The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week David and Marina are joined by Alex Proba, Multi-Disciplinary Designer and Creative Director of Studio Proba to discuss her design process, finding her own style, the limitation and possibilities of a design style, blurring 2D and 3D works, spatial design, and much more. Enjoy!
Highlights & Timestamps
Alex discusses her Polish heritage, upbringing in Germany, studying abroad in Ohio, and education in interior architecture, graphic design, and furniture design. (02:25)
I went to work for an architecture company in New York and then I realized, no… architecture is not my thing. It’s way too slow for me, I don’t think I have the patience. I quickly realized that I need that instant gratification. I want to make something and have it and see it. […] I decided to go back to school for furniture design. (10:42)
Alex discusses her transitioning between different fields and following her gut feeling. (17:40)
There’s no plan I ever made. I just made random decisions at the time. There was no logical explanation other than my gut feeling and interest. And that’s still the same case with the projects I work on and things I want to do. I don’t think about it too much. I just feel, “Cool. I want to make tables” [and then] I make tables. I don’t really ask myself too many questions about if it makes sense in my business plan or if it’s the right way or not. I failed a lot in life and I think that’s the key to going somewhere because once you fail, you figure out what’s next and where you want to be. I think without taking risks and doing that, you can’t go anywhere, in my opinion. (18:21)
Alex shares her thoughts on working and living in New York City and flying to different cities for mural work. (23:53)
Alex her discusses her experience at an art/design director at Kickstarter, Nike, Mother, and other companies; why she left those jobs; and her “art poster a day” project on Instagram. (28:38)
It was kind of a reflection of my life and I learned to get rid of the anxiety of sharing work. I tried to rid of being judged for a bad design or a bad sketch. I just ignored it and kept posting. There was maybe 1,500 posters that I made and probably half of them I’m not proud of, but they’re out there and some people like them. Once the project became more known, it became more serious and I didn’t see an end. […] After the first year, which was my diary, I decided to do a second year and turn into ‘your’ diary—basically I asked the audience to submit things on my website: Their story [or anything]. […] Because my work is super colorful, I expected really happy stories and really funny things, but there were a lot of negative store and really negative stories and I realized that some people were using me as a therapist, as someone they could tell a secret to. (37:50)
Alex discusses her studio and team, the development of her style, and transitioning to having her own studio. (52:25)
Alex talks about her favorite type of project and painting murals in pool and creating 2D and 3D designs. (01:05:38)
Alex discusses what inspires her work and the danger of being over influenced by other artist’s work. (01:18:40)
To be honest I think it’s really easy to be inspired by other creatives. We have Instagram, Pinterest, we have all that stuff that didn’t exist a while back. […] I feel now you have it everywhere and I try really hard to not be inspired by that. When I’m not inspired or I feel like I don’t have ideas, the one thing that does help me is calling my grandma, who is the only creative in our family. […] She’s the one creative family member, but also my biggest critic. Sometimes I’ll send her a new project or a mural and she’ll say, ”Nah, I don’t like that. You did’t do well on that one.” (01:18:40)
Alex answers the question, “I adhering to specific design style limiting?” (01:25:29)
Alex discusses the biggest challenge she faces in her work and finding a way to transfer design knowledge other collaborators and team members. (01:32:30)
Is that even possible? You can transfer knowledge for sure and you can transfer technique […] but I think transferring what’s within me and why I create those things, that’s a hard. The ‘why I do things’ is a hard one to answer. […] Translating what I want in my heart, what I feel what I want to put on the paper to make this rug or pillow, that’s the hard part. (01:42:28)
Alex discusses her favorite color and why she wears all black. (01:47:03)
