Interview with Lu Li

Lu Li ("LL") interviewed on Tuesday, 5 May.

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?

LL : 2019-2017, Postgraduate in product design, Kyushu University, Japan 2017-2016, Arts and crafts auditor, University of Tsukuba, Japan 2014-2010, a College student in furniture design, Beijing Forestry University, China

How did you become a designer?

LL : After graduating from university in 2014, I worked for a short time in a furniture designing and producing company. I am a little skeptical and confused about my career and life due to that nine to five job without creativity. What is the design and what is the life I want? I think about these problems for more than a month. Because of my enthusiasm for Japanese design, I finally decided to study design in Japan. My three-and-a-half-year study abroad has given me a deeper understanding of the design and strengthened my belief. What Japanese design brings to people is warmth and touching. I hope to pass on this feeling.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

LL : (1) Design sketch stage: Based on the design theme, do data collection and organization, draw sketch scheme. (2) Design and proofing stage: discuss the material and processing technology with the experienced worker to determine the proofing sketch. Because many details can't be reflected by software or model, I prefer 1:1 proofing. (3) Design determination stage: adjust the details, deepen the drawings, and determine the final production drawings based on the proofed physical objects.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

LL : The most exciting moment is when a good design idea springs into my mind. Just like the furniture structure I studied. I don't draw a lot of design sketches, but I think repeatedly in my head. It's like a 3D instrument that can draw and disassemble structures. Inside, many structures have been constructed, and one by one these structures have been denied by oneself. This process is very painful, and the brain will burst. Until a long time later, suddenly a structure appeared. It's very simple, totally in line with my design philosophy. It pops out of my mind. I'm so excited that I immediately pick up the pen and draw it. I'm so excited that I want to rush out to the workshop to make it at midnight. But the production process will be rather boring. When the production is completed, one finds it hard to get excited again to see the real object, because it has been built in the mind for a long time.

What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?

LL : Apart from the designer's identity, I am also the editor in chief of China's WeChat official account. I will post some articles about innovative design and art on a regular basis. Through the collection and organization of these materials, my perspective is widened. By analyzing the designs of other designers, I have a deeper understanding of design. Everyone has their own unique design perception ability, the same point in the hands of different people will have different ways of expression. Open my mind, to see more to feel and learn to analyze is how the work of editing helped me a lot.

What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?

LL : I hope to become a world-class design master who can represent China, just as 原研哉 to Japan. I don't have a clear plan for the future. Sometimes it's enough to seize the opportunity. As for the future, just make sure that your general direction remains the same.

What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?

LL : This question and the following are not suitable for me to answer. I only graduated last year and just started my career as a designer this year. I don't have much experience to talk about.

How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?

LL : I'm not going to chase the design trend. It's like the wind. It blows in this direction now and that direction then. I don't think I have the ability to catch the wind at a certain time and sail far. I just want to stick to my own direction and move forward slowly, no matter what direction of wind blows.

How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?

LL : I think good design is sometimes experience and sometimes a feeling. Some good designs can be transferred to consumers through commercialization so that they can get a good experience. But sometimes some good design can't be commercialized. It can only be passed on to you in other ways. As long as a design lets you enjoy the convenience of life, the beauty of life, I think this is a good design.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

LL : Before the product is put into the market, it only completes the connection between the designer and the factory production. Only after it becomes a commodity, is it delivered to the customer's home, receives the customer's feedback, and carries out the iterative upgrading of the product, I think it can be regarded as the completion of the design. The completion of any stage is only temporary.

What is your biggest design work?

LL : At present, I am most satisfied with this award-winning work: Butterfly hanger. Because it's a minimalist piece of assembled furniture. The structure and shape are quite simple, with its strong functionality, flat packaging, manual installation, repeated disassembly, sustainability, etc. This piece of furniture which I have studied for three-and-a-half years as a representative work of assembling furniture is very precious to me, as well as its production time. It was made by me and the people in the school workshop. I have been in the workshop for more than two years, and I have been helped and taken care of by everyone. This period of time was the most carefree and happy time in my life, which is especially precious for me.

Who is your favourite designer?

LL : My favorite designer is the Japanese design master 原研哉. His design is clean and pure, full of Zen and emptiness.

Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?

LL : Tokyo, Tokyo is a place full of design. A large number of outstanding Japanese designers are active here. Every month, various exhibitions of design and art emerge endlessly, which makes people ecstatic. I like to do handwork. When I do handwork, I am able to calm my mind, getting rid of a lot of distractions, and reach my simplest yearning. I am a native of China, which has a long cultural history, and the experience of studying abroad in Japan makes me start to examine the culture of my country again. During the Tang Dynasty, a lot of things in China spread to Japan, which developed into an integral part of Japanese culture through continuous inheritance and innovation by Japanese. As to which part is Japanese and which is Chinese? Sometimes it's really hard to distinguish. The Japanese regard culture as a treasure that is forgotten by the Chinese. All of these we should re-examine and pick up.

What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?

LL : Before winning a'design award, I won the red dot design award and other Design Awards twice.

Lu Li Profile