Interview with Tim Kwok
Timmy Kwok is a product designer graduated from RMIT University in 2011. She is now working as a professional product designer in Hong Kong.
Designer of the Day Interview
13 August 2018
I graduated from Industrial Design at RMIT University, Australia. After I graduated, I went back to Hong Kong and work for a sport company, my client is included Body Glove, BG Mermaid, Fluid, Rydr, Speedo and Wham O. During this time, I gain a lot of experience on design different type of products, from toy to profession snorkel equipment, I also experience working with different material. With the experience and knowledge, I start to develop a personal project, Cocoon, and it is then turn out to be a lounge chair called "Cocoon Lounge Chair". It then won the Gold award in A Furniture Homeware and Decor Items Design Award category at A Design Award in 2018. This award encourages me to develop my other personal projects. Now I am working as a professional product designer in Hong Kong.
I believe design not only easily assimilate into our daily life, besides, it also innovative and decorative, to simplify my word, design can easily make changes because it is closely related to our lives. I am especially interested in how design can make changes and benefit all life. This is the reason I become a designer.
My priority when designing is "form following function", this is my bottom line of design, therefore I will sketch out different ideas and build a lot of mockups to find out the best solution according to the purpose of the project. Then the 3D model (CAD) and the prototype will build to study the feasibility and availability. The final design should tell people what it is by its shape, for me, this will be a successful and complete design.
I feel excited when I am designing, it is like welcoming a new life to join my life, full of expectation.
When I was small, I already feel passionate about Art. After the study of high school, I found out the practical use of art, which is "design". Design not only can easily assimilate into our daily life, besides, it also innovative and decorative, to simplify my word, design can easily make changes because it is closely related to our lives. I am especially interested in how design can make changes and benefit all life. This is the reason I become a designer.
The past working experiences bring me the knowledge of different kind of product and various materials, this then becomes the cornerstone of Cocoon Lounge Chair's success. The success of the product encourages me to develop more personal innovative products. Now I am working on my personal project, I wish one day I can design a product to make changes and benefit mankind.
I think they have to be curious and be passionate about design all the time, willing to accept the challenge and have the ability to solve problems independently.
Do not lose the passion for design. Be open to what you see, and be patient to listen.
My day usually looks like a normal office worker. In the morning, I start with breakfast and e-mail. Then I will continue the development on the design project, I will also spend some time researching and study about some new materials. This is how I spend my normal day.
I believe innovative design create design trend naturally, so I will try to keep up with the latest technology and invention and study how can I adopt them to improve my design. I think design trend just industry indicators on what the latest good design in the coming year, so there are possibilities for every designer, including myself, to create their design trend.
My basic rule of good design is "form following function", this is my bottom line of design. And the innovation, improvement, ability to solve a problem and the perfect combination of function and art of a designed product are also help build a good design.
When a design is ready, it needs to come up with a 1 to 1 working prototype to prove it's availability, stability and safety. Besides, "Does it fulfil the project's aim?" "How people think about the project?" "What is the user experience?" are also important to criticize the success of the product. I will consider a design is ready when all the points I mentioned are fulfiled.
My biggest design work is Cocoon Lounge Chair. It successfully reflects my goal and expectation with the design. It is a perfect combination of art and design, and it also successfully bring minimum material to present natural comfort. The outcome is a minimal structure that represents a natural comfort form and it serves as a functional piece of furniture.
Marcel Wanders is my favourite designer. I often inspired from him, his design is iconic, unique, inspiring and innovative. He can bring ordinary materials and old technologies to the new use, therefore his design often inspire me a new way of thinking.
I live in Hong Kong since I was small. Hong Kong is a very small international city with a lot of peoples, cars and buildings, it's unique history brings multicultural in our daily life. The age of my birth made me experience the rule of two generations of government, so I am fully experiencing two different cultures and life-changing. This experience helps me to broaden my horizons to accept different things. And the inclusiveness of Hong Kong, just like my design, therefore I can design in different styles on different product according to the orientation of the project.
I will only make a decision that I won't feel regret. During my work, I would not stifle any possibility of different project, I believe even a small project has various possibilities: possibility to make the change; possibility to learn, or possibility to grow better... therefore I always try my best so I don’t feel regret for losing the possibility for each single project.
Global warming becomes a serious global problem. As a designer, I also aware of this huge problem. Although my personal ability is limited, I still wish I can make a contribution for the solution, therefore, I decided to set a basic rule on all my design, which is, "bring minimum material to maximum use". On the other hand, I will consider recyclable materials as the first priority for the design. Lastly, I will try to use the same material on one design, so a user can easily recycle the product. If the design use multi-materials, I will design an easy disintegrated system to separate different materials for recycling. I hope in these ways, I can reduce the material and waste from the design and finally decrease the damage to the natural environment.
I meet a lot of different talented designers around the world when I attend the A’ Design Award, this gives me an opportunity to build up my personal network for my future career. Besides, it also gives me an opportunity to share my winning design to other people. I believe this is one of my unforgettable memories in my life.
Design Legend Interview
12 August 2018
I graduated from Industrial Design at RMIT University, Australia. Now I am working as a professional product designer in Hong Kong.
I believe design not only can easily assimilate into our daily life, besides, it also innovative and decorative, to simplify my word, design can easily make changes because it is closely related to our lives. I am especially interested in how design can make changes and benefit all life. This is the reason why I become a designer.
I choose to become a designer myself because I like art and design.
I have the ability to design different products, but I would like to get involved in the furniture design field.
I think they have to be curious and be passionate about design all the time, willing to accept the challenge and have the ability to solve problems independently.
Good designer cares about the appearance of the product, they can design a good looking design. But great designer not only cares about the appearance of the product, they also consider the function, the entire user experience of the product and the environmental issues, moreover, they also care about recycling part after the end of the product.
My basic rule of good design is "form following function", this is my bottom line of design. And the innovation, improvement, ability to solve a problem and the perfect combination of function and art of a designed product are what make a design successful.
The value of good design should not only about money and appearances, it is about how to improve our life and make changes. Good design can make a long-term benefit, it does not only benefit the company but also benefit the user.
I would like to design a multi-function furniture for household use if I have spare time.
My secret recipe of success in design is curiosity and passionate with design. Curiosity lead me to learning and passionate help me to create better design.
I often inspired from Marcel Wanders, his design is iconic, unique, inspiring and innovative. He can bring ordinary materials and old technologies to the new use, therefore his design often inspire me a new way of thinking.
One of my favourite design is Marcel Wanders' Knotted Chair. I like the way how the soft yarn material and old knotting technique come together to become a strong, practical and beautiful new chair by impregnated with epoxy resin. This design opens a new way of object making.
My greatest design is Cocoon chair. Cocoon chair not only is a perfect combination of art and design, it is also developed by a long process that aims to bring out maximum comfort and natural experience to the user by using the minimum material. The outcome is a minimal structure that represents a natural comfort form and it serves as a functional piece of furniture which called Cocoon.
I think they have to be curious and be passionate about design all the time, willing to accept the challenge and have the ability to solve problems independently.
I think I will be an artist if I hadn’t become a designer, because I like art since I was small.
Design can mean a lot of different things to me. For example, design can be a way of problem solving, and it is also can be a development process. Different ways of design can lead to different interesting results, so I am opening to the answer.
Of course, my biggest supporter is my family, but my University lecturer also play a significant role in my life, they inspire me to develop my own design path.
It is my curiosity and passionate help me to become a greater designer.
I think the obstacles is losing passion with design, I think once you lost your passion, your design work cannot be good.
I think designers should present their work in a simple and clear way, good design can tell its story by its shape.
Now I am working on a multi-function lighting design, the lighting will introduce a brand new system on the function. This new function gives more flexibility for the user to change the usage and create their personal arrangement. I hope this design can change the usual way of lighting.
My ultimate goal is my design can innovate and benefit all life on the earth.
I think design this word is not limited to mean an object, it can be a solution to a problem or it can be a system. Design usually appear when a designer considers a situation as a problem, so design can provide a solution to a problem and help improve our society and our life to a better way.
Cocoon chair gives me the most satisfaction because it successfully reflects my goal and expectation with the design. It is a perfect combination of art and design, and it also successfully bring minimum material to present natural comfort. The outcome is a minimal structure that represents a natural comfort form and it serves as a functional piece of furniture.
I want to see more innovative and interactive design in the design industry in the coming years. The design industry is moving on a direction that people do not only fulfil with stylish design, they also consider the user experience, therefore I like to see more connection between human and design, and innovation in the design field.
I think the design field is heading next to a more flexible and interactive direction, people want to dominate their sense of stylish, instead of others telling them what is the trend.
All of my projects start with research.
- Less is more.
- Curiosity is the power of knowlege, imagination is the power of creativity.
- Curiosity is the power of knowlege, imagination is the power of creativity.
I believe design sets the trend. A product becomes popular not based on the trend, it is the well-considered good design makes a product become successful, and after that, the others follow the outcome and it is then become a trend.
The role of technology is like a great assistant for a designer, it helps us brings imagination to become reality.
I mostly use pencil and pen to sketch out my concept on paper, besides, computer graphic (Illustrator and Photoshop) and 3D software (Rhino and Solidworks) also a great help on my design.
The colour, materials and ambient are playing important role in design. These three elements can stimulate human senses thus to make the judgment about a design. For example, people will first use their vision to look at the surface, colour and shape and decide to engage with the design. Then they start to use their hand to touch the material and finally experience the product. These three elements can directly link to how people feel and experience the design.
How you come up with the concept?
When I see a new great design or product, the first question come to my mind is "how they build it?"
I feel honoured to receive every award, each of the award is recognition of my hard work and my talent. Design field is a very large industrial, there are a lot of talented designers around the world, therefore I believe it is very challenging to be famous.
I can not tell what is going to happen in a thousand years later, but I think design will keep on changing and improving. In the past, designers were talking about aesthetics, art with function... but now, design is not only about beauty but also about innovation, improvement, problem-solving and sustainability... Therefore I believe design will keep evolving and wait for the new generation to open a new chapter.
Designer Interview
13 August 2018
I am a product designer graduated in RMIT University, Australia. When I was small, I already feel passionate about Art. After the study of high school, I found out the practical use of art, design. Design not only can easily assimilate into our daily life, besides, it also innovative and decorative, to simplify my word, design can easily make changes because it is closely related to our lives. I am especially interested in how design can make changes and benefit all life. This is the reason why I become a designer.
Currently I am working as a freelance designer.
Design can mean a lot of different things to me. For example, design can be a way of problem solving, and it is also can be a development process. Different ways of design can lead to different interesting results, so I am opening to the answer.
I think furniture design interested me the most because I am a homebody.
The first thing I designed for a company is a hard back shell for a back protector. This is made to protect Skiers when they are skiing, and it is designed for a sports company.
I am interested in how to control a soft line to become a particular line form by using a frame structure. This is also part of the study of my winning design, Cocoon Lounge Chair.
I feel the most creative when I am closing my eye and lying down on my bed.
During designing, I focus on how can my design make changes to people and to the entire market.
I feel excited when I am designing, it is like welcoming a new life to join my life, full of expectation.
I feel excited when my designs are realized, it is like welcoming a newborn baby to my home.
My basic rule of good design is "form following function", this is my bottom line of design. And the innovation, improvement, ability to solve a problem and the perfect combination of function and art of a designed product are what make a design successful.
When I am judging a design as good or bad, I will first consider the relationship between form and function, how the form and shape affect the function and use of an object.
In my point of view, I think designers have responsibilities to create sustainable and safe designs with less waste for society and the environment. For example, designers can consider using the more ECO-friendly material on their design, or reduce the material used on the produce.
I think the "design field" is evolving. In the past, designers were talking about aesthetics, art and function... but now, design is not only about beauty but also about innovation, improvement, problem-solving and sustainability... Therefore I believe design will keep evolving and wait for the new generation to open a new chapter.
My last exhibition was in Italy.
My design inspiration usually comes from nature. I believe nature is the source of design. I often inspire by how evolutionary processes give rise to all species and finally become what we see today. I think evolution just like design processes, all species have to keep on developing themselves to fit in nature. This is why I often inspired by nature.
I think my designs are mostly in streamlined organic form, this is related to my inspirations are usually come from nature. My approach to design is to develop aesthetic nature form that follows the basic function of the object and bring minimum material to maximum use.
Now I am living in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a very small international city with a lot of peoples, cars and buildings, it's unique history brings multicultural in our daily life. In the good aspect, this small city always full of inspiration and opportunity, it makes our vision broader and design become important to our life. As a designer, I will consider the limited living space is not a bad aspect, because it pushes designer to consider more problem-solving options, to simplify my words, designers have more design opportunity in this small city.
I was an employee of a sport company, but now working as a freelance designer.
I think if good design is limited in business and money, that will be a sad thing. Companies can focus on the long-term benefit of a good design rather the short term benefit. I think the good designer needs to be passionate in design, willing to accept the challenge and have the ability to solve problems independently.
My design always starts with research. Then I will make some concept drawing, and I will select some potential concepts to build some scaled mod ups. According to the selected mod up, I will improve my design and start to build a 1 to 1 scale model in the computer (3D). After the 3D model, it will be prototype building. At last, the improved prototype will become the final product.
I think they have to be curious and be passionate about design all the time, willing to accept the challenge and have the ability to solve problems independently.
My golden rule in design is form following function. This is my bottom line of design.
I think the most important skill for a designer is communication skill, how you can communicate your design with other people in a clear and easy way.
I mostly use pencil and pen to sketch out my concept on paper, besides, computer graphic (Illustrator and Photoshop) and 3D software (Rhino and Solidworks) also a great help on my design.
I think manage my time is the most important thing when I start the project. I have to clear about how much time I have on the project so I can make my personal time schedule according to the project. It is also important to estimate the time required for the project. This is the basic time management.
I think different design projects require different durations, it depends on what kind of project. Normally, if the project is simple, it can take less than a month to be done, but if the project is complicated and involved with a lot of probems, it can take up to half year.
I think is "What do you design?"
I think the most important job experience is in my previous job as a product designer for a sports company. I received a project to design a mermaid monofin. This was a big challenge for me because this was my first fin product design project, I put a lot of effort to study everything, from the function of different fish's tail to the hydrodynamics. And during the project, there were a lot of problems appear. Finally, when the monofin come out to the market, it becomes very popular. The monofin not only receive a lot of good comment, it also becomes the top 10 best mono fin between 2016-2017 selected by wiki.ezvid.com. I receive a good return on what I had pay for.
Body Glove, Speedo, Mermaid Linden, Yamaha, Fluid, Snowslider, Rydr, Wham O
I enjoy working on all type of design work, but I especially like working on some completely new concept, because I like to explore new things. I enjoy the time when my concept idea become real. It is just like the joy of becoming a new mother.
Now my plan is to bring my winning design Cocoon Lounge Chair to market. I am looking for co-operation with some companies and manufactories to find an opportunity for the Cocoon Lounge Chair.
Most of the time, I work on myself, but I can work as a team as well.
https://timmy719.wixsite.com/timk