Studio Do Make - Nacho Carbonell
I like to give a very open brief at the start of the education process which asks students who they are as designers. Some students get intimidated by this question but I want them to jump into the void, this white canvas, and to start digging there. In the 2A program, we get into the core or principles that are close to them—to discover the tools they want to use in their future careers. Students continue digging deeper, really getting into that initial thought because this is the soul of the things they make.
For me, the boundaries of work, private and public life don't exist anymore. Everything is fluid—it blends into one. One thing informs the other. All these tools, if we embrace them, become powerful. We often create divisions between ourselves and others, but at the studio, we try to look at this more holistically. You see yourself and your contexts as a whole.
Just because we design through our own persona doesn’t mean it’s only for ourselves. Participative work is also about identity because we need to know ourselves in order to be able to collaborate. It’s about connecting with your own methodology, which we try to discover—not to feed an ego, but to recognise the process that helps create ideas.
Over the years, we’re reaching maturity with the studio: the team is stable and the curriculum works. The assignments mature and we manage to target subjects more efficiently. When you do something the first time, it takes a huge effort. Now, my tutors know the context better, the Design Academy, the facilities, the type of students we get.
We centre the education around the students and try to tailor the program to each individual, treating every student as a specific case. After a few classes, we can see how students approach the design process, which helps us push their path forward. We’re all very grounded—me and the tutors. The students know who we are, and we build a trust relationship that allows us to give strong feedback. We’re very aware and connected to what’s happening and try to share that with the students. We also try to prevent them from jumping into trends too soon, which is why we want our students to go deeper before using new technologies. Having a computer doesn’t make you a better designer. Having a super skill doesn’t make you a better thinker. We want to form the thinker, the idea, the methodology first—then let them communicate using whatever tools are available.
The studio—as the name mentions—is about being proactive. We put those two words together to emphasize: you need to make something. We’re trying to create thinkers, but also people who act. “Do-Make” doesn’t mean just physically crafting something, it’s also about generating an action. Your ideas shouldn’t rot in your brain. You need to give birth to these ideas. Let them exist. Bring them out. That’s the importance of taking action.
