Created from an exploration into space and memory and inspired by the nuanced language of nature; OWIU Design is bringing their aesthetic philosophy into the home through their ceramics and home goods line. OWIU Goods keeps in mind that a ball of clay is only activated by human experience, made beautiful when molded with emotional and creative intervention, and meaningful through the maker’s interpretation. Established as an architecture and design firm, and co-founded by Amanda Gunawan, what started as a team building exercise became a living, breathing practice for the company as a whole. Each piece is carefully designed and handmade by an OWIU team member in the Arts District studio. No work is outsourced and no two pieces are alike. Each collection explores the texture and emotion of materiality through the functionality of everyday objects. Learn more about these ceramics in today’s Maker Monday with Amanda Gunawan.
Andrew Joseph: What is your favorite place to find inspiration?
Amanda Gunawan: Unequivocally, books and travel. I know travel is a privilege that not everyone has, so if you don’t have access to travel, then shift your perspective and have an open mind to new experiences at a local level or re-explore a familiar place with a new lens.
Enjoy matcha moments with this forest-glazed bowl and canister duo; they bring both serenity and style to your tea experience.
AJ: How do you incorporate sustainability into your designs?
AG: Designing sustainably means designing for the future. We do this by working thoughtfully throughout every step of the design process. Having thoughtful designs is the guiding principle by which we at both, OWIU Goods and OWIU Design, work. When you start out in an intentional way, you reduce wastage by not having to redo things. You also end up designing something that is not just built to last but built to evolve and by nature, the end result is design that is sustainable.
AJ: What is your favorite type of space to design?
AG: Any space that holds a strong narrative. This usually means people or brands with a strong conviction for how they want to live or what they want to put out to the world respectively.
AJ: What is the most important skill for a successful designer?
AG: Communication. Both in a tangible and intangible way. It’s important to be able to communicate with a client or your team but it’s equally important to be able to communicate your intent through a design.
This cup and plate set comes in a beach colorway, evoking the calm and serene beauty of sandy shores and gentle waves.
AJ: Can you tell us about a project where you had to incorporate a client’s personal collection into the design?
AG: This happens all the time! At OWIU Design, we design a lot of personal residences, and every client is different and has their own cute little quirks that we take into account in our designs. We once had a client with a beautiful art collection from all over Southeast Asia that we had to customize the house to fit. It was quite fun, really, the art became a parameter by which the house was designed around.
AJ: What is your favorite design era and why?
AG: Art nouveau. Even though I’m not a huge fan of ornamentalism, I love how every element was so carefully designed in that era, making a building essentially a huge art piece made up of smaller art pieces that came together.
AJ: What’s your design pet peeve?
AG: Design that lacks character and thought. It really riles me up when I see things being built for the sake of it. Why waste time and resources on something like that?!
AJ: What would your dream project or dream client be right now?
AG: I would love to design a library, a rehab facility or a meditation center.
The Desert colorway is evocative of desert sunsets and deep earthy colors of the Mojave.
AJ: Best advice you’d give your teenage self?
AG: I’d tell her to stop being so afraid of failure, that it is only through failure that she would grow and that all the successes we’ve accumulated now came from the process of failing, learning and growing.
AJ: What’s a new hobby/skill that you have learned recently?
AG: I’m learning how to freestyle swim! I’m a pretty good swimmer right now but have never had actual technical lessons. Before now, I learned how to swim through survival. My parents took me to a water park and my older sisters, who had swimming lessons, were doing all of the taller water slides. Not wanting to miss out on all the fun, I went down it too only to land in a pool that was too deep for me so I was forced to learn very quickly. Anyways, I’m currently learning how to freestyle swim through YouTube.
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