Tell us about the DNA platform. What is its mission and values?

DNA is divided on 2 parts that are the DNA Paris Design Awards and the DNA Summer Design Conference. With my partner Hossein Farmani, we’ve designed DNA as a global, multicultural initiative, right from the start. We aim to discover fresh and creative designs from all around the world in Architecture, Interior, Landscape, Product, and Graphic Design. DNA was made to celebrate great Design without borders!

An international competition is a good way to discover new talents. How DNA helps promote new artists?

We guess that it is hard to emerge to with the number of designers that are now working worldwide. Most of them are very talented but can’t really show their work abroad. Great design is moving fast and bright ideas pop up everywhere. We help designers to showcase their work to industry leaders through our different platforms online and during the Summer Design Conference on the ground.

DNA selects a prestigious jury for each competition, what values do they look for in artists?

Each of the jury member has its special skills and ideas about design. We have decided to have very different profiles in our jury to better represent the worldwide community of designers. We hope that all the participants can recognise themselves in at least one of our jury member !

And the jury is 100% free of their votes, each of them judge as they want (design, fonction, aesthetic,…).

Tell us more about the Summer Design Conference…

The Summer Design Conference was made to gather the creative ‘thinkers and makers’ community around exciting design workshops, inspiriting exhibitions, master classes, design lab, parties and more. Last year edition was held in Paris at the Magasins Généraux (the headquarters of the creative agency BETC) in June.  The voice is given to a new generation of creative people as well as to charismatic and visionary personalities who will approach design through cutting-edge subjects related to creativity, art, technology, energy & design.

One of the categories of the DNA competition is Graphic Design. What is your opinion about the current trends in this field?

I think there are many ‘trends’ right now in Graphic Design. It really depends on where you live, what’s your fields, your writing, culture etc.. That’s why Graphic Design is so interesting and challenging.  I guess AI will take more space in the coming year in Graphic Design but nothing will replace the human brain & creativity!

There is a lot of talent around us…, how to stand out?

Being different from the others! With DNA we really believe in the power of the difference. That’s why we got so many designers with very different profiles and cultures from more than 70 countries.

Finally, what advice would you give to creatives who are just starting out in graphic design?

«With DNA we really believe in the power of the difference»

Image: Hossein Farmani and Romain Lahoussine