Sunny Jackson

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Sunny Jackson ("SJ") for their original perspective and innovative approach to design as well as their creative lifestyle, we are very pleased to share our interview with our distinguished readers.

DL: Could you please tell us a bit about your design background and education?

SJ : I received a degree in Landscape Architecture from Arizona State University in America. Before pursuing my art career full time, I worked as a landscape architect for design firms in both the States as well as several islands in the Caribbean. I eventually moved to Indonesia where I can create pieces using the vast array of beautiful unique wood as my canvas.

DL: What motivates you to design in general, why did you become a designer?

SJ : The alchemy of different living materials mixed together to create something completely new has been such an exploratory and illuminative process. (no pun intended). I like the fact too that I come to the art world as an outlier, which enables me to bring a fresh and out of the box approach to art and design, combining materials in non-traditional ways to create new works of art.

DL: Did you choose to become a designer, or you were forced to become one?

SJ : Is this a trick question:)? Of course, as a designer and an artist, I like to think that I chose the path of creative expression and creative problem solving, but my life experience might tell me otherwise and is always there to remind me that maybe sometimes I don't actually have a choice. I can't escape it. I don't want to escape it. I am here always. It is just a part of me. Like my breath that belongs to me and my heart that pumps my blood. I think design and art are just a part of me - it's not a choice, it's just who I am.

DL: What do you design, what type of designs do you wish to design more of?

SJ : I design functional art pieces made of wood, quartz crystal and light. I would love to expand my designs in both directions big and small. I am inquisitive just as much about the micro as I am the macro. I would love to work on new designs that reflect this, smaller objects as well as large land art installations. It's fun to think about such ideas.

DL: What should young designers do to become a design legend like you?

SJ : Keep going. Continue to believe in your creations, in yourself. You are valued in the world as a co-creator of the universe. Don't lose sight of your value as a creative contributor to society. We are the ones with the vision and this is very important to remember. And know too that when you feel like giving up, (because every creative i know has felt this way at least once in their life), this is often the moment when a new invigoration of good news is just on the other side. This has happened to me so many times. So now i know that when I'm feeling particularly down on myself, that something good is just around the corner. It keeps me going knowing this. Hang in there and keep doing the good work. As you expand, so does your work and this will most definitely be reflected in your body of work as you keep going.

DL: What distinguishes between a good designer and a great designer?

SJ : Marketing! Haha. Joking, not joking. But honestly speaking, a good designer is able to recognize good design and usually models his/her work after other good designs. A great designer is one who can conceive something that's assembled in such an unusual and unique way that it completely separates it from other designs before it.

DL: What makes a good design a really good design, how do you evaluate good design?

SJ : I check for the innovative qualities imbued within it. Is it novel in its approach? Does it solve a problem in a new and better way than the designs before it?

DL: What is the value of good design? Why should everyone invest in good design?

SJ : Value is what can be attached to something that makes it worthwhile to someone. Good design should inherently have value. And if it has value, it's worth investing in it. Simple as that.

DL: What is the dream project you haven’t yet had time to realize?

SJ : The project I haven't yet dreamed of. Everything else is already a dream project that I have at least taken some steps towards realizing. Everything else just exists out in the ether, waiting to be realized.

DL: What is your secret recipe of success in design, what is your secret ingredient?

SJ : Adding value to my designs. Layer upon layer of value. Creative marketing. Good photography. Good communication skills.

DL: What is your greatest design, which aspects of that design makes you think it is great?

SJ : I am very proud of a recent artwork I completed called Womb of Lyra. I took a 350kg piece of teak wood, burnt it black to mimic the night sky and then made over 600 holes through the meter thick piece of wood, upon which I inserted a tiny quartz crystal, atop fiberoptic lights which shimmered just like a night sky when turned on. The project drew upon the inspiration of the constellation of Lyra, a nod to a metaphysical concept that our consciousness sprung from this place in the cosmos. It is well known that all things are birthed from the stars, so this artwork portrays humanity's existence as individual crystals in a sky of stars.

DL: How could people improve themselves to be better designers, what did you do?

SJ : Never stop being inspired. it is the single most important thing you can do as a designer. Never stop looking at things in new ways and asking questions.

DL: If you hadn’t become a designer, what would you have done?

SJ : I don't think this is an option.