Ajụjụ Ọnụ Onye Na-emepụta Ihe
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During my school years, I always particularly gravitated towards the creative fields and took several drawing and painting classes.
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?
During my school years, I always particularly gravitated towards the creative fields and took several drawing and painting classes. Thus, when I chose to study architecture I felt it would open the full world of design for me from designing objects, to interiors onto large scale building projects.
Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
I launched my design studio along with my sister who studied interior architecture in 2014. We launched with a product design line and had no interior or architecture projects at the time. As we grew our design philosophy we branched out into both interiors and architecture and opened a second office in Kuwait in 2019.
What is "design" for you?
Good Design for me is well-being; it is the aim to create spaces/objects that can engender 'beauty' that in turn creates well-being.
What kinds of works do you like designing most?
I love to design works that present a challenge but also that have an openness from the client's side that can allow us to fully experiment in order to create something that is unique and not typical. This project can range from a small object to a large scale building. I particularly lean towards either commercial interior projects or architecture projects that are a second home as those tend to let us unleash our creativity more.
When do you feel the most creative?
I feel the most creative when I am handling more than one project in different disciplines for instance I would be helping to design a new object while also looking at an interior project whilst designing an architecture project. Jumping across different design scales keeps me creative and the possibility of new and exciting projects with new collaborators. In our product design line we frequently collaborate with different furniture brands or concept stores.
Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
We tend to focus most on well-being and the feelings that a particular design can engender. I frequently ask myself : what does user feel, what do we want him/her to experience and design accordingly.
When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
Our last exhibition was during Paris design week 2022, we participated with 1000 vases and submitted 3 new vase deigns as part of our product line. It was held at Galerie Joseph in Paris, France.
What skills are most important for a designer?
A very important skill for a designer is to be a good listener as well have the ability to understand other people's character in order to design best for them. Another very important quality is flexibility; yes we understand design but at the end of the day you are designing for a client who also needs to be happy with their home, office etc.
Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
I work as a team along with my partner (who is also my sister) and with our team that consists of interior designers and architects. So, for each project it is a team effort not an individual one.
