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Interview with Bryan Wong |
Home > Designer Interviews > Bryan Wong |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Bryan Wong (BW) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Bryan Wong 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?
BW: I'm an industrial designer graduated from Pratt Institue. I've always loved doing art when I was growing up, but I didn't know what industrial design is until I was in high school. During high school, I worked extensively with ceramics and building sets for theater production.
FS: What is "design" for you?
BW: To me, "design" is a transformation of objects into a preferred state. There really isn't a "correct" or "only" answer, but rather it's about whichever makes the right choices for the right thing.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
BW: I enjoy designing normal, mundane objects. We take a lot of things for granted, and it's the simple things that are easily overlooked or ignored. With my design works, I redesign ordinary products and made them extraordinary.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
BW: My favorite design is an iPhone, or any smartphone in general. Smartphone allows me to perform multiple tasks, such as; contacting people via phone or email, browse the internet, taking pictures etc. As technology advances, the smartphone gains more features and are supported by different apps. It makes everyone more connected and performs tasks better.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
BW: One of the first things I've designed was homeware products for a homeware, lifestyle company in London. I've designed cups, vases, sculptures etc.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
BW: My favorite material is aluminum. It's highly recyclable, easy to work with and possess great material properties. Depending on your needs, you can easily manipulate the properties with different alloys and finishes. To me, aluminum is simply amazing.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
BW: At night when I'm so excited about the project that I would stay up and work late to push all my ideas out on paper or research on it. It's either that or filling myself with lots of coffee.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
BW: It depends on projects on a case-by-case scenario, but in general, I would spend more time on research to validate my concept, hypothesis, as well as creating a controlled environment to run tests. If you have sufficient amount of data to support your claim, it creates a stronger image for your deign.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
BW: Joy, I love the design process involved. When everything comes together like fitting a jigsaw puzzle, that's one of the most satisfying feeling that I get from it.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
BW: Fear. I don't fear the failures on my designs, but rather I fear that people think my designs are perfect. "Perfect" implies that the design is absolute and can't be improved upon. As a designer, I think that we should always strive for innovation and improvement, as well as discuss with people to receive feedback. If a product can't be improved upon, then that's the end of a designer.
FS: What makes a design successful?
BW: To me, a design is "successful" when people can use it without thought and is accessible to everyone. If the design is useful and innovative, it should be used everywhere and by everyone.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
BW: The first aspect I would consider first is the attention to detail. If the details are not considered, it shows the carelessness of the designer.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
BW: As designers, we have the ability, and thus the responsibility, to change and shape our society and environment. We're on the front lines pushing innovation, driving change in multiple levels, no matter how big or small.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
BW: I think designers are slowly forgetting their roots and discarding one of the most important design practice — design products that age with grace. Currently, designers are designing products that are only meant for mint condition and it either requires case protection or limits the interaction from the user. The products are designed only to be used for the first few months, and once it got scratched, its value immediately reduced. Pocketwatch is a great example of aging with grace. The back of the watch receive scratches from coins and keys in your pocket, and those marks add characters to it and accentuate it to an heirloom piece.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
BW: As a Third Culture Individual who grew up in countries across the globe, I gather inspiration from traveling the world, immersed in nature's profound beauty and various cultures. This global experience gives me unique insight and experience upon which to draw from in my design work.
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?
BW: My design "style" is to design simple products that can trigger a deeper connection between users and materials — making the ordinary extraordinary. I find pleasure in exploring how different materials and manufacturing methods can accentuate designs of an object. This micro-consideration shows the level of detail taken into account of people's lifestyles and how it enables the user to do better, complex work as well as eliminate frustration.
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?
BW: I'm currently living in Brooklyn, NY. As a Third Culture Individual who grew up in countries across the globe, it allows me to see the world differently and respecting different cultures.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
BW: Currently, my "golden rule" in design is to design products that are useful, innovative and can be mass produced by a factory. As an industrial designer, we have the ability to conceptualize, design, and manufacture products for people to use; however, if we only design conceptual projects that can't be manufactured, there's a lot of missed opportunity and gives people false hope.
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
BW: The most valuable skill for a designer is the ability to think objectively and logically. Sketching, CAD and renderings are tools, a means to an end. Being able to draw the best doesn't mean your concept can be manufactured or is useful in real life scenarios. Being able to create concepts without bias and supporting your claim with data is far more important and it creates true, tangible values that can be related to the consumer.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
BW: I use a lot of different tools to get the result I wanted, but the most heavily used tools are sketching, google scholar, SolidWorks, Keyshot, and 3D printing.
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
BW: It all comes down to self-discipline. I try to set goals for each week to make sure that the project is always moving forward, or doesn't get delayed. Since I value more about quality than quantity, I try not to force myself to spend a certain amount of time each day on specifics as they should flow to me like water in a river.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
BW: In general, it takes me a few months to design from scratch to finish.
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
BW: The most frequent question asked is what do I design and which industry am I in. It's an intriguing question as I believe that as a designer, I should be able to use my design practice, experience and approach to solving any challenges. A shoe designer should be able to design clothing lines, just as
FS: What was your most important job experience?
BW: One of the most important experiences I had was competing as a contestant on Intel's tech reality tv show, America's Greatest Makers. It was a competition compose of 24 teams developing innovative products using Intel's Curie Module. My team designed a smart wearable baby monitor, and throughout the entire competition, I've gained a lot of valuable knowledge and worked with people with different disciplines to create the product from concept to production.
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
BW: I enjoy designing
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
BW: I plan on continue designing different projects, and I don't know exactly what's next for me. There's a lot that I'm interested in designing, and I'm looking forward to what the future holds for me.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
BW: Currently, I'm working on 2 projects; a food container and a musical instrument.
FS: How can people contact you?
BW: People can view my website www.bryanwongdesign.com or email me directly to bryanwongdesign@gmail.com
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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