delaO design studio is an award-winning creative agency specialized in design-driven research.
We create specific solutions allowing each of our clients to generate meaningful relationship with their customers. Founded in 2010 in the Dutch city of Eindhoven and later relocated to Mexico City, delaO design studio works with international companies that want to understand how to align their values with the Mexican market. We are cultural translators for companies who want to bring people together and fill our lives with art, design, and creativity.
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What we do:
We generate innovation through knowledge:
We design tailor-made research strategies to meet our clients’ specific needs, using academic rigor to gather and review existing knowledge, collect data, and discover insights through ethnographic research, field research, and co-creation workshops. By specializing in qualitative research and analysis, we help companies to understand their customers in a meaningful way and create strategies to make a positive impact on their lives.
We bring pleasant experiences to everyday life:
We believe that design should bring enjoyable experiences to our daily life. From designing beautiful, functional products to engaging, striking visuals, we collaborate with our clients to translate their brand values into shapes, textures, and forms that inspire people, stimulating their emotions and intellects. We help companies make people happy.
We work global by staying local.
We are proud members of Reach, a global network of agencies specializing in human-centered design research and service innovation. This network collaborates with multinational companies and non-profit organizations seeking to improve existing services or develop new offers in foreign markets. We work as cultural translators for companies who want to understand the context in Mexico.
We create engaging discussions for the future:
As designers, it is our responsibility to think about the consequences of our creations. This is why we are constantly initiating discursive projects that challenge the status quo. Using critical thinking and design research, we create content that questions the relationship between design and society.
Our Values:
Semantical:
We believe the best design is that which everybody can understand. We create content with meaning and value for society.
Functional:
We like things that work. We make a positive impact through our creations because they work well.
Innovative:
We believe that the best design is that which takes bold risks. That’s why we are comfortable dealing with uncertainty and taking bold risks in order to do amazing things.
Contextual:
We believe that the best design is that which understands its place. We are aware of the people who benefit from our creations, their desires, values and limitations.
Selected Press Coverage
Team
José de la O
Principal
An accomplished industrial designer with a master's degree in Conceptual Design from the Design Academy Eindhoven, José de la O leads his creative studio with an epistemological lens, exploring the societal role of design and envisioning the future interplay between technology and society.
As a dedicated full-time professor at the School of Architecture, Art and Design at the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico City, de la O actively promotes design education and knowledge. His academic pursuits have fostered collaborations with prestigious entities such as The Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum and Ikea’s Home Smart division, alongside various NGOs and institutions. His academic journey continues as a PhD Design Research Candidate at RMIT.
Celebrated for his contributions to design, de la O received the first prize at the 10th Design Biennale in Mexico and was honored as the Designer of the Year in 2022 by MDF and Rimowa. In 2023, he earned The National Design Award by Diseña Mexico for the "Disonancia Mexicana" exhibition.
De la O's expertise extends to product design, where he has partnered with prominent global firms like Philips Design in the Netherlands, Space10 in Denmark, and Mirai Innovation Lab in Japan. His portfolio spans lighting, furniture, and household products, showcasing his prowess in advanced industrial design.
His designs have been showcased internationally, gracing prestigious platforms such as the Milan Design Fair, Dutch Design Week, The Future Perfect in New York, Taipei Design Museum, Shanghai Museum of Glass, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Berlin, Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, and the Palm Springs Art Museum, among others.
Adriana Gutiérrez
Design Researcher
Born and raised in Mexico City, her work is influenced by the diversity and traditions from the Mexican culture. Graduated from ITESM in 2019, she considers design as a composition of interconnected elements that deliver value to our environment.
Adriana has developed projects among several design disciplines such as product, experience, speculative design and system development, all based on the importance of research and context understanding. Some of these projects have been exhibited in national and international platforms such as Salone Satellite (Salone del Mobile Milano 2019), Inédito Design Week México 2019 and World Design Capital 2018, her work was published by Wallpaper Magazine in the Graduate Directory 2020.
Sofía Mendoza
Design Researcher
Born in 1998 and raised in Mexico City, Sofía is trained as an industrial designer from CENTRO Diseño Cine y Televisión. Her work goes from product design, graphic design, photography and handcrafts.
“Convinced that just as we create and shape objects, they also have the power to shape us.”
Her work explores experimentation with materials, sustainable production processes, speculative design and the relationship between humans and other living beings to create eco-design.
Apart from her profession as a designer, her photographic work has been an important part in the development of her career. Exploring the human body, identity, light and nature, her work has been featured in art platforms such as Itchy Silk 2020.
Her most relevant projects have been published at Dezeen Magazine, Zona Maco 2018 and Itchy Silk. Has participated and won in Green Product Award 2022, Honorable Mention in BeeBreeders Competition 2021, and Nominee at ARTS THREAD - Global Design Graduate Show 2021.
