Danilo Villanueva
1. Please give us a brief bio of yourself and your design background.
I am an adman, product designer and entrepreneur. I
2. What made you become/why did you choose to become a designer/artist?
It started out with a need for a creative outlet and time away from my daily advertising job while at Interone BBDO. I wanted to create a company that allowed me to come up with products which I have complete creative control of. What started out as a passion project became a steady business for me. That
3. Tell us more about your agency/company, job profile, and what you do.
Makina Watches is a watch brand from the Philippines. All watches are designed, engineered and made in the Philippines with movements coming from Switzerland and some parts coming from Hong Kong. Although it is a business, our intent is to maintain our passion project mindset when developing products and building our brand; we release products based on our own personal taste and not popular trends or what sells more. Even though Makina primarily targets the niche world of watch enthusiasts, we are comfortable in pushing watch design archetypes towards directions that may not sit comfortably well with watch purists whom Makina intends to speak to.
4. What does “design” mean to you?
To me, design is when idea, beauty and function come together.
5. What’s your favorite kind of design and why?
This changes all the time for me. Flavor of the month is Brutalist. I love its monumental beauty, brute character and timelessness.
6. To you, what makes a “good” design?
Good design is one that looks good, answers the brief, adapts to users and fits in this day and age.
Great design is one that has a defining personal touch, goes beyond the brief, one that users are willing to adapt to and is timeless.
7. How did you come up with the idea for your award-winning design?
In the rectangular watch category, we recognized that designs often came with the same character that comes with the usual dressy, art deco, conventional watch designs. We wanted to add muscle, athleticism and coolness to the category and used this direction as a beacon to small and large design decisions we made when building Makina Andras_I.
8. Congratulations! As the winner of the London Design Awards, what does it mean to you and your company and team to receive this award distinction?
We are truly honored and humbled to receive this award. It certainly gives us inspiration to do better and to build more.
9. Can you explain a bit about the winning work you entered into the London Design Awards, and why you chose to enter this project?
We wanted to design a black sheep in the 3-handed rectangular watch category that
10. What were the main challenges you faced during the design process, and how did you overcome them?
Production budget is usually a challenge we have. We overcome it by building in small quantities and small batches which makes things better anyway since it makes every model we put out there more special not having so many of them out in the world.
11. How do you think winning this award will impact your future as a designer?
Although we will never lose sight of our primary principles of putting stuff out there that we simply like and that we think will add newness to the industry, winning this award has certainly raised the bar and will be used as a secondary filter for upcoming designs.
12. What are your top three (3) favorite things about the design industry?
The part where you
13. Where do you see the evolution of design industry going over the next 5-10 years?
It is more and more difficult to predict nowadays than ever before with new technologies and new trends that come and go faster than ever. What I do want to say is: even though designs will change in terms of what they will look like and how they will get crafted, what will not change are the fundamentals. The importance of Insight, idea and purpose will never change. Sometimes these new technologies and new trends distract from these things; they should not distract from remembering who we
14. What advice do you have for aspiring designers who want to create award-winning designs?
Definitely participate in award programs like London Design Awards and get inspired by its standards but never make getting an award the key objective of your craft. Stay true to your brand or your style. And stay true to why you fell in love with design in the first place. Awards should simply be a byproduct of effort and talent combined.
15. What resources would you recommend to someone who wants to improve their skills in the design industry?
Design magazines and blogs are great sources of inspiration but I would probably recommend spending time away from the computer for the early portion of the conceptual process. I would recommend pulling inspiration from your own brain and personal experiences first and really spending a significant amount of time thinking it through as I think it's one way to not just come up with another thing that looks beautiful but personal too.
16. Who has inspired you in your life and why?
If I have to think of people who has consistently inspired me in doing what I do, it would be my parents. They are not designers at all. But they have taught me two things: discipline and follow-through. Talent simply is not enough without these two things.
17. What is your key to success? Any parting words of wisdom?
What success means to one person may not mean the same to another. One
