Diana is a Latvian born designer currently living and working in Copenhagen. In 2010 she graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven (Man and Identity) and in the same year she was featured in www.vogue.it as a new talent. Of course we were curious how did she managed that, so there is the interview.

1. Please tell us about yourself?
Hello Designblog, my name is Diana Strele and I am a designer. Last year I graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven and right now I am living and working in Denmark – I work for a Danish company, Bestseller (www.bestseller.com) brand Pieces accessories (www.pieces.com), as a full time designer. Before I left my home country Latvia, I finished my studies in Janis Rozentals Art High School (www.jrrmv.lv), right after that, at age 18, I left to Denmark, to study for a year in Krabbesholm højskole (www.krabbesholm.dk). I was studying design, art and preparing my portfolio to apply to academies. After a year in Denmark I got into Design Academy Eindhoven in Holland where I spent 4 years and now returned back to Denmark.

2. What is good design for you?
Good design, that is a million $ question, well, I think there are many kinds of good design: aesthetic design, practical design, smart design etc. and as long as it does something good, it’s good design.

3. How did you get in Vogue and what does it means to be there?
When I was working on my graduation project “Shielded“, me and the photographer Åsmund Sollihøgda (www.asmundsollihogda.se) decided to send out the pictures to different magazines to see if any of them would like to publish them, and then, a few months later, I got an email from Vogue.it saying that they have chosen me as the new talent and the best project of the week, it felt fantastic!

4. What are you doing while not designing?
While not designing I am going to Danish language courses and watching Mad Men.

5. Do you have any plans for the future? Let’s say 5 years from now?
Hmm, 5 years from now, well, hopefully I will still have my job, because I really enjoy it and it feels like never ending development, so I plan to stay and work as a designer as long as I can.

6. Please name 3 Baltic designers whose work you like.
Mareunrols and Mara Skujniece I think are very strong designers.

7. What did you study in Eindhoven and to whom would you recommend that school?
In Design Academy Eindhoven I was studying in the department Man and Identity. I would recommend this school for people that are ready to dedicate a lot of time to their studies, are open minded and can handle criticism.

8. Any plans about Latvia?
Not that I have any plans, but you never know what could happen. I didn’t know at all that I was going to be in Holland for 4 years until 4 months before I went there, and the same with moving to Denmark.

9. Why did you decide to study abroad?
Well, that was almost 6 years ago, when I left home, I think I just didn’t want to go to the Art Academy [Art Academy of Latvia], I knew I didn’t want to be an artist, but more a designer, so I decided to join my friend Germans Ermics to go to Denmark for a year and figure out what exactly I wanted to do. Also I felt like being somewhere new.

10. 3 things you really like and would recommend to other designers?
Everything, designers should be open to everything – art, fashion, history, nature, technology, food, etc. Be open to all the information, you never know where you might find the best inspiration. Everything can show you something new which can help in the design process afterwards.

Main image: Diana Strele at 17:17.

More at www.dianastrele.com

Latvijas mākslas un dizaina skolu audzēknes guvušas starptautisku atzinību Eiropas mākslas skolu konkursā Young Creative Chevrolet 2009. Konkursam tika iesniegti vairāk kā 500 Eiropas mākslas un dizaina skolu audzēkņu darbu no 19 Eiropas valstīm. Sīvajā konkurencē pie balvām piecās kategorijās tika arī divas jaunietes no Latvijas. Marta Dūdiņa no Jaņa Rozentāla Rīgas Mākslas vidusskolas ieguva 3.vietu vizuālās mākslas kategorijā par priekšlikumu sacīkšu automašīnas virsbūves grafikas dizainam, bet Karīna Stefanišina no Liepājas Mākslas vidusskolas 3.vietu ieguva par automašīnas reklāmas video.

Balvas Marta un Karīna saņēma svinīgajā ceremonijā Berlīnē, kur iespaidīgā šovā 29.oktobra vakarā vairakkārt izskanēja Latvijas vārds. Dizaina konkursi ir lieliska iespēja gan studentiem, gan viņu pasniedzējiem savas prasmes salīdzināt plašākā konkursā. Būtiski arī, ka daudzveidīgi, ietekmīgu ražotāju atbalstīti konkursi sniedz iespēju izmēģināt spēkus dizaina nozarēs, kas studentiem nav pieejamas Latvijā.

Martas Dūdiņas priekšlikums, 3.vieta kategorijā Vizuālā māksla

Karīnas Stefanišinas video, 3.vieta kategorijā Video

YCC 2009 – 3rd prize from Young Creative Chevrolet on Vimeo.

Marta Dūdiņa (labajā pusē) no Jaņa Rozentāla Rīgas Mākslas vidusskolas ar savu pasniedzēju Maiju Muižnieci Berlīnē

Karīna Stefanišina no Liepājas Mākslas vidusskolas Berlīnē

Marta un Karīna kopā ar cietiem balvas ieguvušajiem Eiropas mākslas un dizaina skolu jauniešiem Berlīnē

Vairāk informācijas: www.youngcreativechevrolet.eu