Ramón Úbeda: The art of being an art director

*  The following article is an excerpt from Design in/from Spain magazine for smartphones and tablets.

 Ramón Úbeda, designer, writer and architect, is the man we have to thank for many of the fascinating pieces of furniture produced over the past 18 years by Barcelona's most revered furniture company, BD Barcelona Design – for many years BD Ediciones de Diseño.

Not that he has designed every piece himself, but he's been the spark and the enabler. 'It is a very full job for a unique company,' says Úbeda. 'It's my role to propose ideas for new projects and collections, to develop the brief, to look for the right designer, and then to team up with my technical other half, Otto Canaldo, to work out how we can make the piece – which materials to use and the most appropriate manufacturing techniques.'

It is a role of creative freedom and Úbeda welcomes the fact that bean counting isn't part of his job, nor does he have to spend his days in meetings with accountants making a financial case for every decision. And that, he says, is down to the founding ethos of BD. 'Lots of you will know the story of BD, but in case you don't...'

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