Interview with Xinyi Liu

I started selling my handmade jewelry online. I was just excited that I can do creative works. Then I became a professional jewelry designer after graduated from Fashion Institute of Technology. I have always had interests in designing and making jewelry and cloths since I was a kid.

First step was to find references, this helps me to see the possibilities of the design I want to make. Then sketches are the must. And mechanical drafting is the most important part, I wouldn't know for sure if a design will work or not till I have done mechanical drawing.

When I have a new idea I always feel happy, but frustrations come in the way when the designs are not easy to accomplish. But after it's done, I feel the most excited.

When I was little, my grandma used to make cloths for everyone in the family. I learned some fun things from her and I discovered I always liked to do some handmade things and also created my own style. I think it was from that time, I had a passion about art and design.

For a professional award like A'Design, I was happy to be able to attend and honored to win silver award. I spent a lot of time to prepare for it, and I have thought through the project I attended A'Design better than ever.

I've always wanted to do something more creative, and a designer is the right fit.

I chose to start my jewelry business and chose to go to school all because I wanted to be a jewelry designer.

I design jewelry. But in the future if I have a chance, I want to try toy design.

A good designer is serving for the clients or maybe her or himself. A great designer will have tribute to the world or the society. Like Leon Ming Pei, he was a great designer.

A really good design to me would be something I enjoy wearing and also loved by the clients.

A good design is not only has its beauty but also to make the world better.

I would design a ring for my mom. She hasn't been wearing any ring since many years ago, I would like to design an emerald ring for her.

My inspirations are mostly from nature and architectures. I do respect architects like Leon Ming Pei and Zaha Hadid, and also some great illustrators on instagram.

I love some jewelry that Maurice Galli did for Harry Winston. He was a great designer and it was a great honor to be his students.

I think the greatest one always comes next.

Keep learning and keep practicing my skills.

I've always wanted to be a writer when I was a teenager. It is also a job that creates things. Writers create stories and I create jewelry.

Design is something that you make from 0 to unlimited.

My parents and my professors.

My next project is my new collection. It is a collection of geometrical forms of jewelry.

I want to expand my business and invest and help more jewelry designers.

My clients always come to me because they trust me. They can expect me being responsible and also making them satisfied.

A lot of things we have now only has their functions, people don't consider how they look like, but designers can change that.

My new collection. It's going to be very different from what I have done before.

A ring I designed. I used a diamond from my father's ring and redesigned, it was simple, but I applied special texture on that so it looked very unique. I wear it everyday.

Depends on the project, some take weeks and some can take up to months.

I start from searching references online.

Be a perfectionist.

Unfortunately jewelry is related to fashion industry, so it gets affected by the trend a lot. But there are some traditional jewelry styles are classic.

Mechanical drafting. I couldn't know if a design is doable until I finish mechanical drawing.

Photoshop and CAD.

In my work, I use a lot of gemstones. The natural colors are essential.

Anything. I hope they like my designs.

How did this designer come up with this idea? I want to meet him/her!

I haven't done co-design yet but I would like to try. I don't know if I'll believe till I tried.

Some of my professors from school.

Monet. If I could speak French.

Yellow and green. Thailand and Japan. Summer. Things are too many, my backpack, laced-up shoed and so on. Also there are too many good brands to share with such as MUJI, Diptyque.

I talk to customers a lot. Good comments on my design would make my day.

I don't know if it was obvious but I remember doing handmade things such as embroideries with my grandma and I just loved it.

That's too far away to consider.

The name of WiiiM studio came out from the word whim because I had a professor said I always have some whimsical designs and I liked it. It is a small studio and I am only selling my jewelry online so far.

Design is something not only about functions, but also about beauty. A good design must be well functioned and beautiful.

For me, I only design jewelry. And somehow in all the jewelry categories, rings are my favorites. It is very small item but I can have a lot to play with.

My most favorite design hasn't come out yet because I always have new concept new ideas and I always feel next one will be better, never get 100% satisfied. But if I have to choose, I really love a project I made in school called Curiosity. It is a tea bowl made with silversmithing technique. I liked it not only I like silversmithing but also it was not easy to make, and I don't know if I'll have chance or energy to make another one, so it contains a lot of memory.

It was a single diamond ring. The diamond was from my father's old ring, he stopped wearing years ago so I took it and redesigned a ring for myself. Now it is also sold in my store.

I love a lot of traditional techniques such as silversmith because I love how it can form the metal and also apply different textures.

When I am on the road, especially in a foreign country. The cultural differences inspire me a lot. I can have a lot of doodles on the road and then when I get home I will transform them into technical drawings. That's why

I focus more on the concept and the story of the design. Of course I do care about the functions it has to be wearable, but a story is the soul of the theme.

Sometimes happy sometimes frustrated, it's all vary. But I definitely feel excited when I accomplished a new design.

Excitement. I haven't had many chance to experience that situation so far, but it happened once or twice and it was a very exciting moment.

People's appreciation. When I design I tend to design things that I like, but maybe they will not be meeting most people's expectation. And when the minority said they love it, then it's a success to me. As long as someone appreciates it, even just one person.

If it meets my appreciation of beauty.

They are here to make the world better and more beautiful.

For many industry, designers are making things better with the functions and also better look on the outside. I cannot picture a world without good designers.

My inspiration mostly comes from the nature and architectures. And also animations. I love artists like Miyazaki Hayao, the world he created in his film inspired me a lot. And also traveling helps me to feed my creativity, especially different countries and cultures inspire me a lot.

My designs are tend to be a little bit minimalism and also whimsical. When I started to design new things, I always make sure this is the things that I would like to wear. I believe to please your customers you have to please yourself first.

I live in Chengdu, China. Before I lived in New York and Beijing. It feels most comfortable and less stressful to leave in my hometown, so I will have more freedom and less pressure to make new designs. But my city is not as developed as Beijing and New York, so sometime I get a little bored with the environment, that's why traveling helps.

I have worked with a few companies as freelancer or contractor. It is very different from working for my own. First I have to make sure I can meet the company's requirements. It is more of a teamwork. But I also get to learn a lot.

A company should always know their needs on design, so when they look for designers they can search for the match and also it will be more efficient when it comes to work.

Normally I have a concept first, it could be anything comes into my mind. Then I go online search for references, also to check the possibilities. Then I start to sketch until I am satisfied with the forms. The final sketch or mechanical drawings go to factory.

I do appreciate AirPods, my BOSE speaker, Dyson vacuum, the LED make up mirror, and also MUJI humidifier.

Recently I've been thinking the day of my commencement. Maybe because it's graduating season now. I remembered we were all excited about being graduates. I was also a little scared about the future, school was like my shelter, a safe place to be, but I was gonna go off on my own. Meanwhile I was also excited to see what was next.

It is not a very easy job, definitely not the best job in the world. But if you have the desire to become a designer and also have the talent, it's worth a shot.

Positive side to me is I am doing what I like, even it can be tough sometimes I still enjoy very much, and sometimes it can be very free. But it is also very time consuming, not as glamorous as it looks like.

If I'm not satisfied with what I have done, then just redo it. I'm a perfectionist.

To me it's mechanical drafting. I didn't realize how important it is for a jewelry designer when I actually started working for people, it helps clients to understand your idea and also the factory can just take the drawing and starts to build.

Mechanical pencil and eraser. Gemstones templates and compass. Photoshop, Pinterest and Instagram.

Yes it is very true. I always try to be efficient with my work. When I got stuck with an idea and couldn't move further I choose to just take a break to refresh my mind.

It depends. A handcraft work can take from a few weeks up to months to finish. Regular commercial project take a few days to design and a few weeks to finish.

Is it fun to be a designer? The answer is yes. Of course there was time when the work became difficult, but overall I know I'm doing the things I love.

I have been as a salesperson for an international jewelry company once in New York. Although it was not a designer position, I did gain a lot of experience of how to communicate to clients and how to meet their needs. It was very helpful. As a designer, you first need to listen and understand your customer.

Clients are most from online but I also have some private clients who were introduced by friends and they tend to make custom orders.

I am still building up my business in China, hopefully I can expand from online to more other options like buyer's shops.

I develop the designs myself, but I would like to build a team later when the business is bigger. Working with different people and having different thoughts is a fun thing.

Currently I am working on my new collections. It is a collection of geometrical forms of jewelry.

For any inquiries they can contact me through my email xinyiliu.jewelry@gmail.com