We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Bryan Leung about their original and creative Letter opener design work. Bryan Leung is an award-winning industrial designer, that makes our world a better place with their original letter opener works.
Bryan Leung ("BL") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Memento Letter opener. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
BL : The main idea behind my design is to express emotions through gift-giving. The concept originated from me wanting to thank my father for raising me; however, I subsequently learned that many people want to express their emotions (e.g., thanks) to different people
BL : The main focus in designing this work is to offer a gift that is able to clearly and effectively express the gift givers’ thoughts and emotions as well as touch the gift receivers’ hearts.
BL : I hope that many people can have this design in their possession because it will mean that many people will have successfully expressed their emotions, which will lead to the creation of more stories.
BL : About one year.
BL : This concept was designed to touch people emotionally. I believe that life offers many aspects that can touch people emotionally and that we should show the notion in the form of aesthetics.
BL : I designed this work because I wanted to create a balance between emotions and images
BL : The target customers for this design are people who wish to express their emotions or ideas to other people in a tasteful way.
BL : This design means recollections, memories, and commemorations.
BL : I used semiotics, product semantics, and cognitive psychology when working on this project.
BL : The most unique aspect of my design involves adding “emotions” to letter openers by designing them with distinctive unique appearances. This allows gift recipients to receive not only visually attractive letter openers, but also the thoughts and emotions expressed by gift givers. Each letter opener is polished and refined by a master craftsman to enable the shape of the surface of the desktop tool to ooze a warm and touching feeling. In addition, each letter opener is slightly different in shape from others.
BL : I worked with polishing and casting masters to develop this design.
BL : Technology helped me elevate my ideas and product texture to a higher level and, most importantly, it allowed an ice-cold material to evoke a sense of warmth.
BL : I spent a lot of time collecting people’s thoughts on gift recipients and separated the former by its professions. In addition, I explored in-depth the different living and professional work environments of people as well as the thoughts of the general public and myself.
BL : Some of the challenges that I faced during the design/realization process included selecting the appropriate product appearances as well as finding a balance between my personal ideas and those of the general public. I had to design unique product features for each profession because if the features were too generalized, they would not be able to exemplify the professions. However, if they were too intricate, people would not be able to recognize the professions represented. Another challenge that I faced was finding a balance between mechanical and abstract product appearances, because product appearances that were too mechanical would lose their imagination-based appeal, whereas those that were too abstract would be too difficult to understand.
BL : I decided to submit my design to the international design competition because I wanted to provide people with the opportunity to express their thoughts. In addition, I wanted people to see my designs.
BL : I learned that I need to keep trying and make constant revisions so that my designs can reach and benefit different people. By reaching as many people as I can, I will be able to get different responses from them, which will subsequently help me expand my perspectives.
