Ten design questions is a newly launched interview series where Think asks designers working across all sectors about design and things they like. We ask for quick-fire answers to questions we've all wanted to know more about from our favourite designers, and they reply with their knee-jerk design likes and loves. Easy.
For our first instalment, we fired ten design questions at Jan Baric – a self-taught woodworker and maker. He draws inspiration for his furniture designs from a multitude of sources – the skin of an octopus, pure geometric forms, sea shells, tree species, Japanese woodworking, Mid-Century design – the list is long and varied. His designs are meticulous, typically angular, and very much belonging to a singularly crafted style. These are his ten design questions.
Question 01
What is your favourite piece of design that you have not created?
Mondial chair by Reitveld.
Question 02
What is your favourite piece of design that you have created?
Sepia chair.
Sepia chair, Jan Baric
Question 03
Who is your greatest inspiration within the design world?
The American woodworker, Sam Maloof.
Question 04
Who is your greatest inspiration outside of the design world?
Michael Jordan.
Question 05
How do you cure ‘designer’s block’?
I go and play sports, usually basketball.
Question 06
How long did it take you to ‘make it’ as a designer?
Around 1-2 years.
Top: Sepia chair, Jan Baric,, bottom: H-chair, Jan Baric
Question 07
If you weren’t a designer, what other profession would you pursue?
I would be an urban planner or photographer.
Question 08
What is your favourite object in your home?
My first chair - Sepia.
Question 09
What do you want to learn more about?
I want to learn more about woodworking.
Question 10
What’s the best career-related advice you’ve ever received?
Follow your passion.
Jan Baric began drawing and designing in elementary school while he was working in plastic modelling. His passion continued to build in high school, at art gymnasium, and then at the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana. Basic now devotes his time to the design of objects and spaces, where he feels at home expresses his feelings and ideas. His aim is to create spaces in which people feel good, and can be poured into one with content. He is a self-taught woodworker and maker.