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!

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

Hello, good day to everybody.

I was born in 1984 in a small city in México. My parents decided to call me Jorge Abraham.

When I was little, my favorite toys were modeling clay and drawing kit. Later on, I decided to become a designer.

For almost two years I was working for a company (www.mayanseas.com) designing and developing kayaks and aquatic devices. Then I quit because I decided to study a master program abroad.

Besides design, music, movies and eating are some of my big pleasures in life. I am a food lover and my favorite is mexican food, of course. I could die for a tasty delicious mexican dish with a good Tequila or Mezcal (with the worm). But I am a fan of european beer as well.

I believe in extraterrestrial aliens and I love to read or watch about this phenomena. I also love history, specially about all the prehispanic civilizations here in América and middle ages in Europe. My favorite books would always be the historical novels, like ‘Aztek’ by Gary Jennings. Have you read this one? It’s great!

I think life is too short, but that makes it even more interesting. So I believe that we should try to enjoy everything, and have positive attitude to all situations. My father once told me: the objective of life is to be happy, that’s why we are here. So everything I do, I try to do it under this philosophy. “Do nothing but enjoy yourselves”, as one aztec song claims.

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

I discovered jovoto back in the BetaCup contest. I think this contest was announced in a blog or so. First I thought it was a bad competition in which the winners are the ones who have more friends in facebook who can vote for them. But I came up with this idea and I decided to participate. I’d never regret that I became part of the community. But it still makes me laugh that this idea did not even get a rate number.

When designing where do you get your inspiration from?

When I design I get the inspiration from everything I see, listen or feel. So I got to have my senses ready. When it is a bad day, and I am annoyed, some projects just turn to be hard because it’s hard to find inspiration and come up with a solution. So every now and then I like to do exercise or relax with nice people around and couple of drinks or food.

Nature is also a big source of inspiration for me. Some other activities I enjoy the most are related with the environment and nature. Camping, swimming, kayaking. For doing these, I bought an old VW Transporter (we call them Combi, the 60’s famous hippie bus) and I enjoy driving it all around and go out of the cities, take photos and have good time. If you once want to do some road tripping, just let me know.

Here you can see some panoramic compositions that I made with three or five photos:

Can you describe the creative scene in your city?

In the last 5 years I have lived in 3 countries: México, Finland and Czech Republic. I love this because one can get impregnated from different cultures, ways of life, art and the whole creative movement in each. Talking about culture I still prefer the one in my country because is so unique and diverse (if you get to know south and north México, you’ll feel amazed on how different it is). This features of the culture result in a powerful creative scene. Unfortunately, many Mexicans use this ability on trying to get advantage on others and that is why there are a lot of social, political and security problems.

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

I am still trying to find what I enjoy the most about design. But I think I would need to try every area so that I could decide at last. I am afraid that at the end I would say that what I love the most about design is the wide range of things that one can do.

Here are some examples of y work: sketches, illustration and product design:

Anything you want to tell the community?

I love being a member of the community. I’d like to thank you all for letting me be part of it and for helping me to become a better designer. With you guys, I learn a lot and discover much more about the creative world and the amazing diversity of each of us.

Thanks for the interview, oxelot!

Kaptn took some notes and was kind enough to provide us with some cool first hand experiences:

Telekom Innovations Forum 06/27/11, Darmstadt (Germany)

9.00am, it’s boiling hot, I’m sweating like a pig and the whole district is Telecom buildings – but where the hell is the one I’m looking for?! Roughly 200 students and newcomers were invited to the “Telekom Innovations Forum” in Darmstadt. Together with a panel of experts and Telekom leaders they discussed the future of the technology industry and tried to determine Telekom’s role within this context. The jury prize winners (Ann, Ozelot, zweipunktnull and kaptn) erected their booths, where each participant presented their idea to the public.

Moreover, everyone was given the opportunity to introduce their mobile app idea in one of the forum’s numerous events. It was then dissected and discussed by the audience. No less than two jovotans: Zweipunktnull (“Telekom Bubbles”) and Maestro (“Traumjobber”, even though he wasn’t picked for the jury prize before) were invited to present their apps, which they gladly did, since the winner would be endowed with a brand new iPAD. After lunch break the students were off to their individual workshops. “Your Idea” was the one, which introduced the ideas from jovoto. With Mexico-based Ozelot taking part via Skype, the audience discussed them thoroughly and elaborated on their particular feasibility.

Afterwards the entries were analyzed by an expert team.The valuable ideas of improvements were subsequently discussed with the other participants. You could see that the jury had really invested their time to fully understand the ideas beforehand – they even drew from several comments of the jovoto contest. Building on those insights, everyone has the opportunity to improve their concepts until july 11th.

Bottom line being, the jury was extremely impressed by the submissions and took a long time to discuss and evaluate them. Ultimately they picked four submissions, which in their view were reasonably applicable plus suited Telekom best. Later that evening the event was rounded off with a party.

From left to Right kaptn, zweipunktnull, Herr Kollmenter, herr kramm, Ann, maestro

It’s always such an amazing feeling to witness the impact jovoto has on the world out there, and see what happens when the community connects and comes up with tons a cool stuff that impresses even the biggest brands! Just keep it rocking like that!

Today we’ll get to know elsap11 aka Elsa Ponce from Mexico – we were impressed with her skills at Life Edited, but even more delighted to see her return for the $300 house contest and come 6th place – congrats on that one! – , and now we’re really curious to learn a little bit about you…

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

My name is Elsa Ponce and I’m a 24 year old architect from Mexico City. I was born in the province of Hidalgo and then moved. I studied at Universidad Iberoamericana and got my degree two years ago, I’m planning to apply to a graduate program next year, for the time being, I work at TEN Arquitectos. Can’t remember how old I was when I decided to become an architect but I certainly know this is what I love the most!

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

I have been working in architectural offices for the past four years and also developing projects on my own for the past two, while looking for new contests I found the LifeEdited competition, at first the platform was quite strange to me, I was used to sending my files and then just wait for the results. When I got my first comment I felt really motivated and amazed by this process of collaborative work.

When designing where do you get your inspiration from?

My inspiration comes mainly from information, I believe a significant investigation leads to useful, aesthetic and innovative design. Also the work of John Hedjuk and Peter Eisenman is very inspiring to me – I admire their exercises and studies.

Can you describe the creative scene in your city?

I mainly know the architectural scene which is achieving great importance, emerging architects like Tatiana Bilbao, Iñaki Echeverria, Saidee Springall, Jose Castillo are a few. I also had the chance to collaborate with the mexican designer Hector Esrawe. These young designers and architects aren’t looking to satisfy only functional critera but also create new experiences for the users. Mexican design is frequently related to organic, colorful shapes, designers take advantage of this but implementing a consistent modern language.

• Enrique Norten
• Hector Esrawe
• Tatiana Bilbao
• at103
• arquitectura 9011 sc
• manifiesto futura

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

Any kind of challenge that involves design is interesting to me from a piece of furniture to a high-rise building. The $300 house challenge is one of my best experiences because it has an humanitarian approach and I learned a lot from other submissions.

The following is my thesis project, a mediateque in Mexico City, one of my favorite designs – I spent a year working on it and received the best thesis award, despite of that I’m still figuring out how I can improve it. The proposed set of two buildings contains versatile fluid spaces like cafes, library, bookstore, classrooms, theatre, Internet booths, galleries etc.

This is one of my research projects and it consists of a group of single-family houses for Guadalajara which is one of the most fastest-growing cities, the main purpose is to offer affordable housing. The house becomes characteristic of its owners because it’s flexible, can change it’s size, be more open or private, can relate to exterior spaces, can be shaped to achieve the maximum sense of ownership.

Anything you want to tell the community?

I’m impressed by the skills and talent shown on the platform! I want to thank all who helped me improve my ideas.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, who are you, where are you from?

Hi, I´m Ruven Wiegert and I’m 24 years old. I come from a small region in the middle of Germany, called Eichsfeld, or more specifically from the historical old town “Duderstadt”. 4 years ago I got my degree at the “Fachoberschule” for Design. (College of further education) After that I did an internship in a media company in Duderstadt. After my internship I worked 2 years for this company. In search of new challenges, I changed the last agency and right now I work in a advertising agency in Göttingen. I think I´m still at the beginning of my creative career now.

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

I can´t remember exactly how I found jovoto. I just registered some day, after a while I got a message that I’m invited to be part of jovoto. Since than I really spend a lot of time on jovoto. I was impressed by the diversity of ideas, companies and contests. Since then there was not a day without jovoto.

When designing where do you get your inspiration from?

I get my inspiration from different sources. The internet gives me a place to stay up-to-date constantly, I follow new trends and research various designs and design elements. I also really get inspired just by city life (when I work) or the landscape around me (when i’m at home). This inspires me on different levels for my creative live and work. Conversations with my family and friends is my third source of inspiration which helps me to find new ideas and designs. And last but not least, of course jovoto!

Can you describe the creative scene in your city?

I come from a small city where the creative scene is not really mature. When I would like to get in the creative scene I have to go to a bigger city like göttingen. There you can find some very inspiring places and people.

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

At work I love to be in conversation with customers to build new corporate designs for them and fulfill their wishes. On Jovoto I have enjoy product design competitions most,  because its something I don’t work on at work or in my private enviroment. The Nestlé week for example was great and was so much fun for me.

Anything you want to share with the community?

It´s great to work and spend time here on jovoto. I love to read your comments and great suggestions every day. I´ve learned so much exciting things here on jovoto and think that I getting better and better with your help.