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iPaderos had an exclusive interview with Martin Hajek. This 39 years old Dutch designer has become popular and made his name with amazing 3D design concepts, many of them based on Apple devices. His concepts include very original and surprising ideas like the iPhone 7 or the iSaber (the “Apple lightsaber”).
Martin Hajek used to work for a design agency, but now he only does 3D modelling and rendering as a hobby in his spare time/weekends. He shares his brilliant designs in his own blog. We start the interview with a short questionnaire:
- iOS or Android? -> iOS
- PC or Mac? -> PC (but I do own a nice MacBook)
- manual or digital drawing? -> Manual drawing (but digital 3D modelling)
- book or eBook? -> book
- Apple Watch or Pebble? -> No watch – I don’t wear watches
iPaderos: How did you start and which was your first design?
Hajek: I studied industrial design engineering but that was quite some time ago. The first 3D model/rendering which I made of an Apple product was the iPhone 4. I based that 3D model on photos of the leaked phone – I believe someone at Gizmodo got hold of a test unit which was left behind in a bar somewhere.
iPaderos: What made you decide to create your own blog?
Hajek: The main reason was out of interest to see if I was still good at 3D modelling (for my current job I do not have to do that anymore). I also found a new rendering program (Arion from RandomControl) which I wanted to test so I decided to model and render the iPhone 4. I am happy that I am able to make models and visuals which so many people seem to enjoy!
iPaderos: What is the best design concept that you have ever made, the one you are mostly proud about?
Hajek: That is a difficult question to answer – I’ve done a lot of concepts but I really like the Macintosh 2014 concept.
iPaderos: Your three favorite designs in real life products
Hajek: There are too many nice designs out there, but if I have to (randomly) choose three I would pick:
– Apple MacBook pro Retina (2014 model) – despite the nice new 12″ MacBook I believe the MacBook Pro is the nicest laptop ever.
– Aston Martin Vanquish V12. Very nice car. Period.
– Eames lounge chair. White leather version.
iPaderos: Has any large company (Apple, Samsung…) ever used any of your design ideas?
Hajek: Certainly not and they never will. In fact, it is the other way around as I am using their ideas (well, those of Apple anyway). What I do is a kind of ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’.
iPaderos: If you could choose, what company would you work for?
Hajek: Not Samsung
iPaderos: Main software any modern designer should know?
Hajek: There are so many design packages out there – it is too difficult to choose one over another.
What I believe is that any good designer should really design firstly without using software, in the end the best designs are born on paper.
iPaderos: Do you think that the iPad is an useful tool for designing?
Hajek: I used to have an iPad but I gave it to my parents, I found that while the iPad is great for surfing the internet, playing games and all kinds of media consumption – it simply did not appeal to me to draw, design or 3D-model using a stylus on a glass surface.
iPaderos: What are the reasons that make Apple such a successful company?
Hajek: What makes Apple so succesful is that they know extremely well how to sell an experience, or even better how to sell an expectation of what you are going to get. How they do this? I think it is a masterful mix of amazingly designed products, nice looking operating systems all packaged by masterfully executed marketing campaigns.
iPaderos: If you ever have the chance to have a lunch with Jony Ive, what product design changes would you tell him to do on Apple products?
Hajek: None! I wouldn’t dare give any suggestions at all! I would probably just ask him to sign my MacBook
iPaderos: Looking to the future… how important do you think that the design will be in coming years? Do you think that it is still worthy to spend huge amounts of money in R&D and design in this paced times when any Chinese company can clone a product in a matter of months?
Hajek: Actually, the more the Chinese companies are cloning (Apple), the more important it is to come up with a strong design execution when introducing a new (version of a) product. Even if a design (shape) can be copied, a new material/manufacturing process normally can’t be copied so quickly. It is highly important to stay ahead by being innovative.
iPaderos: Will the Apple Watch be a success or a flop? (Note: this question was answered before knowing the sales records of this watch)
Hajek: I am not sure! As I don’t wear watches I probably am not the right person to comment although I do believe that it is a good step to make information more easily accessible. Having to dig your iPhone out of your pocket every time you want to check the time is … well, a hassle
That’s all!. I want to thank Martin for his time. We have already asked Jony Ive to get Hajek’s MacBook signed by him. If you want to help us, please retweet this!
Help @deplaatjesmaker to get his MacBook signed by Jony Ive. #SignMyMacBookJony http://t.co/cq026481k4
— iPaderos (@ipaderos) junio 24, 2015
Images: jamesbond.wikia, catalogodiseno, siliconnews
