e.g. was a proposal  for new headquarters of the NGO “APASC” made with superadobe, reciprocal frame, straw bale and bamboo.

The following was for a bioclimatic residential project, that is a house designed from analysis of thermal comfort and study of the heat stroke during the year.

And last but not least, here you go with a Playground designed to be built using bamboo from the beach, an old tires.

In the city of San Carlos, Brazil have two of the best colleges of the country, the University of São Paulo – USP (www.saocarlos.usp.br), where I studied, and the School of Engineering of São Carlos – UFSCar (www.ufscar.com), which together account for almost 10% of the population of the city, composed by university students, and the highest ratio of Masters and Post-Graduated per km ² in the country.
This specific situation allows a great exchange of knowledge and a productive scientific research, and a big scale of exchange of the information and solutions that can be extended to a global scale – the Internet made this possible, and this challenge in Jovoto too!

Anything you want to share with the community?

I heard about the $ 300 House challenge by my friend Gustavo, who encouraged me to participate. I think that knowledge without application is not knowledge, it does not exist. So, let’s distribute knowledge, so it can be applied indiscriminately!