Nobahar Design Milano is all about unconventional design pieces that carry a strong concept and the voice of its designer. Each design is built from a concept and every idea is translated into an object that represents it.

These design pieces are for people who want to make a bold statement, don’t have fear of being different or ambiguous, and appreciate wearable architectural designs. Decorative and wearable pieces are made of unconventional, technological, and sustainable materials, using the same effort and research that is applied in the high-end jewelry and design industry.

www.nobahardesign.com

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I studied mathematics and Industrial Design in Tehran (Iran) and Service System Design, Jewelry Design, and Jewelry Engineering in Italy. I have worked in Graphic Design, Communication, Jewelry Design, and Jewelry Production Process fields and in 2017 finally I decided to create my personal brand “Nobahar Design Milano” and apply whatever I learned and I wanted to do differently.

What inspired you to start your business?

Doing just one thing never satisfied me and with my strong background in design and working experiences in the high and fine jewelry industry, I wanted to create something different.

Where is your business based?

Milan, Italy

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

It was not an easy start and path because I had to do everything by myself.

From my Master’s degree thesis and the experience as a researcher at Politecnico di Torino university, I knew what kind of technology and material I wanted to use because of its special characteristics. Therefore, the first thing I was thinking about was what type of objects I need to create and how to make them be different. I started with macro market research about what people are looking for and they cannot find it easily.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

Absolutely Internet and social media, in specific Instagram. 

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Challenges were a lot and still are. In the beginning, one of the biggest challenges that didn’t seem important was finding the right supplier for my packaging. I searched for more than six months, inside and outside Italy, to find the right material, with good quality at the right price, and this time was way more than the one I applied in my initial business plan.

Another big challenge for me was (and maybe still is) presenting my pieces and speak in public which is really important for my work. 

How do you stay focused?

One of the big things that helped me a lot to remain focus is monthly and daily planning. Since I do several things by myself it is not easy to stay focus, so I learned even to bullet journal a little bit and of course using the famous Pomodoro technique to do my tasks.

Also, I need to add there are still times I cannot be active and focused even with all programming and techniques: in those times I don’t pressure myself anymore so I close everything, I start playing with my plants, draw illustrations or I cook, and let the time do its magic. 

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

From the traditional and conventional jewelry industry, the difference is my material and weight. From the contemporary one, it is about the strong concepts behind my works. 

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

Still, I can name Instagram and then participating in international contests. 

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

It is really important that they know who is their target and in which category they want to place their products or services. For example, in the jewelry industry, we have so many different main categories; high-end jewelry, fine jewelry, fashion jewelry, custom jewelry, contemporary jewelry, design jewelry. When they chose the main category then they need to decide about the purpose; is it functional jewelry like medical alert jewelry? Is it conceptual? Is it ornamental? And so many more questions that they need to ask themselves and find the exact type of object or service they want to present.

Another important thing is when they want to participate in an event or a fair related to their field, they need to make sure they have done their research and contact people like themselves that have already participated in that kind of event. Most of the time everything is so beautiful and great from the outside, but it doesn’t work always the same for everyone. 

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

I use so many apps for different goals. I can say the best ones for me are:

-       Down Dog, one of the best applications for me to do yoga everywhere.

-       Podcasts, for having a great selection of the podcasts that I listen almost every day.

-       Skillshare is one of the great sources like YouTube for me when I need to learn something new.

About books, I can say The Black Swan, a book that helped me a lot before I started my company because it taught me to look out of the box and in a different way. It is a book that invites us to reflect on the need, not to blindly trust statistics and the calculation of probabilities.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

One is absolutely DropBox for archiving and sharing materials and information with others.

Google Ads for sure, to present my website internationally.

Upwork for outsourcing and finding nice freelancers around the world.

Medium for my daily inspirational readings.

Canva for fast and nice graphic layouts when I don’t have time to use Illustrator or Photoshop.

Who is your business role model? Why?

It is difficult to name just one person or brand.

I follow and study a lot Seletti, Alexis Bittar, George Jenson, Monies, and similar brands because they have design pieces for everyday life, are aesthetically beautiful with good functioning, transmitting to their customers a vision for a unique, personal and fun lifestyle. These are the brands that they were not afraid to use unconventional styles and materials.

How do you balance work and life?

It is a really difficult question because it is difficult to really balance work and life when you start your business and you are all on your own. In the beginning, there were days I was working even 16 hours. And for three years my vacations are the same as my business trips. But at some point, when I had a strong burnout, I decided to apply strong rules for myself especially on the working hours.

Now I try, except the times I have deadlines, to close everything at maximum 20:00 and enjoy the night with my partner and try to relax.

During the day I try to have more coffee or tea breaks with friends and not to say NO to a happy hour invitation once in a week.

But If I need to be honest, I still have some issues in balancing my work and life and I am really working on it.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

I never had plants and never could keep one alive before in my life. I tried when I started my business actually, now I have two balconies full of different plants and some orchids that I have had for more than two years, that was really difficult for me to keep them alive.

Another new way that I figured during this quarantine time, which also is totally contrary to my character, is baking bread. I’ve even started to create a sourdough from scratch, which needs more than 10 days, with a lot of patience, and I really found playing with flour and dough relaxing.

What do you have planned for the next six months?

Since I decided not to participate in any international events and big fairs (most of them got canceled anyway), I want to concentrate more and better on my virtual presence and maybe share and teach some of the skills I learned with others out there that want to start their brand and business.

 How can our readers connect with you?

My brand website: www.nobahardesign.com

My personal website: www.sogandnobahar.com

My brand email: info@nobahardesign.com

My personal email is sgnobahar@gmail.com

My brand Instagram is www.instagram.com/nobahardesign

My personal Instagram is www.instagram.com/sogand.nobahar