Interview with Lisa Zhou
Designed and made in Australia, Little Rambutan by Lisa Zhou showcases a contemporary collection of elegant jewellery.
Designer Interview
18 April 2014
As a child, I always like to design and draw out my imagination but then I grew up to study and work in the IT industry. It was through my own engagement ring design experience with a jeweller that reignited my passion for creativeness. Since then I took a leap of faith and study Jewellery and Object Design/Making at the Design Center Enmore in Sydney Australia and started my own contemporary jewellery brand Little Rambutan in 2012. I have never look back since.
Design is a way to express the designer’s ideas or interpretation of a topic into a tangible object of aesthetics.
Favourite material is gold because of its lustre and history.
When I am travelling as history, people and culture in different cities never stop to amaze me.
I focused on aesthetics and making sure it is strongly aligned with the design concepts.
Anticipation and excitement of what the final design will look like, but at the same time quite critical of the design for any room of improvement.
Fulfilment and relaxation – time for celebration.
When the design concept is self-explanatory to others on its own.
A good design has to have a unique element that stands out from other designs. It also needs to be quite intuitive as to what it does or how it can be used.
Safety of the product and sustainability of the production process in terms of resources, environmental impact and workers working conditions.
As 3D technology becomes more accessible to the public, I think there will be an increase in 3D printed products due to the lower barrier of entry to the design industry. While there will a surge of both good and bad designs, as an industry I believe it is important to keep an open mind while having careful curation of products to ensure the quality of design.
Big and small miracles from nature as well as historical artefacts/objects/jewelleries of different civilisation. I feed my creativity by visiting museums, travelling and getting close to nature.
I would describe my style to be contemporary and elegant. It is about designing motifs in a new modern way but not losing a sense of feminine and elegance to it.
I live in Australia and I don’t feel the cultural heritage affects my design. The pro of Australia is the relax and friendly environment of the country and that helps a lot in terms of getting ideas to design. The only con is that it is geologically so far away from the rest of the world.
I normally come up with a theme and I will brainstorm to get a mind map of breakdown ideas. After selection of the strongest ideas, visual and background research on them will be done. I will then crystallise the concept and sketch out variations. The sketches will go through few iterations until I am satisfied with it.
Be active and get yourself known to others by taking part in competitions, joining design communities and engaging in collaborations with other designers.
Do not compromise quality and durability.
Apart from ability to design and think outside the box, it is also important to convey yourself and your idea effectively and confidently to others – may it be friends or a potential buyer. Keep in mind also the cost of productions to make sure the design is economically viable.
Pencil and sketchbook for idea sketching and rhinoceros 3D for 3D modelling.
Break down each goal into small tasks and assign each day with achievable tasks. If you set yourself impossible deadlines, it will affect your confidences and delay the project.
Normally 3-4 months.
The next step for me is a themed jewellery collections consisting of 15-20 designs. It is very exciting and I am in the research phase now developing the concepts and ideas.
I develop my designs myself.
They can email me anytime at lisa.zhou@littlerambutan.com