Interview with Tiger ChongSheng Guo

I'm motivated to get to positions of power so I can help people and improve general standards of living and solve world issues. I became a designer originally however because I loved watching design documentaries as a kid.

I became a designer because it was where I thought my passion was. It was a good middle ground between engineer and artist, and it just felt right.

I design a bit of everything, but a large number of my designs would be "industrial designs" or "products". I wish I designed more hardcore industry stuff like engines and machinery.

I'd hardly call myself a design legend, but I would tell every young designer to try chase their dreams.

A good designer solves a problem, a great designer prevents them.

A good design is something that has been thought through thoroughly. If an idea is well conceived, thoroughly evaluated, and subsequently iteratively improved, it is very unlikely that it isn't a good idea.

Good design is what separated our ancestors from apes. Good design is what keeps rivers from flooding towns, planes in the sky, our seats comfortable, and our lives bearable. Not investing in good design is essentially self harm in my opinion.

I would love to design armour for the military to keep troops safe. Devices which kept food fresh for longer whilst being accessible to ease world hunger, and better transport so everyone can see everyone. I'm honestly inclined to design for just humanity as a whole.

I'd love to design my own miniature model series, but haven't had the time.

Hard work.

I'm really inspired by the lecturers at my university. Simon Fraser is a bit of a hero of mine, having worked at so many huge old school design firms like Porche.

The Porche IP84S recliner is one of my favourite designers. It's such a good testament to the study of ergonomics and tried and true old school industrial design.

My greatest design was probably medi-card. It was a medicine dispenser which didn't need power, and it was just such good problem solving at a basic level, but executed so meticulously with precision. I loved the team I worked with on that project, it was a true dream team with amazingly talented individuals.

Be open to new ideas. Design is ever changing, no design is ever really finished. Having an open mind helps you see that better.

Engineering.

Design is like I said before, the stuff that distinguishes us from our ancestors. The grooves in your knife, the height of your chair, the softness of your couch, the width of your phone, the thing that keeps planes flying. Design is the scientific intent behind every thing made or done.

My mum, she's always been there for me.

Aspirations and ambitions, coupled with a sense of duty to my family, friends, and humanity.

Believing it was going to work out.

Well. There is nothing sadder than a good design presented poorly.

I'm currently working on some polyjet printed meta materials on the Stratasys J750, expect some stuff that will blow your mind and look super colourful!

Make the world a better place.

I'm not sure to be honest. My students always expect me to tell them about how well I'm doing, my peers always expect me to do well, my partner, mother, and closer friends have all rather grown accustom to my success however. Personally I just want to be a better man than I was yesterday.

Design is scientific intent, which is essentially education and direction. Education and direction defeats ignorance and misinformation, which helps democratic societies make better choices.

Polyjet printed meta materials on the J750!!!!

Medicard, for reasons stated above.

An appreciation of the old school stuff. As much as I love and am grateful for the advancements in technology for design, I can't help but feel like a lot of the older stuff is simply being ignored. We should learn from our history, not deny it.

I think design is going to be an ever bigger industry. People are starting to see the influence we designers wield, and a lot of designers have achieved celebrity status. It's only a matter of time before commercially, designers are pumped out like electricians.

A big one, maybe a couple months. Usually, I like to finalize a project from concepts to product in just over a month.

Research. Research. Research. Information is power.

Pursue perfection, innovate the world.

A bit of both. Designs set a trend, that subsequently sets the next few designs.

I want to incorporate the latest and most advanced technologies in my design. That idea really got drilled into me at Victoria University, that we're the pioneers of what new stuff can do, and if we don't make use of that new stuff, those ideas and advancements will take years to come to fruition elsewhere.

Fusion 360, Photoshop, Illustrator, 3D printers, and Lasercutters.

Colour, materials, and ambient are huge aspects of design. There is a reason why CMF designers are a thing, and I'm a huge believer in appreciating those aspects.

How does this help the world. A lot of the time, an underlying goal for my design is to show it is a proof of concept for other bigger things like improving standards of living.

What is it, how is it better than precedents, how can I learn from this?

My ideal design partners are my colleagues from some of my previous projects. I like co-designing where each of us are experts in our jurisdictions, and work in harmony with one another.

Sir Richard Taylor. He's the man who started it all for me, everything they did at Weta Workshop just fascinated me as a child, and still to this day.

Art of War. I use it as a philosophical guide for everything, and some of it helps me review my designs from a fresh perspective.

Through a lot of trial and error, and making mistakes, but trying anyway.

Da Vinci. I want to know what was going on in that head of his, where he got his ideas from, if he was utterly mad or if there was just some genius behind it ahead of his time.

Not at all, I'm not famous!

Blue, home, ramen, spring, miniature models, vallejo.

I once 3D printed a wooden crossbow. One of the bolts broke and so I glued it together with super glue. I dropped it whilst it was still drying (and I used way too much glue), and it bounced into my eye. Was really fun getting super glue bits surgically removed from my eye.

Looking back on a hard days work and loving how it all looks.

Nope, lil me just wanted to doodle.

Hopefully robots won't control us all. Ideally, we'd solve world hunger, housing issues, and make universal utilities a possibility.

Nah, peace out folks, you been great!

TG Design Studio aims to connect people with good design.

Design is the stuff that distinguishes us from our ancestors. The grooves in your knife, the height of your chair, the softness of your couch, the width of your phone, the thing that keeps planes flying. Design is the scientific intent behind every thing made or done.

Products, about handsized, often including some form of mechanical movement.

The Porche IP84S recliner is one of my favourite designers. It's such a good testament to the study of ergonomics and tried and true old school industrial design.

Venus, a homeware cup.

Favourite material is copper.
Favourite platform is the 3D printer/STL databases.
My favourite technology is the oldschool lathe.

When I'm caffeinated and listening to music after about 9 hours of sleep and a hearty breakfast

All of it, design isn't a process where you can play favourites to the steps. Design is a holistic process where each step influences one another, and thus must be considered as such.

Focus, joy, terror, amusement, satisfaction

The same, but usually more anxious too

When it impacts people's lives in some way. If your design makes someone happy, healthy, or keeps someone full or employed, you've done a good job.

Whether or not the end was proportionately as valuable as the means invested.

To design for a better tomorrow.

The future of design is a broad question. The future of industrial design is a little more straight forward: digital fabrication technologies such as 3D printing, coupled with parametric design systems and new age point of sale models will change how products are designed, made, and sold.

A' Winners' Exhibition at "MOOD" Museum of Design, Ex Chiesa di San Francesco, Como, Italy.
Next exhibition is in Wellington, New Zealand.
I want to hold an exhibition in Shanghai.

Inspiration is drawn from trying to succeed and make something useful for the world. My creativity is fed by my drive to strive for better design. I'm inspired by helping people at the end of the day.

My design style is empirical when need be, but crazy also. I love using qualitative data and researching to justify every design decision, but I also love exploring form and losing myself in the process of it all to give it that unique flavour.

New Zealand. It's a very uniquely bi-cultural nation, and definitely influences how I design with it's accepting heritage. Pros are it's a welcoming and supportive environment, cons is manufacturing is difficult to source.

I'm very independent. I consult frequently with clients to ensure they're kept in the loop and we're headed in a mutually agreed direction, but I love having autonomy on my own work and pace. I always deliver on a deadline however.

Pick someone who doesn't work hard or smart, but both. You want someone who's going to be hammering out drawings at 4 AM for that last component, and who's also going to make copies of it instead of designing a new CAD file for your new series 6 months down the track.

I start with a lot of research and then start spamming concepts until something stands out among the masses. I like to think I'm mediocre at concept generation, but if I take enough shots that one of them will critically hit.

I love my HP OMEN, it's an old 2014 model, but its served me through thick and thin. I love my toothbrush. Ye old faithful thousands year old Chinese design. I love my shoerack, it's $16 from the Warehouse, but it's robust, does the job, and looks good doing it. Good design doesn't have to be expensive. I love my Kolinsky Sable brushes. Someone a long time ago thought it would be good to harvest hairs off the little guys, but they are so beautiful to use.

About 8 jobs, 5 meetings, and 0 sleep.

I'm still a young and up and coming designer in my opinion, so I'll leave the comments to the older veterans.

Positives: you getta live your dream and work at your own accord (to an extent and before deadlines).
Cons: you might struggle every now and again, industry is tough.

If it's a shortcut, you probably shouldn't take it.

Open-mindedness, adaptability, perseverance.

Fusion 360, SolidWorks, Rhino, Grasshopper, Keyshot, Pinterest, Google, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Bridge, Lightroom, PremierPro, AfterEffects, XD

I try to and fail. It's all about knowing which meetings you can cancel for that 20 min nap that will rescue your whole day.

If it's only a concept, 2 minutes. If it's small, maybe a fortnight. If it's big, maybe a few months. My current design is certified internationally and has taken over a year before production began.

What do you actually do?

National Design Manager of United Nations Youth New Zealand. Taught me how to manage work, colleagues, subordinates, superiors, and politics.

Business New Zealand, Shwoop, Exsurgo, Victoria University of Wellington, Exsurgo, UrbanGroup, Auckland University of Technology, AgainAgain, United Nations, United Nations Associations of New Zealand, United Nations Youth, Howick Youth Council, Bats Theatre, Yellow Stocking Theatre Company

Rendering, it's like traditional sketching, but I don't have to run quality control on if my marker strokes are straight or not.

Finishing this project for Exsurgo.

Not that I can legally.

tiger.guo@tgdesignstudio.com
+64278101696
tgdesignstudio.com

Not today