57
--- Florero Radial y Lámpara Faro de
LaSelva studio.
--- Radial Vases and Faro lamp by
LaSelva studio.
because of the efforts of all: firms, factories, corporations
How are you handling things including the changes in the market
caused by the pandemic?
We are a young company and this has meant facing great challenges
but we have also benefited from other factors. We were born digitally so
we focused on going one step further and digitized all contact with the
customers something that previously could only be achieved physically.
We have always opted for direct communication, both with customers
and suppliers, and before the pandemic that was possible digitally. Now
what we have to do is keep improving along that line.
What project are you working on?
Our business project is now focusing on creating a digital platform aimed
at business people that we will be launching shortly. In it, business
people will have access to all our documentation in an agile and fast
way. In addition, they will find adaptable proposals according to type of
project, product configurators and customized solutions.
LASELVA STUDIO. Manu Bañó and David Galvañ
“In the world of habitat, design is an essential value”
How did you approach your participation in the 2018 SaloneSatellite?
We opted to collect our latest projects and to show the public at the
fair and producers what we were and what we had designed during
the last year for companies. We had exhibited at Valencia Fair several
times presenting new designs and also at Design boomMart at the fair
of Stockholm selling our self-produced coat rack, Loop. We wanted to
approach this new exhibition in a more mature and established way.
The Salone is a springboard to reach the big international publishers,
but what about Spanish firms? How does a young designer
reach out to companies here?
Spanish publishers have always been present at design fairs, but for
an unknown studio they continue to remain just as unattainable as
the international ones. The first two projects we carried out were with
Spanish companies and each one came to us in a different way: first
with Atlas for Mosaics Martí, thanks to the Cevisama INDI competition;
and later with Cosmo for Missana, who decided to take a chance on
Valencian designers to create their new collection. Each project comes
in one form, either with national or international companies.
When you design for either for the home or for the contract business,
what differences do you find?
We try to combine the work we do in the studio with work we do for
our ourselves. In my case (David) I have for several years been collaborating
with a company that produces contract furniture for hotels
and high-end homes, and the difference between what that world demands
and what that we design in the studio for companies is not so
great. Above all, in terms of volume of production and the quality and
durability of the pieces. There are many regulations that you must comply
with and they are different in each country: from furniture resistance
tests to the use of fire-retardant fabrics for hotels, passing through
quality controls of all materials. There is also the trend of the ‘custom’,
that design contract clients increasingly use more as an added value
factor.
How are the changes in the market caused by the pandemic
affecting you?
David – From collaborating with the contract business furniture companies,
I can see how the number of projects has dropped, there are
fewer hotel renovations and many times hotels prefer to update or fix
the interiors rather than to do a redesign. Working from home has
made me re-design, draw up and develop new ideas for the studio,
investing more time every date in new proposals, and leaving behind
other projects that I was working on in parallel.
What project are you immersed in now?
We have a collection underway with a Brazilian company and we are
developing a self-production project. We like to be in control of all
stages of the product we develop, from the first creative and concept
phase to its packaging and marketing.