Branca Good- Interior Designer- Shaping Dreams

After 10 years working internationally in marketing management she found her vocation in Interior Design. Being passionate about design and experienced in management bares some potential. ‘Tout se tient’, what she learned living, studying and working in Bellinzona, London, Barcelona and Zurich all hangs together and contributed to the founding of her own company Good Interiors GmbH early 2018. A dream came true!

She goes her won way and dares to be different. That makes her unique.

 

1.Tell us why you decided to become an Interior Designer?

I have these two almost contradictory talents: management and creativity.

For many years I worked in management as a project leader, organizing, coordinating and leading projects. I liked it and was good at it but I was missing being creative (I mean, apart from the daily business creativity you need to solve problems).

After an incisive personal experience I decided to abandon the management and to start a completely new career as an interior designer. I wanted to be creative for a living.

As a very heterogeneous group of people loved the atmosphere in my apartment, I deduced that I had at least a flair for interior design. It was worth giving it a try. And it was one of the best decisions I took in my life. I discovered my passion for beauty and my ability to create it. Design turned out to be my vocation.

As company owner of good interiors GmbH, now I am both a manager and an artist.

 

2. What kind of designer do you consider yourself?

I am a conceptual designer in the first place. My interiors are always the result of analytical thinking and intuition. These two opposite processes (one conscious and one subconscious) complete and complement each other perfectly, like ying and yang, and lead to a thought-through and harmonious final result. To me these two totally different approaches are both essential for a customized (interior) design, measure-made for each individual client.

No project without a concept, a Leitmotiv, a fil rouge, a minimal common denominator which guarantees the continuity and consistency within the project.

 

3. Do you have any mentors or advisors?

Getting a second opinion on projects sometimes is precious, indeed. Having a whole bunch of friends who are architects is useful. Among them Samuel Scherrer is certainly my closest mentor, always there to give good advice. With him I also doublecheck my ideas to make sure I am not the only one finding them worthwhile implementing. However, generally speaking, I am a very self-determined person and do not fear taking on the whole responsibility for myself.

 

4. How is your artistic process for creating work?

Creative chaos is often the starting point of my projects. Gathering and assembling the very first ideas, letting them rest for a few days and then look at them from a different angle. I then identify the diamond among the variety of approaches and thoughts. That is when the concept is defined. From that moment onwards it gets easy: it’s only a matter of finding the elements (materials, furniture and lighting) that speak that language of the concept and match.

CHAOS -> CONCEPT -> FILLING THE FRAMEWORK WITH CONTENT

However, this process only leads to a good result if I have been asking the right questions and listening very carefully to the needs of my client in the first place. This prior step is the condition sine qua non for custom-tailored design.

 

5. Name three interior designers/architects you admire.

It’s hard to choose three only…I admire the apparently inextinguishable power of creation of both Patricia Urquiola and Paola Navone. I also love the mix of Japanese patterns and Nordic design by Edward van Vliet.

 

6. Have you overcome any challenges in your career?

Challenges make me learn, grow and constantly improve myself. I love challenges. When you put up a materials’ library and a showroom on your own from scratch in 5 months you face many challenges every single day. Every single day is a big adventure, full of learnings, decisions to be taken, mistakes to be avoided…

Sadly enough, in my new role as an entrepreneur I realize that as a young, blond woman I often have to work harder than others to prove equal to somebody. I find it challenging to be respected for the quality of your work only.

 

7. How did the idea of the materials’ library come to your mind?

Working in a large, well-known furniture store I suddenly realized that I do love furniture but I am passionate about materials. I adore being surrounded by samples: parquet, ceramic tiles, fabrics, wall paper, colors, carpets… I wanted them around me always. That is how I had the idea of the material’s library: an exhibition of my favorite samples for people to look at, touch and experience. A tangible and tactile database to assemble materials for harmonious interiors.

 

8. Tell us one of the weirdest or funniest moments of your career.

Can’t think of any right now, apart from being asked quite often, whether Branca Good is my artist name.

 

9. What advice would you give to an emerging designer?

Do what you love! Be yourself!

Whatever you do, do it TOTALLY, CONSISTENTLY and WITHOUT ANY COMPROMISE.

Put all of yourself into it until the brand/company/project is self-standing. Then let go and watch how it leads it’s own way and how it takes you on a journey.

Most brands or companies at some point develop into a different direction than the one you initially planned. Keep checking whether you are aligned with the company philosophy and goal, whether it still mirrors you. If not, stop, think and re-adjust – either yourself or the company.

 

10. As you think back, what has been the influencing factors in your Interior Design career?

My very first mentor, the interior architect Nicole Gottschall, she certainly  influenced me remarkably. Her style was the base upon which I then built my own aesthetics and understanding of beauty.

Furthermore, practicing Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, remarkably influences my work as a designer. In Ikebana the flowers are in perfect equilibrium among each other in terms of color, proportion, length, position, shape and dimension. I apply the same rules to interior design to create an atmosphere where everything is in balance and speaks the same language.

 

11. What are you currently working on?

I just finished my first non-interior project. For the Swiss manufacturer Woodcoat I created the new standard color card for powder-coated MDF. It was a very interesting task, as it not only implied knowledge about the interior trends but also an in-depth market research and a good understanding of the brand positioning. It was a project in which my rational-irrational approach to design was fundamental. The feeling for trends was equally important as the analysis of the market.

Currently I am working on various private renovations and…I have the first contract project in the pipeline: a hairdressing salon. good interiors GmbH is leading the way, and I follow and take on the challenges and adventures I am proposed.