If your mind was a room what would it look like?
This room has a big automatic door as my mind reacts to many different things I hear and I see. In the room, there are many drawers where I store what I have collected visually and through other senses.
There is no certain order to put these materials in drawers. The room is quite clean, because I put everything in the drawers, but often I open all the drawers at the same time to find what I have archived. This means I am very busy and super active!
Do you look at upcoming industry trends – or do you design from instinct?
I have been to some design fairs to check what is going on in the design industry, but I don’t really focus on looking at the trends. I create my designs based on my instinct most of the time. I believe that we can sense from our everyday life what is going on as trends.
Spring Ice by Aoi Yoshizawa
If you could live anywhere in the world where would you live and why?
I have lived in seven different places, and right now I definitely would like to stay in Helsinki.
I find Helsinki´s personality very interesting. There are many random adventures in this city, things can happen unexpectedly! Here you can easily encounter interesting people, nice flea markets, fresh berries and even a fox! Most importantly people in Helsinki are telling me all the interesting stories, which I enjoy so much. And of course there is always this easy access both to woods and cultures in Helsinki. Direct flights to my home Tokyo are important as well!
If you could hang wallpaper in any home in the world whose home would it be?
Woody Allen´s home!
Onni by Aoi Yoshizawa
Which artists should www.feathr.com work with next?
Henri Mattise´s paper cut works!
What are you 5 favourite blogs and 5 favourite magazines?
I am not a big blog/magazine person, but I like the dezeen magazine website and Wallpaper* Magazine. I also like books about traditional textiles and ethnic arts in the libraries.
Confetti by Aoi Yoshizawa
How important is fashion to your process?
Fashion inspires me in different ways. Especially, street fashion brings me new ideas and new color combinations for my works. In this sense, Helsinki street fashion from young people to granny style is very inspiring.
Do you design with a customer or a home in mind? If so describe that place / person.
I do imagine different spaces when I design new products. For the winning design PLATO, I imagined this modern home with simple furniture where they are looking for some paintings to hang on the wall. Then I got this starting point to work with bold and expressive paintings, so I developed this idea with my brush stroke paintings. I imagine spaces rather than people, both home and public spaces.
Plato by Aoi Yoshizawa
Thanks Aoi! You can see her collection for Feathr.com by visiting her artist profile.
