We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Jussi Angesleva ("JA").
Jussi Ängeslevä exists between the fields: As an artist, a designer and a professor, with over 20 years of experience in spatial media and interactivity, his internationally recognized works span from large scale, poetic technology enabled installations over narrative media in exhibitions and showrooms to an expansive influence in critical thinking on the impact of emerging technology to society. Through tangible art and design, Jussi's creative impact makes the public think: To see the beauty, the challenges and the dangers of new technologies as they proliferate in the society.
Jussi Angesleva Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Jussi Angesleva.
Jussi Angesleva Design - Pinnannousu Robotic Ice Sculpture Performance
Designer Interview of Jussi Angesleva:
DI: 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?
JA : For me, art and design is a continuum, where the same "crafts" skills are applied to different context. One more personal, the other more to the audience needs. I grew up making things, and this carried to my career. I like to balance between fields, technological innovation, creative expression, commercial, cultural, but always together with curious people. I've been lucky find ways to express myself in commercial, academic and arts contexts.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
JA : I wear many hats. My studio ART+COM has been innovating in the field of spatial communication over 3 decades, finding poetic, critical and elegant ways to employ emerging technologies in storytelling. At the Berlin University of the Arts, I've taught digital media design, Product and process design and New Media. Right now, I am looking at a completely new cultural context, in the deep end of tech boom in California.
DI: What is "design" for you?
JA : I very much like what Philip Tabor once articulated on stage: Designer's role is to read newspaper every day. To be curious and informed. And then in practice, find ways to find relevance, create elegant solutions that resonate with their meaning, technological beauty, societal impact and usefulness. The thing is, designer's work is obvious in retrospect. Once the idea is out there, if it is good, it is natural. And it is easy to think that it's the right solution that someone found. I strongly believe that we define reality with design.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
JA : I love working with team of experts from different fields and in settings where I can balance between speculation and concrete impact. Lot of my work exists in museums and exhibitions. Those are spaces where one can suspend disbilief, and create fragments of near future, moments that flow in a way that we are not used to. And they can point the way how the rest of the world might one day be able to work. So, this kind of inspiration, innovation and meaningful storytelling is where I am most at home.
DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
JA : That changes almost daily, as design is something that is part of our lives. And since we change, the most meaningful also shifts. But if you insist, one example of a favourite right now, because I've recently moved to california, is the Eichler architecture. From it's humble origins of "affordable housing for the middle class" to the currently unaffordable design icon, and the whole bay area politics, shift from Victorian to modernist world view and the simply elegant details.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
JA : It was an interactive installation translating a media-art work to a spatial, experiental, and sculptural exhibition in Museu de Serralves in Porto.
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
JA : The whole thing of my kind of making is that it is in between. So, in that sense, I would say it is the "workshop" where digital fabrication, writing code, lathing, milling and manual making are all in harmony.
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
JA : When in a right kind of group, without a sense of short term time pressure, but long term purposeful goal.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
JA : Rethinking the process, and speculating on the perception by the audience later.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
JA : The same kinds as I feel when I'm not designing.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
JA : Often my works take several years from concept to completion, and during those years, there's countless iteration of ideas. So, when you see the final thing, and you have the process in mind, it is definitely a deep contemplation of the journey.
DI: What makes a design successful?
JA : There's really so many parameters, from innovation, business success, user satisfaction, exposure, warning example etc. But I would rather say that it is most important to be explicit about the success metric early on, and stay sensitive to that. Everyone in a team have different aspirations, and listening to those, but also being vocal of the bigger picture both help the collective effort being succesful.
DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
JA : Effort/resource to the effect. Or simply bang for the buck. (where buck is not only money)
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
JA : As I alluded above, the role of a designer is to be in touch with the world and the bigger societal challenges. Ideally, what a designer can do, especially in the more researchy, academic setting, is to provide a vision, a sort of goal towards one can inspire others, even when not everything is yet solved.
DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
JA : On one hand the term design has been expanded to much more broad business sense. That is now an integral part of it. But what comes next, I am curious to see how the new machine-learning assisted approaches will impact design field: on one hand, you have superpowers to create faster, more efficiently etc. but at the same time, being in control of what you generate, when an AI has been trained by countless previous works, it is extremly important to find the right balance: what kind of things are best automated, and when it is better to slow down.
DI: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
JA : In January, in Hokkaido. It was most wonderful. For the next round, I am indiscriminate ;). it's not where,but what.
DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
JA : My inspiration is fundamentally from the everyday and from trying to understand emerging technologies, and their impact on the everyday.
DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
JA : I'm certainly very hands-on, prototyping kind of designer, who excels in teams. I know I have a kind of superpower in instilling sense of purpose, and affording license to others, when the creative process is in fragile state.
DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
JA : Yes, I have recently moved from Berlin to the Bay Area. To say that the environment affects my design, would be an understatement. It is so fundamental in the way we see the world. I realise that I'm busy with completely different questions than before.
DI: How do you work with companies?
JA : Well, I always work, ideally in a good company ;). Well, joke aside, most commonly, my role is to create something bespoke and new, and therefore it is paramount to have a good connection with the client, so that the basic purpose, and success metrics are clear.
DI: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
JA : Well, there's something to be said about meeting people, and getting to know the personality. Often, when you look at the portfolio, and try to divine what would that give you, you're leaving a lot of potential unexplored, because it is exactly the things that have not yet been done, that can be the ground breaking new. And those things come from good collaboration, and hence, when working with good chemistry.
DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?
JA : Every project is drastically different, so the process is very flexible. But let's say it like this. From conversations, inspiration, looking for references, reading, understanding the client world, and then iteratively sketch, visually, as text, as 3D , physical and so forth, the ideas are brought to the table, discussed and debated, revised and iterated. And through that, the core gets more and more focussed. once it's clear, then the detailing and the nitty gritty "hard work" can commence. And the project turns to marathon, from the initial sprint.
DI: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
JA : My Genelec speakers, Eames Chair, the (Eichler) home itself, Block-lamps by Harri Koskinen (like the Genelecs) and Martin & co backpacker.
DI: Can you describe a day in your life?
JA : Family, computer work, studio/workshop/visit to studios, more computer, inspiration.. repeat
DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
JA : Document and archive. You'll thank me 20 years later ;)
DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
JA : Well, it's hard to switch off from work, as everything around can be part of the professional life.
DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?
JA : Ask others. Don't decide what is good. I mean, do good, but evaluate from a third person's perspective.
DI: What skills are most important for a designer?
JA : meta skills. skills about learning , and knowing what is worth learning, but also when to work with others. Find your focus, and have enough interest in related fields so that you can communicate efficiently.
DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
JA : There's so many that I cannot really list them here.
DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
JA : Poorly. When you're in a project, it can be all-consuming. The good thing is, when you have kids. There's higher forces that pull you out, and connect with the rest of the world.
DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
JA : between 6 months and 8 years.;
DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
JA : inspiration.
DI: What was your most important job experience?
JA : When given artistic freedom, but tight budget/time constraint, and 100 percent trust that you do the right thing.
DI: Who are some of your clients?
JA : BMW, London Science Museum, Artis, Lafayette, Audi, OttoBock
DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
JA : Transdisciplinary. So, kinds of works that rarely can stem from a single brain.
DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
JA : That's the big question. I don't know right now. The last two decades I've been wearing many hats (Professor, Creative Director, Independent artist) Now, in "new world", I look forward to focus, but also to leverage this breadth. Where will it be, remains to be seen.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
JA : Both. Sometimes self initiated, sometimes consulting, sometimes through a studio, but almost always as a part of a larger team. (I've ran teams up to 20 people, but the ideal size for me is 5 - 10 designers/engineers etc.
DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
JA : Right now, the most exciting stuff is under NDA, so alas, I cannot talk about it. :)
DI: How can people contact you?
JA : drop me an email. jussi.angesleva@iki.fi or swing by for a cup of Coffee ;)