Nathanael Gourdin: Embrace Your Inner Child
Managing Director and Designer @Studio Gourdin
by Elizabeth Lavis
|01 Aug 2025
The best piece of advice Nathanael Gourdin, Designer for Studio Gourdin, ever heard is “Go! Go! Go! Straight ahead!” Gourdin embraces freedom and feelings, which he considers crucial for design. “One of the best pieces of advice I’d give aspiring designers is to open your eyes and try to be as naive as possible,” he says. “Try to be a child. Try to forget all the rules that you’ve learned, because being free is one of the most important feelings and the ideal state for designing.”
Gourdin hails from France and considers art to be the most important source of inspiration. Although he’s always wanted to be a designer, his childhood focus was not on the graphic design side. “I wanted to be a car designer,” Gourdin says. “As a small child, I loved cars and am still passionate about them.”
His design approach hinges on asking important, deep questions in the beginning and then creating impactful work that achieves the client’s objectives. “To me, we need first to determine what ground to base the design on,” Gourdin says. “Does the client have a vision? Do we have a vision? What is the story that our design can tell? Questioning is a very important part of the process.” Once Gourdin has a direction, he strives to create a design that gets noticed. “Some people might think that the best design is invisible, but I disagree,” he says. “Good design will catch your attention and generate a positive feeling. Good design does not leave you cold.”
"Schule Forsmannstrasse", Studio Gourdin
When it comes to tools of the trade that Gourdin can’t live without, he relies on his own senses. “I reference my eyes and memory,” he says. “My own visual archive is always a reliable base for developing new concepts.” He fends off burnout and stays creative under pressure by playing tennis or looking through art books to give his brain a rest. He also pays attention to what’s most important at the time. “When you’re working under pressure, you have to define priorities,” he says.
Gourdin has had some impressive mentors in the design work, including artists like Donald Judd, Sol Lewitt, Imi Knoebel, and Daniel Buren, and loves the fact that he can wake up to a new challenge and experience every day. “With every project we have to deal with new topics and people,” he says. “It’s also a new social and enriching experience.”
He plans to continue growing professionally by relying on his strong team and ideas. “I’d like to achieve satisfaction, and hopefully success, too,” he says. Additionally, Gourdin will continue to grow as a person by just being himself. “I’ll keep dreaming,” he says. Gourdin is also flexing some of his artistic muscles, with a side project that he’s running in tandem with the studio. “Three years ago I started running an artistic project,” he says. “It allows me to think outside the box, and it greatly influences the studio because both happen in the same space. I love this mix. I think this second project will grow and gain importance in the future.”
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