We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Rebeka Pakozdi about their original and creative coffee set design work. Rebeka Pakozdi is an award-winning communication designer, that makes our world a better place with their original coffee set works.
Rebeka Pakozdi ("RP") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Relax coffee set. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
RP : Even as a child, sharing a coffee together was an important experience. Every weekend my parents and godparents got together to chat over coffee. They shared how their week had been, talked about current news and told each other their plans for the upcoming week. These meet ups infused their day with energy. Seeing this example while growing up, sharing a coffee with my friends and family has become a meaningful part of my life. Such a shared event brings people together. Unfortunately, people seem to have less and less time to cultivate personal relationships these days, which is why I chose it as a prime factor in the design of my set. I want to bring back this neglected custom.
RP : I would like to revive the ancient tradition of drinking coffee together which is phrased quite well by this Turkish proverb: "The soul of man doesn't long for coffee or for a coffee house, it longs for a friend - coffee is but an excuse."
RP : I would like to launch it as a handmade, limited series product. I plan to create a new package design and will have a new logo for it as part of the Pakozdi brand as well.
RP : It takes me about four months from the first step of the design to realize the product.
RP : It started out as a school project during the last year of the Ceramics specialization of my Craftsmanship BA at the University of Applied Sciences Budapest, but due to being mostly inspired by my childhood memories, I treated it as distinguished project.
RP : Since it is planned to be a handmade, limited series product, I would like to retain the production rights myself. However given the chance, I would like to design products for companies in the future.
RP : The ensemble of concrete and porcelain creates an exciting contrast and the textures of these materials influence and highlight each other. The relationship strengthening purpose of the object’s use manifests itself in the complementary shapes of the concrete and porcelain items.
RP : During the project I was inspired by the Cappuccino set of Marco Savard and by the KOOKII coffee set of Fellina Sok-Cham (Lexon Studio).
RP : I envisioned this coffee set for people or companies who put importance on creating a relaxed atmosphere with the friends, colleagues and business partners.
RP : The most important distinguishing feature is the use of the cups being bound to the tray due to their cone-shaped lower part. Another noteworthy fact is the cup’s volumetric capacity being designed in such a way that it takes the official volume of the various types of coffees into account. For instance the break in the shape’s continuity around the lower third occurs at exactly 30 ml, letting us measure the ideal amount for an espresso.
RP : The name “Relax” comes from the main purpose of the set which is the strengthening of relationships. The item encourages to relax and have a small chat in others’ company. I felt that the Relax name symbolizes the content found in the set.
RP : I used mostly handdrawn sketches and at times Photoshop for the line symmetric editing of the silhouettes.
RP : The nourishment of relationships.
RP : During the project, which I created as a ceramics student at the University of Applied Sciences Budapest, my consultant was Erika Rejka DLA.
RP : As a matter of fact, one of the main goals about this design was to create a handmade product demonstrating high quality without the use of industrial technologies.
RP : The research phase is almost as important to me as the design phase. During the research phase I analyze the potential source materials connected to the relevant project and try to review a wide spectrum of subjects. It is useful for the design phase because it helps me better define the project’s direction.
RP : The shaping of porcelain and concrete was done using a similar technology during the project, but the two materials’ behaviour was different. It is necessary to have a profound understanding of all the cofactors in relation to the measuring of the different items to have the desired outcome and it was one of the pillars of the project. In addition the shaping of the concrete tray was done by a special technique. I have thought it through during the design phase, but yet sometimes theory and reality fail to match up. Hence I was really excited during actual realization and I am satisfied with the end result.
RP : I wanted to put my skills acquired at the University of Applied Sciences Budapest to the test in an international professional design competition. This was the first international competition to which I applied and I was satisfied to see my work win an award. As a recent graduate, I find it important to participate in as many competitions as I can, because it helps to build my carrier, increase my professional experience and widen the recognition of the Pakozdi brand.
RP : I improved my technical knowledge and due to the acquired experience my designing process has become faster. I am able to better assess which design ideas are more feasible and I can estimate better what needs to be improved before realization.
