Lilia Katz

marketing director

The main idea of the forum this year is innovation. At the same time, most companies that are members of the expert council and award winners are business representatives with history and traditions. How, in your opinion, can the tradition be combined with innovation? And how do you manage to ensure their coexistence and development in your company?

The kitchen is a traditional place in the house where people have always been preparing food for a long time, feeding their loved ones. Using modern materials and equipment, we significantly expand our capabilities in kitchen design, making it more functional. A few years ago, we did not dream that the doors of the sections could be opened automatically, using the control panel. Did not imagine a kitchen with a hood, built into the countertop. Now all this has already become a reality. And "smart" technology is becoming more affordable.

What is the kitchen like space for you? The place where the family gathers in the evening, or, for example, exclusively functional space for cooking?

I do not cook very often, but for me the kitchen is definitely a place of strength. This is the space where friends and relatives gather and where all the most important events in the family take place. This is the place of the reign of a woman: we are somehow genetically drawn to the kitchen, no matter what we do there.

If the kitchen, what color?

If the kitchen is "Maria".

What is creative for you?

Creativity is manifested in any kind of activity. Whatever you do, everything can be approached creatively. The only question is how open you are to everything new, is it able to look at the usual from another angle and do something differently than was previously accepted. So creativity is a new look at old things. And this is freedom.

And what is design?

Convenience. Definitely convenience.

What is more important: beauty or functionality? And in general, whether it is necessary to choose or always have the opportunity to unite harmoniously?

Design is beautiful functionality. Furniture, in which there is no harmonious combination of these two qualities, simply should not exist. It will not exist, well, if only for a very short period of time.

How do you think: when a designer makes a project, does the conflict arise between the creator and the designer? And who, according to your observations, wins more often?

In the designer are not fighting two entities, and much more. After all, he is not just a creator, but also a technologist, as well as a salesman, a psychologist. Who wins more often? It's not always the same. But really successful designers are great visionaries and marketers!

Do you think the leader needs inspiration? If so, where do you get it from?

If the inspiration ends, everything stops. I most often find it in the study of people. I like to watch very much. In English there is such a wonderful word - peoplewatching. You see how a person behaves, what he says, how he reacts to events. You analyze his actions, words. Some qualities you want to adopt in an unchanged form, others - in something to improve. So you transfer this experience to your work, you make it more effective.

Is there a project (no matter what area) that made a very strong impression on you?

I spend a lot of time at airports, making about a hundred flights a year. And I really like that in the United States more and more waiting rooms are equipped with connected ipads. Passengers get an excellent opportunity to spend the time before their flight with benefit. You can check the mail or order food in the nearest restaurant and immediately pay for it. And how much it is cool for the economy: the purchase of tablets, users who are constantly stimulating something to buy, after all, fewer late passengers, because they calmly arrive in advance, realizing that the time spent at the airport can be spent with profit. It's convenient, and these halls look great. Here's a real example of how design and innovation make our lives better.

What is most important to a young industrial designer who graduated from University? Maybe some personal qualities, or luck, or participation in contests, or something else?

To know the real life. We work with various successful industrial designers, and see how deeply they understand the production technologies. Sometimes they are even better than we know the worth of our equipment. Therefore, the industrial designer is primarily a specialist who understands the technology of production of those items that he is going to create. Go to the factories, in workshops, do something with your hands, design. To succeed, you need to work hard and have a good knowledge of technologies. Luck, personal qualities, participation in competitions – it is important in the second turn.