A sit down with the studio director of Heath Ceramics
Ed & Nate: Do you mind introducing yourself?
Tung: My name is Tung Chiang. I am a studio director at Heath Ceramics. My main job is finding what Heath will design in the future. We created this studio because we wanted to find a place where we could encourage design, but not only design on paper, or on computer..but where we could try to actually make it as well.
E: Do you have a favorite item in this studio?
T: There was a story about a hummingbird that was hitting glass at my house and fell on the floor. This small little bird. So i walked down….I picked it up, put it in my hand. I sat down. And I never saw an animal so small, so close. And slowly it came alive in my hand. And it opened its eyes, looked at my own. It looked at me. Sat up. Sat in my palm for about 10 min. And it was one of the most amazing moments. It felt so fragile, and so warm at the same time.
E: Can you break down your creative process into 3 steps?
T: Sure. The first step is asking a good question. It’s always the first step of my approach. No matter if it’s a client, or a project initiated by myself. Only a good question will give a good answer. And if you ask a mediocre question, you’ll get a mediocre answer. So instead of thinking about how to solve a problem, I often ask myself how to ask a good question.
The second part is always the logic. Once you have a good question, then you lay out the ways of answering it. Usually there will be one answer that is stronger than the others. And then, you stick with it. And you try to see how to execute it.
The third part is executing it. This is the least fun. I like finding execution that I’m not familiar with. I’m the person who believes in trying something new. When I do something new, there’s an energy that I don’t usually have when I’m trying the same thing over and over again. When I ask a good question and it has a good answer, then I’ll try and find a new approach to execute the answer.
E: How has living in the Bay influenced your creativity?
T: I do love San francisco, and I do think that that changed my way of seeing life and design. I think mainly it’s the landscape. Close to water, close to mountains. City, but also get out easily. And with that much water and green and trees and animals around you, you realize that you need to pay more respect in order to maintain them. You want to design with more consciousness, you want to be less wasteful. You want to be a little bit more environmentally conscious. Living in California, living in Bay gave me that aspect of change.
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E: Are you from California?
T: No. I grew up in Hong Kong.
E: Were you a designer when you were in Hong Kong?
T: Yes. I first studied advertising and graphic design. Graduated in ‘91, first degree in advertising. I worked in advertising for roughly 9 years. In Hong Kong, I worked for T Water Thompson?? (4:59) New Banads?? A few companies with international backgrounds. Eventually I learned more about the US, so when I thought about studying again, I came to the US, in the year 2000, and went to Art Central?? College of design.
E: Which was first -- advertising or graphic design?
T: Graphic design started first. I was young. I was trying to learn what a career was like for myself. And eventually I realized “Okay, I like music, and I like albums. I did a couple designs, and then all of a sudden, my teacher told me, Hey, there is someone who designs these albums. Photography first, then they put the typeface together, then they make a design. That is called graphic design.
I was like, that’s pretty cool. I want to do that. So that’s how i started. I studied graphic design for 2 years, but eventually I had opportunities to study on a university undergrad program, choosing either graphic design or advertising, and I realized that advertising covers graphic design. So I studied advertising instead, and then worked in advertising for 9 years, and then came here.
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E: Last question. How do you feel about athleisure?
T: I love it. I love athletic wear in general because it’s made to wear. Its different than high fashion, where it’s made to look. I Like material and construction, I like clothes that work.
