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Interview with Yuka Fukuoka |
Home > Designer Interviews > Yuka Fukuoka |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Yuka Fukuoka (YF) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Yuka Fukuoka by clicking here.
FS: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
YF: I am a stutterer. When I could not speak well because of my stutter, I learned how to express myself through drawing. From there, I got interested in art and design in my life. Through these experiences, I became a designer who uses visuals and graphics to solve problems of people in the society.
FS: What is "design" for you?
YF: Design is a tool to solve problems through storytelling to make an impact in the society.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
YF: I like works that are visually sophisticated. I especially like works that not only have excellent visuals, but also tell a story to the viewer.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
YF: I mostly designed the website and app UI for the company I worked first time since I graduated from the college.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
YF: My favorite technology is Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
YF: I feel the most creative when I imagine the plan of final output by sketching ideas.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
YF: I always pay attention to the visuals. It doesn't matter how much of a message is included in the work, if the visuals are not sophisticated, the impact of the first impression will not be conveyed to the viewers.
FS: What makes a design successful?
YF: Most successful design contains message and story for people who needs to be delivered.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
YF: Designers have the power to create excellent visuals that are strong enough to change the preconceived ideas held by people. This is why we always have the responsibility to visualize based on correct information, rather than based on incorrect information.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
YF: Future design is boundary crossing. Today, the boundaries between all disciplines are becoming blurred. Designers need to cross disciplines and become familiar with each field.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
YF: My inspiration comes from communicating with people who face the problems. Also, I try to go to museums, read the philosophy books to find the design inspiration in the great works of the past. Because the nature of human problems remains the same.
FS: How do you work with companies?
YF: I produce a large variety of online and printed design materials. Focused mainly on improving the User Interfaces of mobile apps and web platforms.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
YF: First, through research, I determine what the problem is. For research, I interview the target users and participate in working with them in the community. We then derive insights based on the research results. From these insights, we are able to make a hypothesis about the essential nature of the problem that the user is faced with. The process of testing the hypothesis is repeated to finally identify the essence. After the problem is set, a prototype is built and user testing is repeated to determine effectiveness. We then get closer to the final output.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
YF: You should be interested in all fields, not just design. Above all, make sure to stay interested in yourself. I believe that design that solves my own problems, rather than design that solves people's problems provides the highest value. That's why you should always be in the habit of asking yourself.
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
YF: Polishing your senses is very important. As I said above, sophisticated visuals always grab people's attention first. On then are you standing at the start line. If your visuals are not sophisticated, you will not be able to attract the attention of people. You won't even be standing on the starting line.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
YF: I always use Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, inDesign and Sketch as Design Tools. To edit a video, I use Adobe Premiere, iMovie and After Effects.
FS: What was your most important job experience?
YF: The biggest work experience for me were those gained while working at Yahoo. By working as an in-house designer for the first time, I was able to understand just what the position of a designer inside a company is. In contrast to this, Happify Health where I currently work is a startup, so I am able to learn about a culture that is completely different from that of a large company.
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
YF: In the future, human capabilities will be expanded by technology and enable us to solve problems that could not be solved up to now. To this end, I believe that it's important for a designer to solve problems using their own imagination, expressiveness, insightfulness as well as by ascertaining the essence of things. Using my own suffering from stuttering as fuel, I want to create social systems that make it easier for those persons concerned as someone who is closer than anyone else to them, as a designer who can utilize my own output ability.
FS: How can people contact you?
YF: Please email me.
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A’ Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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