Duncan Shotton

Specialized in Design.

Duncan Shotton

About Duncan Shotton

  • Winner of the A' Design Award.
  • Specialized in Design.
  • Original Design.
  • Creative, Diligent and Innovative.
  • All Designs

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Interview with Duncan Shotton

Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
All of them. If you don't look at everything, you aren't doing it properly.
What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
Rocket-like excitement, that's the most rewarding one and why I do it.
How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
More designer-producers, more collaborations, less corporation-owned design.
When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
During Tokyo Design Week with Designboom Mart, October 2012. I'd like to do a solo exhibition in Harajuku, Tokyo, and get to London and New York at some point too.
Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
I do a lot of trend research online and in the retail environment.
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?
My Studio is in Tokyo. The city fills me with excitement, but it's much harder to communicate directly as my Japanese is still pretty basic. Japanese colleagues are essential to the studio being a success.
Can you talk a little about your design process?
Research, idea, prototype, research, prototype, prototype, engage with partner companies (sometimes from the start), finesse, produce.
What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
Mini-Cleaner (Midori), Gundam Mega-size plastic model, cat earphone jack, automatic tape dispenser (leti), my next design...
Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
I am a young designer. Aren't I? Just work hard, you only go round once.
From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
Positve : I think about things that would make people happy, then a make them real, then people are happy. Negative : Almost always, you have to make compromises because of factors out of your control (e.g. Cost)
What skills are most important for a designer?
Designers need every skill, conceptualisation is just as important as verbal communication.
Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
A computer, the internet, a notebook, card, a ruler and a scalpel.
How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
Totally depends. My Irish friend at university used to say "Do it in a night", there's a lot you can do in a night. Many of my projects take typically 1-2 years.
What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
"What's Product Design?", I say "It's the design of Stuff and Things"
What was your most important job experience?
Year placement at J-me in London. It was really tough, but really rewarding.
Who are some of your clients?
Mars, HighTide, Kinneir Dufort, NOTCOT.com, EntreX, Suck UK, Cara Technology, Unilever,
What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
Product and Packaging, you can feel it. I love one-offs too, if you do something great, you only need to do it once.
What are your future plans? What is next for you?
I want to grow the Studio, to hire a few more staff to help with design as well as the general running of the business.
Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
Mostly myself, but I always share them first with my colleagues, friends and manufacturers. Other people sometimes notice things that you haven't.
Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
I'm planning to release 4 new works this year. They'll be first released at http://facebook.com/DuncanShottonDesignStudio , http://twitter.com/_dshott and to people that have signed up to the newsletter at http://dshott.co.uk/newsletter

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