Designer Interview

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Interview with Lisa Zhou at Friday 18th of April 2014

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?
LZ: As a child, I always like to design and draw out my imagination but then I grew up to study and work in the IT industry. It was through my own engagement ring design experience with a jeweller that reignited my passion for creativeness. Since then I took a leap of faith and study Jewellery and Object Design/Making at the Design Center Enmore in Sydney Australia and started my own contemporary jewellery brand Little Rambutan in 2012. I have never look back since.

FS: What is "design" for you?
LZ: Design is a way to express the designer’s ideas or interpretation of a topic into a tangible object of aesthetics.

FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
LZ: Favourite material is gold because of its lustre and history.

FS: When do you feel the most creative?
LZ: When I am travelling as history, people and culture in different cities never stop to amaze me.

FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
LZ: I focused on aesthetics and making sure it is strongly aligned with the design concepts.

FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
LZ: Anticipation and excitement of what the final design will look like, but at the same time quite critical of the design for any room of improvement.

FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
LZ: Fulfilment and relaxation – time for celebration.

FS: What makes a design successful?
LZ: When the design concept is self-explanatory to others on its own.

FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
LZ: A good design has to have a unique element that stands out from other designs. It also needs to be quite intuitive as to what it does or how it can be used.

FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
LZ: Safety of the product and sustainability of the production process in terms of resources, environmental impact and workers working conditions.

FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
LZ: As 3D technology becomes more accessible to the public, I think there will be an increase in 3D printed products due to the lower barrier of entry to the design industry. While there will a surge of both good and bad designs, as an industry I believe it is important to keep an open mind while having careful curation of products to ensure the quality of design.

FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
LZ: Big and small miracles from nature as well as historical artefacts/objects/jewelleries of different civilisation. I feed my creativity by visiting museums, travelling and getting close to nature.

FS: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
LZ: I would describe my style to be contemporary and elegant. It is about designing motifs in a new modern way but not losing a sense of feminine and elegance to it.

FS: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
LZ: I live in Australia and I don’t feel the cultural heritage affects my design. The pro of Australia is the relax and friendly environment of the country and that helps a lot in terms of getting ideas to design. The only con is that it is geologically so far away from the rest of the world.

FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
LZ: I normally come up with a theme and I will brainstorm to get a mind map of breakdown ideas. After selection of the strongest ideas, visual and background research on them will be done. I will then crystallise the concept and sketch out variations. The sketches will go through few iterations until I am satisfied with it.

FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
LZ: Be active and get yourself known to others by taking part in competitions, joining design communities and engaging in collaborations with other designers.

FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
LZ: Do not compromise quality and durability.

FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
LZ: Apart from ability to design and think outside the box, it is also important to convey yourself and your idea effectively and confidently to others – may it be friends or a potential buyer. Keep in mind also the cost of productions to make sure the design is economically viable.

FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
LZ: Pencil and sketchbook for idea sketching and rhinoceros 3D for 3D modelling.

FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
LZ: Break down each goal into small tasks and assign each day with achievable tasks. If you set yourself impossible deadlines, it will affect your confidences and delay the project.

FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
LZ: Normally 3-4 months.

FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
LZ: The next step for me is a themed jewellery collections consisting of 15-20 designs. It is very exciting and I am in the research phase now developing the concepts and ideas.

FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
LZ: I develop my designs myself.

FS: How can people contact you?
LZ: They can email me anytime at lisa.zhou@littlerambutan.com

FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.

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