Barcelona-based industrial design studio Mermelada Estudio was co-founded by Juan Miguel (also called Juanmi) Juárez, Laura Blasco and Alex Estévez.
Their projects – which strive to be distinctive – counterbalance a strong, individual character with neutrality and understatement.
The studio’s short but intensely active career is starting to bear fruit as their impressive portfolio of products – ranging from the outdoor furniture collection Equis for the company Oi Side and kitchenware to the Maya line of decorative lighting for Almerich - amply demonstrates.
The studio also regularly collaborates with the platform Surtido, which they are members of.
Since 2010, they’ve coupled their professional work with teaching in colleges and design institutions. In collaboration with the Fundació Centre del Vidre de Barcelona (Barcelona’s Glass Foundation), they organise workshops in order to help spread the word about the use of this material.
Mermelada Estudio took part this year in the Salone Satellite at the Milan Furniture Fair. We met up with them there and this is what our chat with them revealed:
Interiors From Spain: How did Mermelada Estudio come to be formed and what does each member contribute to the team?
Mermelada: The three of us met while working together in a larger studio in Barcelona, and we soon realised there was a good rapport between us. After a while, we went our separate ways but got together again a bit later, and started collaborating on small projects which then led to others. Finally, we set up our studio in 2007, which has since become more established.
All studio members take part in the creative stage of a project’s process, but as the project progresses, each person assumes a clear role. Laura manages the studio and projects, and is in charge of graphic design. Alex oversees our branding and marketing. Juanmi looks after the more tech aspects of our work.
IFS: What main new things did you show at Satellite in 2011?
Mermelada: Accompanied by the slogan ‘Weekend Objects’, we showed an outdoor shower, a barbecue, an outdoor light, a mini bar, a chair and an outdoor table. The name Weekend Objects was chosen not because they’re designed to be used at weekends but because the objects suggest weekend pursuits: chilling, hanging out with friends, relaxing and time spent on hobbies. The words have positive connotations and we wanted to create pieces we can enjoy using.
IFS: Can you give us a sneak preview of any new projects you’re currently working on?
Mermelada: We’ve just finished designing a document-holder especially for a client, to be launched in a month and a half. And right now, we’re working on a more industrial product: a household electrical appliance.
IFS: Is there any project or product you haven’t yet been asked to design but which you’d like to take on?
Mermelada: It’s hard to answer that question because we approach every new project with huge enthusiasm and put lots of effort into it, whatever that product happens to be.
In terms of where we go from here, we’re very drawn to the field of design for kitchens. So far, we’ve only dipped our toes into this when we created our household electrical appliance, which we really enjoyed. It made us realise we’re very attracted to this area of design.
If we had to choose one object to design it would be a bicycle: we see it as the most pleasing interrelationship between man and machine there is. It would have loads of charm.
IFS: What do you think of what’s going on in design at the moment, and Spanish design in particular? What do you think are the main trends emerging, including those seen at Milan?
Mermelada: Reflecting on this, we need to realise that we are good designers – by which we mean not us specifically but Spanish designers as a whole! There are lots of young Spanish designers producing very interesting work. But there are, of course, many interesting companies outside Spain, too, which is why we’re here – at the Milan fair. It’s good for us to make contact with clients from abroad. Milan gives we Spanish designers the perfect opportunity to broaden our horizons. There was a huge wave of new Spanish design in the 80s and 90s. Now’s the perfect moment to appreciate high quality projects currently seeing the light.
In terms of design in general, we’re in a period of reinvention. People are experimenting with fresh ways of working – likes those being tried out now at the Royal College of Art in London and at Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Essentially, these see design as a laboratory for exploring new methodologies and processes. These projects might not result in actual products but they open the way for radically new approaches to design.
We think mass-production is going through a crisis, at least in Europe. It’s facing stiff competition from Asia which is increasingly producing high quality, well-priced goods. We’re about to witness an industrial renaissance, a consumer revolution. We need to embrace craftsmanship again – albeit a digital-based craftsmanship. We will be thinking more in terms of small-batch production, in very well-considered products, in the added value of exclusivity – the added value found in craftsmanship, not in industrial manufacturing.
IFS: What main trends do you see emerging here at Milan?
Mermelada: We’ve seen lots of things with a natural, raw feel – products which don’t appear to be mass-produced. We’ve seen a lot of marble and wood without lacquered surfaces. The overall impression is of natural materials. As for colour, these are very greyish. We’ve seen plenty of colours, though ones with a grey base. And no garish colours, just muted ones as well as plenty of very romantic shades. That’s the impression we’ve had from what little we’ve been able to see so far since we need to spend a lot of time on our stand.
IFS: Why are you called Mermelada Estudio?
Mermelada:When we first started working together, we were based at Laura’s place, and we loved having breakfast together. (It’s now a ritual for us.) And we began storing our pencils and felt-tip pens into our used marmalade jars. After that, our friends began to give us jam jars brought back from their travels and we kept them in our studio. Some women journalist friends once brought us a jar full of jam which Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz makes at his home.
