It is my pleasure to be a guest contributor in a series of interviews with designers from around the globe. This month, I caught up with Japanese industrial designer Sosuke Nakabo to discuss his work and establishing his own studio.

Aroma diffuser for ±0 (Plus Minus Zero) 

BP: What was the inspiration behind the Plus Minus Zero aroma diffuser? Can you talk more about this?
SN: An aroma diffuser is an appliance, which disperses mist infused with essential oils. The medical bottle-like design is from the function and image of small bottles of essential oils. The diffuser needs to have a chimney at the top, and also a water tank and a fan at the bottom. The whole shape became bottle-like naturally.

Wooden puppets for MUJI

BP: When I first saw the MUJI finger puppets last year, I remember how they made me smile because it was just the right amount of detail to make out each animal … what led you to wood as a material?
SN: It had to be easy to produce because of small production numbers and low sales price. What I did was to design a main body format, which can be made by a lathe with one process, and added iconic details of each animal.

BP: How did you come to work for MUJI?
SN: When I was in London, there was a design competition by MUJI in Europe and I received an award. It was the first opportunity to meet people in the company.

Venue design for Designtide Tokyo 2011

BP: There is a brilliant play on visual and physical lightness to the Designtide (Toyko 2011) space. What was your process in designing the space?
SN: The idea behind the design was to make a studio-like space where shadows and shades are diffused. It is a temporary space and needs to be built easily, so I used a structure similar to tarp or a tent for camping. I found a nice fabric for the idea, and it was translucent and very wide (5m!).

BP: I am fascinated with your stationery boxes. They seem to have a lightness of touch. This is something oddly missing in consumer products. Why do you think some companies continue to see value in a visible effort in design?
SN: I think this is one reason why many products around us cannot live for long. Many consumers put importance on visible efforts of companies, such as price and ‘design’. A lot of companies cannot escape from this loop because maybe they want the profit immediately.

Memo – Post-it like boxes.

Squeezer Packs – Packaging for oranges, limes and grapefruits
(graduation work at RCA)

BP: What’s next for the studio?
SN: I opened my office 2 years ago, and have designed some client initiated products … now I think its time to start my own projects and expand them.

Sosuke Nakabo was born in Kyoto in 1972, Sosuke Nakabo graduated in Product Design at Kyoto City University of Arts in 1998 and in Design Products at The Royal College of Art for postgraduate studies in 2002. He worked at Panasonic (Osaka), Muji (Tokyo), Jasper Morrison’s office (London) and he opened his own office in Kyoto in 2010.
sosukenakabo.com
facebook.com/sosukenakabodesignoffice

Brian Paschke is currently a Senior Industrial Designer for BlackBerry. A graduate of the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Brian began as a studio assistant for Artist Douglas Coupland before moving to the Kyocera Industrial Design team in Southern California to focus on consumer electronics.
projectsandprocess.co