Ayuko Sakurai

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Ayuko Sakurai ("AS") 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?

AS : My art study officially started from 2010 when I changed my major from English to Visual and Verbal Arts at the college. However, I was often obsessed with colorful and detailed designs since my childhood.

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

AS : Inspiration is everywhere, but I need to motivate myself. I am more familiar with art and not sure if a “designer” is a title for me. Designs often need purposes and functions, but I wonder what my works fulfill. (But I sometimes use this word to describe myself because it is such a common term to people who are not necessarily in the artworld.)

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

AS : It is somewhere between(just like other important decisions)—yes I switched my major from English to Art, so people will say that I chose art. But in fact, I simply could not handle the large amount of English homework, and looked for something that I could manage. (I need to confess that I did not have a sense of what a college-level education meant in the U.S. Plus, I learned that other courses gave us a similar amount of homework. Later, I had to take this English class as an art student, and I passed it that time.)

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

AS : Anything that needs my hands. Regardless of media, sizes and styles, I am keen to see something being shaped through my hands.

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

AS : Wow I am very timid now because I have never regarded myself as a legend; I am not there. Well, people will give young adults different stories and advice, especially successful stories. But if these stories and tips are suffocating them, they do not have to feel guilty about not listening to these stories. This is a tough question. I did my best telling from my limited experience…

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

AS : I do not have the answer, perhaps because I am neither of them yet.

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

AS : Something should be within the design. If a design is empty and will not say anything to anyone, I wonder if it is good or even called a design.

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

AS : A design can be interpreted differently, but when it is good, people will start interacting with it in their own ways. Sometimes they immediately feel/know what good designs are to them, but sometimes they take time, energy, and perhaps money to gain this sense.

DL: What would you design and who would you design for if you had the time?

AS : I do not know what to make until sketching. And I do not recall that I made one for anyone. But I would be interested in making it for those who were dead and forgotten.

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

AS : I will start with redesigning my senior project at college, a beaded dress fabricated with mixed media. Adding another layer of interpretation will be a good start.

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

AS : Sleep and time for being away from designing.

DL: Who are some other design masters and legends you get inspired from?

AS : I usually inspire myself, but in order to do so, I need to absorb various information. In my school days, I used to write about the outstanding works and ideas of Ferdinand Cheval, Salvador Dali, Francis Hutcheson and Robin George Collingwood.

DL: What are your favorite designs by other designers, why do you like them?

AS : I tend to like very intense designs or designs which imply dimensions and depth.

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

AS : My attempts to make works from scraps as much as possible. My attitude to art making, for example I would like to consider the last stage of a work(how to be repaired or returned to raw materials).

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

AS : Study(not only art). Ask myself why. Pay attention to what caught my attention(both negative and positive). Know it hurts to examine what scares or enrages me.

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

AS : I am grateful that art prevents me from being too naive and setting something/someone on fire.

DL: How do you define design, what is design for you?

AS : Something with a purpose. And contours of something—both visible and invisible. The process of turning abstract ideas into something visible.

DL: Who helped you to reach these heights, who was your biggest supporter?

AS : My school, friends, and parents.

DL: What helped you to become a great designer?

AS : The environment which allowed me to learn and work hard.

DL: What were the obstacles you faced before becoming a design master?

AS : I am still in the process of striking a balance among designing, working and investing for my future.

DL: How do you think designers should present their work?

AS : I believe that we cannot avoid online presentation nowadays. The works and their data are a window to the artworld or potential audience(plus, we can easily bring the data with us to describe who we are).

DL: What’s your next design project, what should we expect from you in future?

AS : I do not know, so watch me…

DL: What’s your ultimate goal as a designer?

AS : Let’s see if I can find one in the future.

DL: What people expect from an esteemed designer such as yourself?

AS : Respectful personality, I guess. 
 Then more works, perhaps more pleasing works of art. (As you can see, I am not good at guessing what people expect from me.)

DL: How does design help create a better society?

AS : Art and/or design can reveal interesting aspects of us. This can possibly encourage or inspire someone, or teach something that we are not supposed to do. Also, design can be the way to imagine any society(does not matter if it can come true). Imagination is an important part of human nature, and design allows us to interpret our reality through free imagination.

DL: What are you currently working on that you are especially excited about?

AS : Currently I am working as a science communicator. It thrills me to discover more and more connections among human intellectual activities(or human characteristics), such as how we represent ourselves in different media(sometimes seen in artworks) and how we update our knowledge(often through scientific methods and technology).

DL: Which design projects gave you the most satisfaction, why?

AS : Both two dimensional and three dimensional works because making(or fixing) something gives me a pure joy and the sense or perspective similar to when I look down the scene from a height.

DL: What would you like to see changed in design industry in the coming years?

AS : Media and materials need to be delivered through legal or ethical processes. I do not want to feel guilty seeing or using them. Artists have to stay sincere about what they think is meaningful, and have to be thoughtful about how art-making and the rest parts of life can balance each other. I start to realize the huge responsibility for communicating with others(especially non-artists) through their works(even though it is painful and seems meaningless sometimes). The audience needs to become aware of the potential danger of looking at something through only their lens. I am sick of hearing “art(or any other field) does not make money” and “is art(or any other field) valuable to humanity?” (I think that people especially in Japanese communities, are not trained enough to appreciate what are out of their comfort/familiar zone.)

DL: Where do you think the design field is headed next?

AS : History repeats itself. Revivals, new interpretations of existing designs along with exploration of uniqueness.

DL: How long does it take you to finalize a design project?

AS : It all depends. The only thing I can say is this process requires sketching.

DL: When you have a new design project, where do you start?

AS : Recalling my memories, researching, and sketching perhaps all at once.

DL: What is your life motto as a designer?

AS : None. I do not let a motto determine what and how I make.

DL: Do you think design sets the trends or trends set the designs?

AS : Design comes first(if a “trend” means a style or fashion), but design often needs trends.

DL: What is the role of technology when you design?

AS : Tools. I need to make something based on what I have at this point, so sometimes they are limits and sometimes inspiration/stating points.

DL: What kind of design software and equipment do you use in your work?

AS : I often wonder how much one can “make it from scratches” because these scratches can be very intense leading him/her on unexpected journeys of researching and making. I usually try to make something from scratches as much as possible, so you will see a variety of media and tools in my workspace.

DL: What is the role of the color, materials and ambient in design?

AS : Essential components.

DL: What do you wish people to ask about your design?

AS : I would rather communicate with people than simply answer questions from them.

DL: When you see a new great design or product what comes into your mind?

AS : Hurry. A sense of being behind(only in my scale, not by comparing me or my works to someone else).

DL: Who is your ideal design partner? Do you believe in co-design?

AS : Yes, it will be very productive with someone who can manage this business(and handle my personality). However, I have been a single player, so I am not sure how it works(or it does not).

DL: Which people you interacted had the most influence on your design?

AS : Perhaps people in books(could be real or fictional).

DL: Which books you read had the most effect on your design?

AS : I do not have it. Do other people have their influencer books?

DL: How did you develop your skills as a master designer?

AS : Schools and where I lived/studied(which means academic and cultural elements in an environment). My work ethics and aesthetics(acquired through my childhood).

DL: Irrelative of time and space, who you would want to meet, talk and discuss with?

AS : I am surprised that nobody pops in my mind.

DL: How do you feel about all the awards and recognition you had, is it hard to be famous?

AS : I am not famous at all. I am not even sure how and where to start my career as an artist.

DL: What is your favorite color, place, food, season, thing and brand?

AS : It often takes a long time to pick one up because there are so many lovely options. Plus, my favorites keep changing…

DL: Please tell us a little memoir, a funny thing you had experienced as a designer?

AS : At schools, art making was sometimes a painful learning process(also, learning itself can be painful and exciting at the same time). Now, art making is almost a dream to me nowadays. Then I realize how much it attracts me in different ways at different life stages.

DL: What makes your day great as a designer, how do you motivate yourself?

AS : Limitless imagination(often gives me soothing effects). The sense or confidence(sometimes ends up as misunderstanding) that I control everything—the process, media, tools, and the possible appearance of a final product. The shine that each step adds the workpiece. …I can keep making a list like this, but the pure and strong feeling in any artist’s heart helps me move forward.

DL: When you were a little child, was it obvious that you would become a great designer?

AS : Not at all. However, adults around me let me discover interesting objects and thoughts in this human society. I believe that these experiences are necessary to cultivate curiosity, aesthetics, and other good human values.

DL: What do you think about future; what do you see will happen in thousand years from now?

AS : I wonder if humans remain this physical shape(not through evolution but technology). The causes of global issues will not change from current issues. Money will gain an updated meaning or a new value. If humans still exist, they will keep making so-called art.

DL: Please tell us anything you wish your fans to know about you, your design and anything else?

AS : I wish if I can say something cool in an interview like this. Thank you to those who appreciate my works, and please watch me where I am going next!