Designer insights with Niina Aoki

Niina Aoki is the founder of Eeva Margita, which originally constructed jewellery but over the years has expanded into illustrated and crafted products. Niina now works from her home studio in Perth, and loves to explore West Australian made products. She is also heavily inspired by her Finnish and Japanese background. She has been featured on Modern Cat Magazine Blog and the Examiner, and has had her work exhibited in New York and Sydney. So we are proud to bring you the Designer Insights of Niina Aoki.

Designer Insights - Niina Aoki

Image Credit: 1) Marimekko 2) Gustave Higuchiyuko  3) The 9 Life  4) Douglas and Bec 5) Arro Home

- Transcript -

1) In your own words describe your unique style and creative aesthetic?

My style is varied, colourful with a touch of cute and usually a cat or two thrown in. I design around my interests, which is mostly centred around felines!

2) When starting a new project, what is your creative process?

Once I have a subject or topic in mind, I love jumping onto Pinterest and finding images that speak to me.

3) Out of the creative people you have worked with, who is it that you respect and admire the most?

Davina Farinola of Fluid Ink Letterpress is such a delight. She juggles her two businesses with her family, choir singing, organising pop up shops, and is a team leader of the WA Etsy Street Team. Davina is a super woman and has great taste in design. Despite her hectic life she's always so cheerful, I don't know how she manages!

4) When looking for inspiration is there a particular thing you do to get inspired?

Riffling through a dictionary and picking out a word at random or until something jumps out. It's weird, but fun to do!

5) What has brought you to this point in your career? And what is your advice for people looking to follow in your footsteps?

A lot of accidents and experimenting with a good dash of hard work. I'm not always sure what I want exactly in my design career but I trust it will work itself out in the end. My advice: Make sure you're doing what makes YOU happy, not others.