IDA 2024 NOW OPEN -- Early Bird Deadline May 30, 2024
OSCAR DE LA HERA GOMEZ
Founder, Delasign
Oscar is an award winning multidisciplinary designer & technologist and founder of Delasign. His work is sold in over 30 countries by the Museum of Modern Art and can be found in over 200 Apple stores around the world. He has worked on high-profile projects such as the Apple Watch Nike+ and has been interviewed by El Mundo. He has presented as one of Spain’s emerging designers at ICFF Talks 2017 and has done work for over 20 Fortune 500 companies including Nike, MoMA and Samsung. He has served as a judge for organizations such as the One Club for Creativity, the A Design Award and the Webbys. His work has reached media outlets that include The New York Times, The Verge and The Washington Post.
Oscar’s work has won awards, nominations and shortlists from recognized institutions including Cannes International Festival for Creativity, Industrial Designers Society of America, The CLIOs, The One Show, Webby, The Creative Review and Core77.
Oscar, born in Basel, Switzerland, is Spanish and was raised in The Netherlands. He holds a Masters of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London and an MFA in Products of Design from the School of Visual Arts.
After reviewing the IDA projects, did you see evidence of any current trends in the design industry?
I witnessed a lot of current trends and what’s more interesting, some trends that only came to the industry a year or two after, making it a really interesting competition to judge.
What do you think are the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the design industry now (in your particular sector)?
I believe that the biggest challenges and opportunities are centered around Web3 and how this new internet will change our physical and digital landscapes. I believe this will affect all industries and designers must prepare themselves by understanding the territory that the world is going into – and perhaps might want to learn to code to understand the laws that this new world falls under.
What did you most enjoy about the IDA judging process?
The breadth of work that is on show.
What did you think about the quality of the entries in the IDA?
Although there were some outstanding pieces of work, the general level of the entries was very high.
How much influence does your own personal taste influence your decisions in judging a design award?
Although we are all affected by our personal taste, when judging an award I try to place myself in the shoes of the audience of that product, service or experience and value it from that perspective. I also considered strategic aspects to an entry, if any. The most difficult submissions to judge are those that I have a hard seeing where they fit in the real world or why they deserve to exist in this competitive environment.
What advice would you give to future entrants?
Focus on the visual story and the demonstration of the work. Make a video and use text to be extremely explicit and direct about what you are trying to communicate. Visuals are more likely to earn good results as they get a message across quickly and effortlessly.
What are you working on, what is in the pipeline for you for 2021?
I am working on a world-renown client and teams within their organizations to target challenges and uncover solutions via an experimental process. In the meantime, I am also developing my business and client base and hope to launch a Sans Hands SDK by the end of the year.