Interviews med Hsu-Hung Huang

I am an interior and product designer, with ten years of commercial and residential design experience and a Master of Arts (Merit) in Product & Furniture Design from Kingston University in London, England. I hope to re-build a bridge for dialogue between the world and Taiwan’s culture through contemporary designs.

After graduating from my university and achieving a Bachelor of Art in Interior Design, I contributed to prominent interior and product design companies. During my university studies, I acquired knowledge in both theoretical and practical foundations of design. In addition, I was familiar with the development of my designs through data analysis and design concepts.

After years of working in interior design, I have decided to acquire a Master of Arts and learn new design methods, Product & Furniture Design from Kingston University London. The primary reason is that due to legalities and the realities of the political and social history in Taiwan, there have been scant opportunities to design furniture that matches the unique needs of the Taiwanese people. It could be said that most factories in Taiwan strictly made designs for other nations and we were given the leftovers. Therefore, I hope to design furniture that not only has cost and aesthetic considerations but will also be created to fit into the urbanized, hot and humid, semi-tropical atmosphere in Taiwan.

To begin, I usually plan to conduct a large number of studies on the background of the project via direct observation, participant observation, and qualitative interviews. I usually attempt to find and figure out the clients' potential problems while also expressing my viewpoints. Following that, distinctive and original design experiments that are more adventurous than past aesthetics would be created. I believe that the final result would be more alive and relevant to contemporary times.

In certain creative activities, sometimes, I am forced to face stress from the deadline. To explain, designers should have plenty of creatives and ideas in the design process and experience different challenges. Solving various problems consumes a great deal of time and is usually unpredictable. However, the pressure may be a benefit for designers. It would push someone toward creating more potential and better outcomes and stimulate their abilities.

From my point of view, the most important skill is critical thinking. Critical thinking often helps me to change my perspective to enhance my approach and thinking about problems or circumstances. Furthermore, utilizing this way will have a beneficial and positive effect on my decisions and viewpoints.

In the future, I plan to extend the series of Tao rocking chairs and hoped to cooperate with some residents of the indigenous community and produce some design works in a small number of diversified ways. Through production cooperation, technology transfer, etc., aesthetic value and product quality can be improved. Also, expanding the consumer market of contemporary indigenous products and furniture is quite potential.

As a designer, I realized that designing not only requires sensitivity to beauty but the consideration of the strategies behind using aesthetics. When I incorporated these two aspects into the creative process, I was able to solve my clients’ problems efficiently while also reflecting on my own design philosophy.

In my opinion, a professional designer should be expressing his or her viewpoint precisely and possess flexible thinking. That is to say, it is also necessary to change different mentalities to face various works or environments. Moreover, a good designer should simulate putting themselves in a different position and think in empathy for clients or coworkers. Hence, they can understand and achieve effective communication between their respective needs of both.

I am not only a designer but a design educator at a university. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the work style shows a significant change. Essentially, remote work is the primary work. Every day, I usually read before breakfast, and then I begin my busy workday online and cooperate with coworkers or clients from oversea. Until lunch, take a short break. Then, I will keep working including computer work, online classes, and online meetings in the afternoon. Sometimes, certain meetings must be held outside. After I get off work, I will have some personal rest time. I usually do some exercise and get together with my family.

Honestly, I do not really follow the latest design trends. I do not support certain consumers who emulate global trends and fads with no thought to how it matches their lives. However, that thinking through making is my favourite motto. I typically feel creative when I have a strong desire to develop or modify anything but don't have a certain conclusion to do it in the beginning. More exactly, I often try to arrange and combine various methods or conduct a great number of experiments then inspiration appears seemingly out of nowhere.

In my perspective, I tend to assess a design work utilizing created factors including aesthetics, design philosophy, practicality and symbolism. Particularly, aesthetics is my significant consideration for the first impression of design work. To be more precise, I believe that a good design should appeal to users by having a pleasing look firstly. After that, people would be interested in the object or space and try to understand what it is.

I always keep an open mind to make my designs better. Success, to my mind, involves always having a loving heart and a passion for designers’ work. Thus, there are not always finished or ready.

The Tao rocking chair is one of my favourite projects. This work was inspired by the boat-building methods of the Tao Indigenous community, previously of Orchid Island, a rugged and remote island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan. Respecting cultural heritage, a crucial part of Tao life centres upon the building of traditional fishing boats for the Tao people. Hence, addressing the issue of culture preservation, I aimed to communicate Taiwan’s unique culture to the world via this project and transfer the experience of rowing the Tao canoe into the joyfulness of swinging in a rocking chair.

I quite appreciate the design works of Le Corbusier, a Swiss-French architect. In design contributions, Le Corbusier was well-known for his architectural theory and style which was modernism, or the international style. For instance, in Notre Dame du Haut, he combined classic aesthetics with a modern design including material and building construction techniques.

According to Towards a New Architecture (1923), Le Corbusier believed that simple form was the most beautiful form and simple type was expressed by arranging pure order. Moreover, he did not support the complicated and additional decoration in the design. That is to say, utilizing the simple principle allows designers to develop elegant design works. This design philosophy appeals to me significantly.

Taiwan is a picturesque and mountainous island on the Pacific Ocean and it demonstrates tremendous diversity in its cultural heritage. Especially, indigenous nations who have various legends, crafts, and ceremonies strongly represent Taiwan’s unique marine culture and spirit. To preserve this precious and traditional culture, I often attempt to embed spiritual and societal knowledge and practices into material design.

I believe a good designer should be honest and self-disciplined. These characters are important virtues. From their background, these factors influence designers to do appropriate things and make correct decisions. Furthermore, if designers were honest and self-disciplined, supervisors or cooperators could communicate with them more effectively based on trust. Otherwise, I firmly believe that some job skills could be cultivated and shaped but it is not easy to change these personalities.

In my opinion, I support that a designer should treat and solve social and environmental issues around our world positively. They would improve these problems and attempt to change this society better rather than make a lot of fads. In the future, I intend to continue informing people about Taiwan's unique culture through more design works. The main reason is that I aimed to focus on cultural issues and had a sense of mission for saving cultural heritage.

From my point of view, acquiring A’ design award competition not only is an honour but also is communication with other people all over the world. More exactly, on this platform, I would be able to interact with designers from different cultural backgrounds to exchange ideas and share the practical challenges of my past work experience.

Inspired by the craft of Tao, a Taiwan indigenous people, the designer has integrated their maritime culture into furniture design. Their knowledge and skills strongly represent Taiwan’s unique oceanic culture and spirit. By combining traditional and contemporary methods, this furniture design hopes to inform people of the culture of Taiwan’s indigenous people.

Currently in Taiwan certain designers and consumers emulate global trends and fads with no thought to how it matches their lives. As a result, many opportunities to communicate Taiwan’s unique culture are being lost.

There are sixteen indigenous groups in Taiwan who have various legends, crafts, and ceremonies. Although they have a precious culture, they are threatened to disappear due to issues such as lack of developments and small population. As time passes, people could ignore indigenous culture.

To deal with this issue, I hoped to communicate Taiwan’s culture to the world via this project. Inspired by the craft of Tao, a Taiwan indigenous people, I have integrated their boat culture into furniture design. Their knowledge and skills strongly represent Taiwan ‘s unique marine culture and spirit. By combining traditional with contemporary methods, this project hopes to inform people of the culture of Taiwan’s indigenous people.

In the future, I intend to continue enlightening people about Taiwan's unique culture through more design works.

The project started in May 2017 in London and finished in September 2017 in London, and was exhibited at Viaduct Showroom London, Goldsmith University London and Eslite Bookstore Taiwan in July 2018 and 2019.

I plan to extend the series of Tao rocking chairs and hoped to cooperate with some residents of the indigenous community and produce some design works in a small number of diversified ways. Through production cooperation, technology transfer, etc., aesthetic value and product quality can be improved. Also, expanding the consumer market of contemporary indigenous products and furniture is quite potential.

I feel that is the sense of mission for saving cultural heritage.

In Taiwan, I had an opportunity to understand Tao people’s wisdom; also, I attempted to learn the boat-building technique and marine knowledge from a Tao person. I still remember that Mi Sra Ko Sirman, an indigenous craftsman told me that if people do not regard the canoe as a real friend, they wouldn’t treasure a canoe very well.

Customers targeted include cultural workers, art keepers, the government, and so forth.

To my mind, it is my goal that the design works can reflect the unique value of Taiwan culture. To explain it, I am strongly committed to promoting Taiwan's marine culture and spirit in this world. Also, I used cultural elements to create this fascinating and elegant furniture.

Tao rocking chair, the name comes from the indigenous people who live on Orchid Island in eastern Taiwan. Also, the Tao people are well-known for their traditional canoe craftsmanship. Inspired by the crafts of Tao, I integrated their boat-building craftsmanship into a piece of furniture. Furthermore, I hoped to transfer the experience of rowing the Tao canoe into the joyfulness of swinging in a rocking chair. Ultimately, the project explored the preservation of intangible cultural heritage and translated it into stylish and elegant artwork through contemporary design methods.

The main digital tools are CAD and CNC. Also, I utilized traditional boat-building methods and tools like clamps, axes, saws and mallets.

Taiwan is a picturesque and mountainous island on the Pacific Ocean and it demonstrates tremendous diversity in its cultural heritage. Especially, indigenous nations who have various legends, crafts, and ceremonies strongly represent Taiwan’s unique marine culture and spirit. To preserve this precious and traditional culture, I attempted to embed spiritual and societal knowledge and practices into material design.

At the 3D studio of Kingston University, serval technicians and experts assisted me to deal with some specialized issues like CNC cutting and wooden manufacturing techniques. They provided relevant skills and plenty of advice to me. These experiences and suggestions are quite useful to produce Tao Rocking Chair.

The purpose of this program is to utilize the traditional approach of boat-building to make furniture. Hence, the method of manufacturing should follow the Tao people’s example; also, solid timbers should be chosen. Nevertheless, when I conducted quite a few experiments, I discovered that natural deformation and warping would appear because of different cutting methods and growth characteristics. To deal with this concern, firstly, to cut various wooden components down, CAD and CNC were utilized. The axis of wooden components followed the wood grains since plants’ fabric affects the strength of materials and mechanics remarkably; also, I laminated a timber board and glued these wooden components together. Further, I divided the wood parts into three boards. In the middle part, a thicker and higher dense timber board was used. On both sides, thinner and lighter timber boards were used. Thus, the mid wood board can support the wood boards on both sides and this approach can make the structure stronger. This way is similar to the method of Tao canoe making. Using different characteristics and pieces of wood boards can make the rocking chair’s structure stable and durable.

Through this program, I combined design approaches with my research to develop a solid culturally memetic design trend and communicate Taiwan’s culture to the world. That is to say, fieldwork, interviews, and publications helped me better understand Taiwan's indigenous culture. To name only a few, I studied a book named Culture and Art of the Formosan Aborigines (Liu, Qi-Wei, 2002). The artist, Liu, Qi-Wei systematically described Taiwan's indigenous culture including social organizations, customs, religions, arts, myths and legends and so on. So that, I was able to have a cultural holistic understanding of Taiwan's indigenous culture and art. Also, the author hoped to convey the cultural image to readers to assist them to respect Taiwan's indigenous culture.

Mirroring the traditional boat building method, multiple wooden compartments were joined together by tenons and mortises; additionally, the mechanical characteristics of various wood species are considered to make the rocking chair the distinctive piece that it is. Thus, the structure of the furniture is more durable in resisting deformation significantly against changes in environmental humidity. By applying the hand-rubbed Danish oil finish, this method provides a natural and original wood texture to the furniture. Ultimately, by combining traditional craft with contemporary fabrication, an elegant and simple rocking chair was made.

Regarding this design program, I hoped to concentrate on globalization and localization design issues originally. From my point of view, acquiring A’ design award competition not only is an honour but also is communication with other people all over the world. More exactly, on this platform, I would be able to interact with designers from different cultural backgrounds to exchange ideas and share the practical challenges of my past work experience.

Via this project, I realized that designing not only requires sensitivity to beauty but the consideration of the strategies behind using aesthetics. When I incorporated these two aspects into the creative process, I was able to solve the certain social issue efficiently while also reflecting on my design philosophy.

Many thanks, that’s all I have to say.

I am an interior and product designer, with ten years of commercial and residential design experience and a Master of Arts (Merit) in Product & Furniture Design from Kingston University in London, England. I hope to re-build a bridge for dialogue between the world and Taiwan’s culture through contemporary designs.

As a designer, I aim to build a design practice that provided practical solutions that integrated cultural context and warmth aesthetics. I feel that my mission is to provide customers with professional services including interior design, product design, aesthetic planning, and construction management. In addition, I always consider each client's needs by using logical approaches and keen analysis. As a result, the best elegant design and lifestyle will be discovered and offered to our clients. I take pleasure in establishing a combination of trendsetting yet enduring design, resulting in interiors that are both contemporary and timeless.

I choose to become a designer. Performing certain projects in the design field, too many unpredicted and fantastic events always appeal to me. I do not like always doing invariable and boring work. That’s why I choose it.

I prefer to perform culture-related projects. These projects allow me to do some research on unknown cultures or understand certain culture-felid deeply. The main reason is that I am constantly fascinated by historical stories and unique cultural contexts.

I believe a good designer should be honest and self-disciplined. These characteristics are important virtues to be a design legend. The primely reason is that these factors influence designers to do appropriate things and make correct decisions. I firmly feel nothing comes close.

To my mind, involves always having a loving heart and a passion for designers’ work. That is to become a great designer’s the most important factor.

In my perspective, I tend to assess a design work utilizing created factors including aesthetics, design philosophy, practicality and symbolism. Particularly, aesthetics is my significant consideration for the first impression of design work. To be more precise, I believe that a good design should appeal to users by having a pleasing look firstly. After that, people would be interested in the object or space and try to understand what it is.

There are aesthetics, design philosophy, practicality and symbolism.

I hope to figure out how to value and transform cultural environment much longer than just a trend, meaning culture must survive in these concrete structures that cannot be removed, yet must be reformed in a way that is elegant and beautiful for our time.

Success, as I mentioned, involves having a loving heart and a passion for designers’ work. That is fantastic.

I believe that an excellent designer should treat and solve social and environmental issues around our world positively. They would improve these problems and attempt to change this society better rather than make a lot of fads. Take Francis Kéré, a Burkina Faso architect as a good example. He observes the environment and culture of Africa and utilizes limited local materials to build many outstanding architectures. Hence, He is honoured for his inventive works, which are frequently harmonious and sustainable in nature.

I quite appreciate the design works of Le Corbusier, a Swiss-French architect. In design contributions, Le Corbusier was well-known for his architectural theory and style which was modernism, or the international style. For instance, in Notre Dame du Haut, he combined classic aesthetics with a modern design including material and building construction techniques.

According to Towards a New Architecture (1923), Le Corbusier believed that simple form was the most beautiful form and simple type was expressed by arranging pure order. Moreover, he did not support the complicated and additional decoration in the design. That is to say, utilizing the simple principle allows designers to develop elegant design works. This design philosophy appeals to me significantly.

Tao rocking chair is one of my favourite projects. This work was inspired by the boat-building methods of the Tao Indigenous community, previously of Orchid Island, a rugged and remote island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan. Respecting cultural heritage, a crucial part of Tao life centres upon the building of traditional fishing boats for the Tao people. Hence, addressing the issue of culture preservation, I aimed to communicate Taiwan’s unique culture to the world via this project and transfer the experience of rowing the Tao canoe into the joyfulness of swinging in a rocking chair.

I would be an educator, I think .

Generally, design is a blueprint or specification for the building of an item or system, the execution of an activity and the process. Also, it could be the output of that plan or sketch in the form of a prototype, product, or procedure.

At the 3D studio of Kingston University, serval technicians and experts assisted me to deal with some specialized design issues like CNC cutting and wooden manufacturing techniques. They provided relevant skills and plenty of advice to me. These experiences and suggestions are quite useful to produce my furniture works.

Yeah, a successful designer should communicate and interact with people all around the world.

Regarding my future programs, I hope to concentrate on culture-related issues and integrate the Taiwanese aesthetic with contemporary design skills such as 3D modelling and digital manufacturing. To explain, Furniture Design in Taiwan usually follows products that were made abroad, with very few changes are originality or feelings of anything local. However, I plan to bring more of Taiwan’s iconic imagery into my project. That is to say, I hope that the design reflects not just the aesthetics of the people of Taiwan but also our heritage and background.

In my opinion, I support that a designer should treat and solve social and environmental issues around our world positively. They would improve these problems and attempt to change this society better rather than make a lot of fads. In the future, I intend to continue informing people about Taiwan's unique culture through more design works. The main reason is that I aimed to focus on cultural issues and had a sense of mission for saving cultural heritage.

Recently, I plan to extend the series of Tao rocking chairs and hoped to cooperate with some residents of the indigenous community and produce some design works in a small number of diversified ways. Through production cooperation, technology transfer, etc., aesthetic value and product quality can be improved. Also, expanding the consumer market of contemporary indigenous products and furniture is quite potential.

I predict that an increasing number of global design concepts and techniques would be integrated with local cultures. To explain, with the introduction of globalization, mass produced furniture became popular; however, as people’s standard of living has improved, they seek more unique and better-quality products. They want the style and quality of the past and are more interested in local style designs. Some people have also become nostalgic about the times before the rapid growth of society. For instance, the historical city aesthetics in my hometown of Tainan includes architecture and furniture, instigating the creation of an atmosphere that that yearns for the past. However, we live in a contemporary society and obviously there are differences between lifestyles of the past and current behavior, which will affect the design and functionality of the product. Hence, from this background, I also get some design inspiration. That is to say, I hope to design furniture that not only has cost and aesthetic considerations, but will be created to fit into the urbanized, hot and humid, semi-tropical atmosphere in Taiwan.

It depends on a different scales' project and budget. Sometimes, for small-scale projects such as furniture or product design, I would spend a few months developing my design concept, modelling and drawings. Otherwise, some large-scale or high budget programs like the design of certain luxury brands and high-quality artworks will take a long time when would take one or two years.

To begin, I usually plan to conduct a large number of studies on the project to better understand the context. I attempt to find and figure out the clients' potential problems while also expressing my viewpoints. Following that, distinctive and original design experiments that are more adventurous than past aesthetics would be created. I believe that the final result would be more alive and relevant to contemporary times.

That thinking through making is my favourite motto. I typically feel creative when I have a strong desire to develop or modify anything but don't have a certain conclusion to do it in the beginning. To be more precise, I would try to arrange and combine various methods or conduct a great number of experiments then inspiration appears seemingly out of nowhere.

Honestly, I do not really follow the latest design trends. I do not support certain consumers who emulate global trends and fads with no thought to how it matches their lives. I feel a good designer should lead the trends via observation and experiment.

The main digital tools are CAD and CNC. Also, I utilized traditional boat-building methods and tools like clamps, axes, saws and mallets to perform my furniture design.

In my furniture works, I prefer to use woods such as oak, walnut, or cherry. These pieces of wood can be painted or stained and utilized as a centrepiece or framework. The surface and texture of wood are also quite appealing and elegant. Thus, I am willing to make a good furniture design by utilizing these materials.

How did you figure out this creative? At the same time, I would be proud of my work. Also, I firmly believe the only way is that a good designer should be diligent and design with heart.

From my experience, I would try to understand the background of the design and do some research on the works. From these methods, some inspiration would also come to my mind.

Genius Loci：Towards A Phenomenology of Architecture

I quite like the brand of an umbrella named senz °. In 2005 a special umbrella was designed by a designer, Gerwin Hoogendoorn who majored in industrial design engineering. The slogan of the advertisement is that enjoy the weather. It encourages people to perform outdoor activities and to enjoy the natural environment by using its products.

The umbrella's shape is asymmetric and has an excellent aerodynamic design. It can not only resist the strong winds of 100km per hour but also anti-ultraviolet coating is added to the umbrella’s surface to achieve the best sunscreen. Because of these unique features, senz ° is a very successful outdoor activity brand.

Not really. In my childhood, there were too many dreams which I hoped to do. However, finally I choose to become a designer. Performing special design programs, a lot of unpredicted and fantastic events always appeal to me.

I am an interior and product designer, with ten years of commercial and residential design experience and a Master of Arts (Merit) in Product & Furniture Design from Kingston University in London, England. I hope to re-build a bridge for dialogue between the world and Taiwan’s culture through contemporary designs.

I founded my studio, Hsu Hung Huang Design Lab, which aims to build a design practice that provided practical solutions that integrated cultural context and warmth aesthetics. The mission of the studio is to provide customers with professional services including interior design, product design, aesthetic planning, and construction management. In addition, we consider each client's needs by using logical approaches and keen analysis. As a result, the best elegant design and lifestyle will be discovered and offered to our clients. We take pleasure in establishing a combination of trendsetting yet enduring design, resulting in interiors that are both contemporary and timeless.

My manifesto is that to be great is to be simple.

I have always been interested in furniture research. I feel that designing furniture is similar to conducting experiments on human behaviour. Here, certain furniture designs have the ability to change the mood of a room by influencing the feelings of those inside the same space. Having experienced designing in various countries around Asia, and having researched the related cultures, I believe that furniture and interior design can coexist together in a harmonious way. In this respect, furniture profoundly influences behaviour in an environment.

I quite appreciate the design works of Le Corbusier, a Swiss-French architect. In design contributions, Le Corbusier was well-known for his architectural theory and style which was modernism, or the international style. For instance, in Notre Dame du Haut, he combined classic aesthetics with a modern design including material and building construction techniques.

According to Towards a New Architecture (1923), Le Corbusier believed that simple form was the most beautiful form and simple type was expressed by arranging pure order. Moreover, he did not support the complicated and additional decoration in the design. That is to say, utilizing the simple principle allows designers to develop elegant design works. This design philosophy appeals to me significantly.

To begin, I usually plan to conduct a large number of studies on company culture to better understand the brand appeal. I attempt to find and figure out the clients' potential problems while also expressing my viewpoints. Following that, distinctive and original design experiments that are more adventurous than past aesthetics would be created. I believe that the final result would be more alive and relevant to contemporary times.

In my furniture works, I prefer to use woods such as oak, walnut, or cherry. These pieces of wood can be painted or stained and utilized as a centre piece or framework. The surface and texture of wood are also quite appealing.

That thinking through making is my favourite motto. I typically feel creative when I have a strong desire to develop or modify anything but don't have a certain conclusion to do it in the beginning. To be more precise, I would try to arrange and combine various methods or conduct a great number of experiments then inspiration appears seemingly out of nowhere.

As a designer, I realized that designing not only requires sensitivity to beauty but the consideration of the strategies behind using aesthetics. When I incorporated these two aspects into the creative process, I was able to solve my clients’ problems efficiently while also reflecting on my own design philosophy.

In certain creative activities, sometimes, I am forced to face stress from the deadline. To explain, designers should have plenty of creatives and ideas in the design process and experience different challenges. Solving various problems consumes a great deal of time and is usually unpredictable. However, the pressure may be a benefit for designers. It would push someone toward creating more potential and better outcomes and stimulate their abilities.

To me, I usually feel self-fulfilled and joyful in my mind when I finished a good design. It means that I have balanced the demands of both clients and my design philosophy.

Success, to my mind, involves having a loving heart and a passion for designers’ work. I strongly feel that is fantastic, and nothing comes close.

In my perspective, I tend to assess a design work utilizing created factors including aesthetics, design philosophy, practicality and symbolism. Particularly, aesthetics is my significant consideration for the first impression of design work. To be more precise, I believe that a good design should appeal to users by having a pleasing look firstly. After that, people would be interested in the object or space and try to understand what it is.

The responsibility depends on the attitude of a designer, I think. Also, I support that a designer should treat and solve social and environmental issues around our world positively. They would improve these problems and attempt to change this society better rather than make a lot of fads. Take Francis Kéré, a Burkina Faso architect as a good example. He observes the environment and culture of Africa and utilizes limited local materials to build many outstanding architectures. Hence, He is honoured for his inventive works, which are frequently harmonious and sustainable in nature.

I predict that an increasing number of global design concepts and techniques would be integrated with local cultures. To explain, with the introduction of globalization, mass produced furniture became popular; however, as people’s standard of living has improved, they seek more unique and better-quality products. They want the style and quality of the past and are more interested in local style designs. Some people have also become nostalgic about the times before the rapid growth of society. For instance, the historical city aesthetics in my hometown of Tainan includes architecture and furniture, instigating the creation of an atmosphere that that yearns for the past. However, we live in a contemporary society and obviously there are differences between lifestyles of the past and current behavior, which will affect the design and functionality of the product. Hence, from this background, I also get some design inspiration. That is to say, I hope to design furniture that not only has cost and aesthetic considerations, but will be created to fit into the urbanized, hot and humid, semi-tropical atmosphere in Taiwan.

In 2020, my last exhibition, Taiwan wood in the house, was held at the national Taiwan science education centre. At that time, I attempted to utilize Taiwan domestic timber to make my furniture and presented the third version of the Tao rocking chair there with other wood crafters and their works. The video link of the exhibition activity shows here below. On the other hand, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I do not still have a new plan for my next exhibition. Therefore, I also hope that people and our government can overcome this problem as soon as possible. Also, the new project for the exhibition would be planned and shown after this pandemic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g74HkllT_dM

I have invested my spare time in intense research into Taiwan’s culture in order to integrate traditional crafts with modern furniture in Taiwan. I can be found in libraries nationwide scouring rare texts and photo books about Taiwanese traditional aesthetics and unique needs to bring into contemporary furniture design.

My works demonstrate less of an iconic style and more of a search for relevant new viewpoints on different design issues, whether on customized products or spatial projects of a certain brand.

Taiwan is a picturesque and mountainous island on the Pacific Ocean and it demonstrates tremendous diversity in its cultural heritage. However, currently, in Taiwan, certain consumers emulate global trends and fads with no thought to how it matches their lives. As a result, many opportunities to communicate Taiwan’s unique marine culture and spirit are being lost. Having said that, to preserve this precious and traditional culture, I often attempt to embed spiritual and societal knowledge and practices into material design.

We respect each other and exchange different creativities and ideas. Also, I would offer plenty of professional knowledge or personal viewpoints to solve some design issues and my cooperators usually give me feedback positively. I believe that is a good interaction.

I suggest that companies should choose a good designer who is honest and self-disciplined. I feel these characters are important virtues. From their background, these factors influence designers to do appropriate things and make correct decisions. Furthermore, if designers were honest and self-disciplined, supervisors or cooperators could communicate with them more effectively based on trust. Otherwise, I firmly believe that some job skills could be cultivated and shaped but it is not easy to change these personalities.

As I mentioned before, thinking through making is my favourite motto. Furthermore, I would try to arrange and combine multiple methodologies or run a large number of studies. For example, I usually use this effective strategy to coordinate the fabrication of various models or samples, as well as the creation of design drawings and specification sheets from plenty of sketches and prototypes. Therefore, it can be seen clearly that creative ideas appear seemingly out of nowhere.

Chair, Table, Bookshelf, Cabinet and Lamp

I am not only a designer but a design educator at a university. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the work style shows a significant change. Essentially, remote work is the primary work. Every day, I usually read before breakfast, and then I begin my busy workday online and cooperate with coworkers or clients from oversea. Until lunch, take a short break. Then, I will keep working including computer work, online classes, and online meetings in the afternoon. Sometimes, certain meetings must be held outside. After I get off work, I will have some personal rest time. I usually do some exercise and get together with my family.

A-Li, a brilliant craftsman and designer are in charge of "ALI Studio". He inherits traditional joinery techniques and attempts to combine contemporary digital manufacture with his creation. He often turns recycled and various wood into a new appearance. Recently, he connects people on the land with his artworks; also, he conveys the wooden aesthetics to people by participating in local creative markets.

In my experience, a designer would be frequently under pressure because of diverse factors like deadlines, interpersonal relationships and mental conditions. Fortunately, being a designer also can bring a great number of advantages. For example, designers would be able to perform their creativities and achieve self-fulfilled in their works. Also, through their professional experience, creative workers would acquire self-esteem and belonging. I feel that these benefits always on be the bright side.

Less is more. This design philosophy appeals to me significantly. I did not support the complicated and additional decoration in the design. That is to say, utilizing the simple principle allows me to develop elegant design works. Hence, I often regard this principle as an important reference and use it to examine all design works.

From my point of view, the most important design skill is critical thinking. Critical thinking may help designers change their perspective to enhance the approach they think about problems or circumstances. Furthermore, utilizing this way will have a beneficial and positive effect on their decisions and viewpoints.

The colour chart is my familiar tool during design. It assists me to define architecture, interior space colour and certain product surfaces. Especially, it is my favourite brand that Pantone Colour chart which has various colours including metal, pastel and neons and so on. Each Pantone colour has a unique code that designers and manufacturers may use to assure colour uniformity.

In my experience, there are too many unpredictable factors in design development. Hence, leaving enough buffer time is necessary. Good designers manage time accurately to save time and make good use of tools like applications, digital calendars and traditional notes. These methods would remind designers to take every moment to perform the current task correctly.

It depends on a different scales' project and budget. Sometimes, for small-scale projects such as furniture or product design, I would spend a few months developing my design concept, modelling and drawings. Otherwise, some large-scale or high budget programs like the design of certain luxury brands and high-quality artworks will take a long time when would take one or two years.

That is fantastic. How did you figure out this creative? At the same time, I am proud of my work. Also, I firmly believe the only way is that a good designer should be diligent and design with heart.

In my opinion, a professional designer should be expressing his or her viewpoint precisely and possess flexible thinking. That is to say, it is also necessary to change different mentalities to face various works or environments. Moreover, a good designer should simulate putting themselves in a different position and think in empathy for clients or coworkers. Hence, they can understand and achieve effective communication between their respective needs of both.

Having experienced designing for all sorts of distinct East Asian nations, and made extensive research on various cultures. I have contributed to prominent interior and product design companies with major clients including D&G, Hyatt Hotel, and JAGEGIA. After I established my studio, I began to offer professional service to my clients such as the government, Asian educational organizations, and luxury brands.

I prefer to perform culture-related projects. These projects allow me to do some research on unknown cultures or understand certain culture-felid deeply. The main reason is that I am constantly fascinated by historical stories and unique cultural contexts.

Regarding my future programs, I hope to concentrate on culture-related issues and integrate the Taiwanese aesthetic with contemporary design skills such as 3D modelling and digital manufacturing. To explain, Furniture Design in Taiwan usually follows products that were made abroad, with very few changes are originality or feelings of anything local. However, I plan to bring more of Taiwan’s iconic imagery into my project. That is to say, I hope that the design reflects not just the aesthetics of the people of Taiwan but also our heritage and background.

It depends on a different project of scales. In certain small-scale projects like furniture design or interior design, firstly, I will come up with my design concepts and develop main design drawings for my clients. After several times of meetings, some construction vendors or manufacturers would join in this project and discuss more practical details. On the other hand, for large-scale projects such as architecture design or landscape design, some coworkers will organize the plan and distribute different missions from the main item in the beginning. Furthermore, we cooperate and complete the project together.

In the future, I plan to extend the series of Tao rocking chairs and hoped to cooperate with some residents of the indigenous community and produce some design works in a small number of diversified ways. Through production cooperation, technology transfer, etc., aesthetic value and product quality can be improved. Also, expanding the consumer market of contemporary indigenous products and furniture is quite potential.

Please reach me by email at HsuHungxSean@gmail.com

Many thanks, that’s all I have to say.