THE ITALBEC INTERVIEWS

Why did you decide to become an interior designer?

I did a lot of programs before I found interior design. I was in creative arts, business, social, marketing; you name it, I did it. I never liked any of it. I was really bored and I wanted to do something that was creative.

At that time, HGTV came out with home renovation shows and we were seeing the opportunities that were out there for designers. That is when I decided to go to school in interior design to see if I liked it. I didn't realize how technical it was; that's what I loved about it too.

I have a lot of strains of architects in my family. Maybe that's where it inspired from. Once I got into school at Inter-Dec, it was a completely different reality. You see one thing and you realize you're doing full sets of drawings. Back then, we did everything by hand!

In your opinion, how has or will covid-19 impact future of interior design?

I think that the only way it's going to affect interior design is the amount of money that people are willing to put into their projects. Some people made more money during the pandemic, others didn't make that much money. At the end, what happened was that the strong survived. They also had to look for opportunities that were out there to continue working and not just sit back and take it easy. I think that there are two ways of looking at what COVID did to people.

How did covid-19 affect you as a designer?

The core of my business is restaurants and offices. These businesses are the ones that probably got affected the most. I was lucky enough to know the right people in the industry that saw what was happening.

There was a trend going on and business owners had to decide to go all out and do what they needed to do in order to stay in business. In the beginning of covid-19, restaurant owners were putting up plexiglass and doing some divisions in order to re-open their business. That's the risk that they had to take.

During that time, we were about to sign our biggest contract of the year. We did not hear from the client until a year later, when they decided that everything was finally moving forward. Due to the uncertainty and changes of the regulations and closures that the government was implementing on businesses, we started doing a few residential projects.

And yes, Quebec is always behind the rest of the world, but at least we are currently following the trend of lifting these restrictions.

As of right now, covid-19 doesn’t really affect me as a designer. I think that where we are now, businesses are open and nobody's changing their design that was already existing to suit what’s going on. As for office designs, I'm still designing offices and giving them whatever they want; open concept and communal spaces. There are only so many closed offices you could have in a space.

As you keep on growing as a company, you have to be flexible. Then, do you worry about covid-19 or do you worry about your business growing?

What were some of the challenges that you faced during the two years of covid-19?

The hardest part was not having my employees next to me. The more brains I can get involved in a project, the better the design gets. I also love the creative process; sitting down with my team, shooting ideas out, giving them my feedback and listening to what they think. That being said, working remotely was a whole process of back and forth of emails and it was truly exhausting.

Are your employees back at the office?

My whole team is back at the office. I also hired one more employee because we're getting very busy.

How has covid-19 impacted you personally or how you do business?

I have a big group of friends. We would usually see each other once a month to watch a UFC fight or a hockey game. There was a point where the solitude of not seeing my friends became unbearable.

These are the little things where everybody realizes the value of spending time with their friends, family and having their own time. At one point it, gets hard but you get through it. I couldn't imagine living in a small condo and being restricted for six months in that space. We were lucky enough to escape to our cottage. I got to spend three months with my kids and my family. That would have never happened prior to the pandemic. I put my son on my backpack and went hiking, I did some work and continued doing what I had to do. if I could live like that every day, I would do so without hesitation.

The positive thing about covid-19 was that I bought a house and I got to renovate it. That really helped me to refocus my energy.

What advice would you give a young person starting out in interior design?

Make sure that you love what you do. If you love it and you're passionate about something, you’re usually do good at it. As long as you put in the work, everything else comes to you. I’m a person who speaks things out in the universe. The more you put it out there, the better things happen for you; as long as you work for them. For a young designer, I would advise you not to give up because it’s hard in the beginning. You're not going to be designing. You're going to work at a design firm where you might be drafting for two years. This is beneficial because in that time, you learn how to draft. Yes, it's boring. I did it, I lived it and learned from it.

What do you think is your greatest attribute in your craft?

I believe that my greatest attribute would be to come up with solutions. If somebody says it can’t be done, I always question it and I'll try to figure out a way on how it can be done.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your career?

The biggest lesson that I’ve learned in my career is to listen more. Listen to your employees and to your clients. Sometimes, clients don’t have the best ideas, but listen to them. From the bad idea could come a great idea. Also, don't shoot down your client if they have a bad idea. They don't want to feel like that. They're spending money on this project. In somewhat shape or form, they are always involved. There's never a project where they do not want to be involved.

What’s your favorite type of project to do?

I like them all. We're currently working on a project that involves a retail store. I haven't done retail since my early beginnings at the company Loda, 12 years ago. I worked there for 2 years and traveled all of Canada for La Senza and for Timberland, measuring stores doing as-builds. I was young, I wanted to learn and I got the travel. I thought to myself ‘Here I am, a business guy traveling’ with rolled up plans in my hands, feeling super awesome about what I'm doing.

Why did you choose the name Anonymus Concepts?

I just love being anonymous. The more I'm in the background, the better it is!

When I first started in the industry as a young junior and fresh out of school, I worked at Loda for a short period of time. I didn't know much. Then, I had a friend who was a designer at GHA. He didn't want to start his own company.

At that time, we decided to merge and came up with the name Anonymus Concepts. We worked really well together, but I think that he didn’t really understand the business aspect of it. In the beginning, it took a lot of suffering and sacrifices to get to where you need to be, to get the amount of money you need in order to be successful.

How do you see the next 5 years in your industry?

In the restaurant business, we’re going to see a lot more concepts of franchises being developed. I think that the chains that are still here might revamp and renovate. The way covid-19 has impacted our industry is very strange for us. I can’t even explain it. Six or eight months ago, I was stressing out a little bit due to the lack of work. Now, I'm overwhelmed to another point where I can't even understand what's happening. It’s a roller coaster in our industry.

We’ve noticed so many restaurant closures due to the pandemic. Do you think that Montreal will still remain the capital of hot restaurants and bars?

When you think about going to a restaurant in Montreal today, it's not what it used to be. There used to be places everywhere, on every street. Now, they're concentrated in one area and there are not that many restaurants; if you really look at the whole perspective of it.

I think that we will continue to have this reputation, but we did take a big hit. I’ve heard many stories of restaurant owners getting fed up at one point and moving to Miami to open up a restaurant. It's more dynamic and animated. But, we are Montreal and we are resilient. People know us for our nightlife, our restaurants, our diversity and our culture.

What place, restaurant or club has inspired you?

The Balthazar in New York inspires me. I love the old concept and the way it's done. I also like the way the waiters are part of the presentation. The design and everything that comes behind the branding also makes that place very special too.

What is one thing that people are generally surprised to find out about you?

My wife always thought that I was into hardcore dance music because I was very present in the Montreal nightlife. Deep down, I'm an old school hard rock punker, because that's how I grew up in my days. She couldn't believe that!

What’s your favorite country or city?

I've traveled a lot. For me, traveling is probably my number one source of inspiration. This is where you get to see different cultures and live experiences. I would say Bali is my favorite because the locals are artists too. Ubud is all about painting, building furniture and lighting in their own type of way.

What inspires you?

I think that everything inspires me. It depends how you look at it. It doesn't have to be a space itself. It can be a fence, it could be a tree. In fact, it could be anything.

It's very easy to look and copy designs found on Pinterest and on Instagram. The hardest part is to take something from one little piece, take something from another little piece and merge together in order to create something completely different.

To learn more Italo Di Pietro, owner of Anonymus Concepts, visit the following website www.anonymusdesign.com