Yi-Hsun Hsu

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?

I recently earned my BFA in Industrial Design from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. I always enjoy making craft and designing easy-made toys for myself when I was a kid. Usually, I would handmade gifts for friends and my parents. There is always an invisible power that pull me into design's path. I really enjoying floating in the field of design where my passion belongs.

Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?

CCA / California College of the Arts is not only a design school, but a wonderful place full of creative designers, educators, advocates and social-changers. "Make ART that matters" is Motto for everyone in CCA to keep in mind. The college prepares students for lifelong creative work by cultivating innovation, community engagement, and social and environmental responsibility.

What is "design" for you?

I believe that design is having love and empathy to the surroundings and provides effective and fresh solutions with happiness. It is like having someone surprisingly opens a gift that is customized designed by me.

What kinds of works do you like designing most?

I love making things that bring happiness to people or make a better world. It could be a gift, a toy, or even a first aid kit that save people from disaster.

What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?

Daan Roosegaarde's Smog Free Project provides people a better environment with clean air. It erases air pollution in city with large scale air purifying tower, and turns useless smog into rings. I think it is a clever solution that he thought about turning smog into useful items. Not only does he benefits the environment, but also people's health.

How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?

Design is compatible with our lives. Future: Design is compatible with human beings.

Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?

My inspiration often comes from my daily lives and people's life style around me. I love to watch movies and travels, which provides me inspiration to brainstorm ideas.

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?

I live in Taiwan. pros: People work here often work efficiently. Cons: They care more about marketing than its concepts sometimes.

How do you work with companies?

1, Exchanging ideas with each other and mix them well together. 2, Understand profoundly about what the companies want and what's their target users and place.

Can you talk a little about your design process?

Define problems, Research, Interviews, Target Users, Brainstorming, Ideation Sketches, Function v.s. Aesthetic, Final Sketches, CAD models, Materials, Rendering, Model Making, Video Editing

What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?

Dyson fans, Apple Mac, Fujifilm instax, Boom Speaker, Lightair air purifier

From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?

Positive: get to be with design everyday from morning to night. Negative: less time to spend on other things.

Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?

Spending 80% time on defining problems and 20% time on coming up solutions. Don't ever brainstorming at late night, its time for sleep only.

Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?

I recently work on a pipe furniture design, the goal is to create DIY instructions for those of who want to make their own furniture.