Herminio Menchaca is a Mexican designer based in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, concerned about the work in a balance between traditional and modern techniques. He studied Industrial Design at the University of Guadalajara, with academic exchange experience in South Korea and a design project development and research in India focusing on traditional craftsmanship.
He believes techniques have been applied on crafts can be part of the process of the new product developments for daily life use, in the result of that, craftsmanship would be able to endure for next generations. Innovation is part of the new evolution of crafts that he describes such as “hyperobjects”, a greater value is added on an object. His background in the modern design industry and traditional craftsmanship allows him to develop products that can meet the needs of the current market.
Hiperobjetos
The project named hiperobjetos was created due to the experience and research on the technical and craft workshops visited Japan during the period from May to November 2015, with the support of organizations: JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency), CONACYT (National Council of Science and Technology from Mexico) and Kyoto Institute of Technology.
Mexico is the only country today that involves a research program of design and Japanese craftsmanship for a period of more than six months, in order to study and understand the current position of master craftsmen.
When we talk about Japan, different words can cross our minds, in terms of design and craftsmanship there is a relation between Japanese aesthetics and quality matters in objects, we must establish that there are an innate beauty and impeccable functionality along with Japanese crafts.
Monolitos collection
The collection named Monolitos includes the origins from Japan and Mexico. For the proper cultural interpretation related with the products designed, I conducted an investigation where various topics were involved such as anthropology, folklore, history, and mythology of both countries, in order to decode related cultural connections.
