We interviewed Anastasiia Romaniv, owner of Eight Station Studios based in Vancouver, Canada. We met Anastasiia through the wonderful world of social media, when she tagged us in a conceptual render for luxury cafe, Flow (designed by Rawan Muqaddas), featuring our Nexus One in Onyx Black. Her outlook on design and the digital world is insightful and illuminating.

Introduce yourself! 

Greetings! My name is Anastasiia, and I’m the founder of Eight Station, a rendering studio, and the co-founder of 044Bureau, a branding agency. I believe that less is more and that truth lies in the details. These principles have guided me throughout my seven years of experience in the creative industry.

You mentioned that the project including our Nexus One espresso machine was time-consuming and meticulous. How many hours did you spend on this project? 

To be honest, I lost track of how many hours I spent on this project. It was such an intricate and challenging design that required a great deal of attention to detail and constant revisions to ensure that every aspect was just right. From the initial brief analysis to the final touches, I estimate that I put in over 400 hours of work on this project, including the time I spent incorporating feedback from the designer. But despite the long hours and hard work,  I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of such a fantastic project, and I look forward to taking on more exciting challenges in the future.

What was the creative process behind this project? 

Creating 3D renders is a bit like being a magician – you take an idea from someone’s mind and bring it to life in the digital world. And just like a magician, there’s a healthy dose of creativity involved in the process.

When I start a new project, my first task is to get inside the designer’s head and figure out what they’re looking for. It’s a bit like a detective puzzle, and I love the challenge of finding the perfect lighting, angles, and textures to bring their vision to life.

I’m always on the lookout for unique perspectives and angles that will showcase the design in the best possible light. Whether it’s a sleek and modern piece of furniture or an espresso machine, I want to make sure that every aspect of the design is highlighted to its fullest potential.

One of the most exciting aspects of creating 3D renders is finding the perfect element to draw in the viewer’s eye and balance the composition. In this project, we searched for the anchor, that would bring the design to life. And then we found it: the Nexus One machine. With its unique shape and eye-catching colors, the Nexus became the centrepiece of a few images. Its sleek lines and bold presence captured the essence of the project and created a captivating visual experience for anyone who views the final render.

Throughout the entire process, I’m in constant communication with the designer, incorporating their feedback and ideas to create something that truly exceeds their expectations. It’s a collaborative process that I find incredibly rewarding, and I always feel great when the final render comes to life.

How do you use design? What factors should you consider? Why is Aremde trying to change how we think about design?

Choosing the design of your cafe can be difficult. Many factors come into play. Do you want your cafe to be minimalist, with neutrals and natural stone finishes? Or do you choose a bold and colourful aesthetic with rich jewel tones and luxe velvet interiors? Will your space mirror the beauty of your cafe location or will your cafe transport your customers away to cities abroad? These are all things we take into consideration when constructing the perfect interior. Your design is considered, intentional and important to your brand. 

However, the traditional coffee machine is often dismissed as a necessary evil,  a ‘wall of steel’ that detracts from the elegance of your bench space. 
AREMDE changed this narrative, introducing NEXUS One, a coffee machine designed to be the statement piece to your cafe whilst improving the overall flow of your space.
We decided to take things a step further with STYLUS One. No matter how intricate your design is, the possibilities are endless. Customise your machine with pictures, patterns, colours and logos to boost your business identity to the max. Can’t decide on a design? Or maybe you want different designs for spring and winter? No problem. STYLUS One allows you to remove and replace the front and barista-side panels with a simple click-in mechanism.

Take your design a step further and change the colour of the inner and outer shell to create the ultimate statement machine! 

The possibilities are endless. The only limit is your imagination.

What is the purpose of light? Functionally, it illuminates your cafe space to improve visibility. After all, you need to see what you are doing to make a good coffee. However, light is so much more important than this. In art, it is used to influence mood, highlight shape and colour and frame the subject. When designing our first machine, NEXUS One, we asked ourselves why these principles were not seen in coffee machines. As a design company, we felt it necessary to consider light as not just a functional tool, but an artistic one too. 

Our machines are designed for openness and transparency. They serve as the ‘stage’ for the barista, with the machine walls framing the barista as they work. With this in mind, we decided to incorporate lighting inspired by stage lights.