Meet our students: bringing code into artistic design

We're extremely happy to almost reach an even gender ratio for our 10th session in Tokyo! In this article series, we're meeting the women of batch #279. For our first portrait we sat down with Huishu to talk about product design, life in Tokyo and bringing code into artistic creations.

So Huishu, maybe we can start with a quick introduction?

My name's Huishu, I am originally from Shanghai, and I flew to Tokyo for the bootcamp. I traveled to Tokyo a couple of times before for vacation, and I love the energy the city has to offer.

"I flew to Tokyo for the bootcamp: I love the energy the city has to offer"

I previously graduated from Royal College of Art in London, majoring in Design Products. I chose to join Le Wagon in Tokyo because I felt that living in a place with a very unique culture would inspire me.

Nice! What kind of products were you designing?

I was interested in physical products, so nothing related to web (yet). I mostly created artistic installations with which visitors could interact, not something you just sit down and watch.
One that I really like is a product I called "Affective Doors": I liked the sound that a door makes when you open or close it, and I created the artwork so that visitors pay attention to that sound.

That doesn't seem related to code...

You're right! (laughs) I also worked on a few creations that inspired me to learn programming: "Smile Workshop" is a very good example. That specific installation got me to think, what if I could push my artworks further by learning how to code?

Smile Workshop, one of Huishu's creation

And that's what brought you to Le Wagon!

Well, not only. Art is one of my passions, and I do think that I'll be able to create more powerful messages with code. But for the past three years I have also been working as a UX designer at designaffairs, and I am expecting the bootcamp to help with that too.

"Being able to combine design and code gives you a very unique set of skills"

A trigger was also the interview of John Maeda by Wired. He explains that combining design and code gives you a very unique set of skills, one that high tech companies are looking for.

So tell us about your experience so far?

I feel that the atmosphere is very friendly: it's ok if you don't understand something, there is no stupid question, and teachers will spend time with you to make sure you grasp every concept.

"I really like that my batch mates come from very different countries and background"

I also really like the fact that my batch mates come from very different countries and backgrounds. As a UX designer, my job is to understand all sorts of users, and I feel I can learn from other cultures with the bootcamp.

Cool! Do you have any idea for your final project?

I guess project weeks will be a great opportunity to push forward what I've been working on before. As mentioned I am interested in sound, facial expressions, and human emotions in general.
I noticed that a few alumni projects were including these elements, so hopefully I can convince my batch mates to help make my facial expression project even more interactive (laughs).