Fascinated by accuracy, essentiality, and aesthetics, a clear vision is certainly what best characterizes Serge Rusak — Chief Design Officer of Sarolea Motorcycles and founder of Creactive Designworks.

Serge Rusak’s work tends to translate user insights and emerging trends into innovative human experiences supported by visual iconic products. With his creative approach to design based on an intuitive and emotional level, he has a very clear vision and precise understanding of the inner qualities a product needs to have. He is also the type of designer that pays attention to every little detail of a project in order to make the best overall product.

More than playing a role in it, design is a whole — the result as well as a lifelong challenge, a motivation as well as a way of living

GDN: Getting to know Serge Rusak as a designer with various projects in your record, what is the role of design in your life and career?

Serge Rusak: More than playing a role in it, design is a whole — the result as well as a lifelong challenge, a motivation as well as a way of living. Since almost forever, design conditions my life, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I also tend to often question this evidence, then each daily encounter confirms that I am indeed lucky, born to do this job of passion.

More fundamentally, it is also the possibility of questioning and then rewriting things. I am a critical dreamer and the power of innovation that this profession offers us is really fascinating. Of course, reality, whether industrial or economic, does not always allow us to go as far as we would like, but the limits tend to gradually disappear. And that is why I am constantly trying to push them away: everything, absolutely everything, should soon be possible. That’s exciting!

As Walt Disney said: “if you can dream it, you can do it.”
It proves true in design, more than ever; so let’s dream.

GDN: Now what would you consider your role in the design practice and industry?

Serge: Above all, I think that a designer must have real convictions in his work, without arrogance; that is being convinced by his production, but above all, being able to unite around his ideas. This seems logical but it is not always the case; it is sometimes quite difficult to remain faithful to one’s opinions while dealing with the constraints of the industry or the world in which one behaves.

Consequently, these convictions must also translate into more and more frank decision-making, being convinced that it is better to seek support or frank rejection rather than a mixed feeling at the sight of a trendy product that could be forgotten in a minute.

Experience has also taught me that our role is to educate the partners with whom we work. To promote our approach and its real added value, it is important that they understand it; this is particularly valid for the somewhat intangible phases of the process. The designer brings a project vision, a personality, and not simply technical skills or acquired expertise.

As Walt Disney said: “if you can dream it, you can do it.”

It proves true in design, more than ever; so let’s dream!

The designer brings a project vision, a personality, and not simply technical skills or acquired expertise

Companies, consumers, or students in design must also understand that our role goes well beyond the simple practice of the profession. It has become social, responsible, through the means it engages and its consequences. Perhaps we should move towards a new, more direct position, shared between personal desires or those of the customer, and the meaning that we can give to what we produce. In the end, wouldn’t our ultimate role be to materialize degrowth with intelligence and common sense? A real case of conscience?

GDN: In your portfolio, we have seen designs from watches and sunglasses to cars and a semi-auto shotgun. What is your approach when visualizing and materializing a design project?

Serge: Indeed, my portfolio presents an unusual variety of projects; I like to do go from one extreme to the other and move from one subject to another, without becoming a specialist. This allows me to keep a freshly naive approach while relying on my experience and a solid process that allows me to ensure a quality result — a clever mix between methodology and intuition. In my opinion, the designer is halfway between a structured, quasi-scientific approach and a more artistic creative exploration.

On one hand, the methodology used almost systematically leads to a relevant result, or at least perceivable; the important thing is more to understand the process than the final object, which is always open to criticism because it is impacted by all the constraints linked to the project. I always start a project with a rigorous analysis of the subject proposed to me. It is important to forget yourself to understand the question asked, the different components, the actors, the history and the DNA of the brand for which you are working, its values, the end-user.

By taking, for example, the time to understand his way of life and his habits we can position the project accurately and guarantee that the product response should match the expectations of the target. This observation phase can sometimes be similar to ethnography and generally makes it possible to detect insights that are worth processing. At this stage, we have not yet put a single line on paper, and yet we are already conceptualizing things. This is the hidden part of the design work.

Once this vision is written, it is much easier to know precisely to what codes or referents the object must respond to, and we can then embark on a creative, exploratory phase at first before refocusing things on hard facts thereafter. In my eyes, it is important above all not to be satisfied with improving things as they stand but to start from the initial question to which we seek to provide an answer. A response that can then be developed, passing through different filters depending on whether it is directed towards a purely industrial, prospective, aesthetic, or simply poetic meaning.

It is a process that takes time. It is important to step back in order to remain critical of one’s work and ensure that it matures in the right way. It is also the whole point of collaborating with different people, the outside eye is often relevant and makes the obvious appear obvious

As for intuition, it feeds these different phases; these are things that we feel during the evolution of the project, personal convictions often linked to experience on the one hand but also to one’s personal culture. I furthermore bring a lot of importance to enriching mine on a daily basis, not necessarily in the classic sense of the term by reading or going to the museum, but mainly by observing the world around me, people, and their behavior. Since we do a visual job, it seems obvious to me to open the eyes, to be curious, and to fill our heads with inspiring images.

The result of this constant curiosity, combined with the pragmatic methodology I was talking about, normally ensures that we are creative and fair in our production. It works for me at least.

GDN: The Savile boat, a most beautifully detailed design has won a 2021 Good Design Award from Chicago Athenaeum Museum. What is a “good design” in your opinion?

Serge: We are very proud of it, thank you! And I reckon that the Good Design Awards recognize its uniqueness as a “good design”.

When the story is good, the product is good

I am convinced that, above all, the human adventure which has been driving this project for years makes its quality. A story of passionate people who meet, who share ideas, values, a vision, and who realize it together, with the same level of requirement, the same patience, the same love of things well done down to the smallest detail. The final object, although attractive, is almost less important than the story that gave birth to it. And when the story is good, the product is good.

It is even better when the user experience is satisfactory, when this experience is at the heart of the project and conditions the final concept, justifying in this specific case a unique and innovative product architecture. The hull thus cut in two at the back of the boat reinforces the feeling of immersion felt by the rower, closer to his environment and his performance… a real sensory experience.

The aesthetic work reinforces all these messages, giving an instantly iconic image to the object. Furthermore, I think that over time my style has matured; it has been refined, simplified, clarified, I have learned to go straight to the point and not want to do too much anymore.

The tools that are being developed today offer unprecedented potential; the only risk being these tools push our work into the background

I always try to achieve a balance between the attitude of the object and its visual presence, its silhouette must already be an identity. Then, it is a question of getting into the surface treatment, playing with light, and directing the eye into the interpretation of the object, guiding it towards the details. I am quite a perfectionist; I spend a lot of time on details that most people don’t even notice. This does not make it easy for my collaborators.

And finally, it is the materialization of all these notions thanks to the right materials and optimized processes that freezes the essence (nature) of the object and gives it its imperfect accuracy. In summary, a good design is, in my opinion, the result of a human adventure combining passion, innovation, and aesthetics; a design materialized in a fair and essential way.

Beyond its use, a product design must imperceptibly change consciousness

GDN: Society experiences new phenomena and sets new rules. Design is a generic part of our approach to the world and how it looks like. Can the internal coherence of a design fill the “power of our madness”?

Serge: I like to believe so. Once again, beyond a simple aesthetic approach, the design must make it possible to translate a societal and responsible commitment. The impact of mass production is no longer insignificant, and it is essential to take it into consideration in our daily work.

Beyond the use it causes, a product must imperceptibly change consciousness. Overconsumption, waste, and planned obsolescence are to be avoided. And I think that with some intelligence, design has the ability to align resources and strategies to really provoke a collective commitment and a learning of more virtuous values, of fairer behaviors. We are all convinced of this; however, we still have to convince our decision-makers and our investors. This is where the craziness of the situation lies.

Personally, I am torn every day between the passion for doing my job, whatever the project, and the questioning it arises: do we really need a new chair, or is my designer’s ego flattered? The question also applies to the producer who decides to develop, manufacture and sell this chair… torn, I hope, between the desire to offer a more relevant chair and the need to make a profit. The balance is hard to find, but creative genius can emerge out of madness.

Personally, I am torn every day between the passion for doing my job, whatever the project, and the question: do we really need a new chair or is my designer’s ego flattered?

GDN: What about the future of design — what challenges and goals do technological changes bring to the design practice regarding efficiency and sustainability?

Serge: The future promises to be exciting, without or almost without limits. The tools that are being developed today offer unprecedented potential; the only risk being these tools push our work into the background.

In my opinion, they must remain tools that we use wisely to develop and materialize our ideas. They can, in no way, generate the basic idea or define the vision. On the other hand, they allow a real optimization, from all points of view, and throughout the whole process. The time saved during the design phase, the speed with which they allow iteration, physical or virtual tests in real-time, and the reduction of necessary resources (material or energy) are just a few obvious examples.

Nowadays, the use of Virtual Reality, for example, makes it possible to understand the design of 3D objects in a whole new way, without limit of the scale, with total freedom. The gestures that this tool induces are also quite magical, as much as the mental gymnastics they imply.

Same for generative design or 3D/4D printing; these tools are truly amazing. Of course, they make it possible to optimize the structural performance of a part, its weight, and its production. But until now, these parts were not necessarily intended to be visible. As soon as they become so, they make it possible to offer a new formal, parametric language, naturally illustrating this optimization of the weight, material, and energy consumed ratio.

The ability to overcome constraints of traditional production such as unmolding, for example, makes it possible to draw more complex shapes, impossible to produce otherwise. Here again, a subtle balance needs to be reached in order to make the result aesthetic and acceptable.

Beyond the cosmetic possibilities, it is a whole business model that is evolving: the prototyping phases are much faster, saving considerable time during project development, but also to vary the iterations at low cost. The production itself could evolve; printing replacing injection for example. One can easily think that the industrial tools could become more reactive, less frozen offering the possibility of rapidly improving a product, almost in real-time, or personalizing it without causing heavy tooling costs.

Furthermore, it is a great opportunity for small structures that do not necessarily have access to industrial processes; the barrier between the industry and the builders could tend to disappear, meaning the return of craftsmanship 2.0 in a way.

And I do not even approach the subject of the Metaverse, which allows us to completely free ourselves from the laws of physics. Exciting, provided you continue to serve the human being.

GDN: Which do you consider your exemplary work so far and which the most challenging?

Serge: The project I’m most proud of? The next one I imagine, I have this desire to always want to do better. It is sometimes frustrating when a project has to move forward to stick to the schedule, knowing that I could have gone a little deeper in its design. But it’s also a challenge to take up.

On the other hand, I must admit that my Enoki project (a Corian table) has a particular flavor. It reveals what I am today. No specific client, no real constraints, no desire to stick to codes, just the intuition to do a project that represents me and that was a real challenge.

The project I’m most proud of? The next one I suppose

GDN: What upcoming or ongoing projects would you like to reveal to our readers?

Serge: I am currently going through a phase that probably offers me the greatest diversity of projects that I have ever experienced, and it is quite exciting.

Collaborations range from projects for the luxury industry or for an entrepreneur in outdoor sports to lighting, lifestyle, ceramics, and furniture projects, among others.

I am also presently in the final designing phase of an electric bike, in collaboration with a French start-up. The style has been defined and we are moving into the prototyping phase, a critical moment which should allow us to validate the architecture of the bike and the major structural principles, which are rather innovative. We are anxious to ride this bike, which design is to shake up the codes of the small world of urban mobility.

And in a more personal way, I am finalizing an electric scooter; a counter pillar project imagined around a few beers with a fellow designer.

GDN: Last, a design that you love; but not one of yours.

Serge: A Rado watch (True Phospho model signed Big-Game) which I don’t presently own. My brother gives it to me sometimes: a meaningful gesture, which reminds me that time or distance do not alter blood ties. And a very beautiful object in itself, already a collector.

We are anxious to ride this bike, which design is to shake up the codes of the small world of urban mobility

*All images courtesy of Serge Rusak