Della Chuang is the expression of the contemporary artist. If I would describe her in a few words I could say she is a designer in essence, a traveler in spirit and warm and kindness in soul. Spliting her time between NYC and Europe, Della (although young), has already accumulated experiences to fill big suitcases. She worked as art director for Ralph Lauren fragrances and freelancer design consultant for Tom Ford Beauty, wrote two successful books about design, and has recently launched successfully, a new book and fragrance called KyotoEau – Bottled Memories. When she is not struggling to choose between taking Teddy or Mac along with her on her trips, she is looking for inspirations (she is tuned in all art events of NYC and overseas) or writing in her artistic blog Nomadic Design (click here to enter to her fantastic world of design).
Della Chuang has found complexity in simplicity, beauty in Nature and art and love in fragrances. She managed to explore all senses and integrate them with modesty, honesty and style. She is my last guest here in the year of 2009, and probably the one who has touched me and my life more than all the others.
“Simplicity seems natural, almost obvious, in its final form, but getting there takes experience, talent, and patience. Design for simplicity cannot be successful unless it is supported by perfect execution. Simplicity isn’t simple.” (Insight of Della Chuang extracted from her blog Nomadic Design — article of Aug 7, 2009).
Illustration by Della
image credit: Della Chuang
Della Chuang: I never consciously decided that my life and my design would be integrally connected through an idea about simplicity. If I am not working or traveling, I prefer to remain at home most of the time, either concentrating on reading or writing, or just taking a long walk on the streets in lower Manhattan or in the Finnish woods. Perhaps my simple lifestyle would mean boredom. But I think it is as much a retreat into my own imagination, my own world. I feel that in order to keep a fresh creative mind, I have to keep a healthy distance from much of what is going on, not just in New York, but in the world.
Nature, which appears simple yet is complex, profoundly influences my approach to design. In the design of a perfume bottle, I want to showcase simplicity not as a rigid minimalist ideal, in which a formula toward sparseness is almost religiously pursued, but as a composition of forms, materials, and textures that is fundamentally “pure”.
Perfume bottles - sketches by Della Chuang
image credit: Della Chuang
Della Chuang: On the day when I took the liberty of secretly spraying my mom’s precious Shisedo perfume on my way out to school, I discovered the pleasure of perfume. I was very pleased as soon as I entered the door of the classroom: everyone crowded around me to smell the fragrance. At the age of eleven, I found perfume blissful because it allowed me to create an instant miracle that made my classmates appreciate me. But if there was a passion for perfume bottle design lurking inside me, I was not yet aware of it by the time I started art school in New York City.
At Pratt Institute, I was drawn to arts have a tactile quality: sculpture, metalsmithing, anything allowing viewers the chance to come to their own conclusions. However, at the point, nothing was learned about perfume packaging design and its three-dimensional aspects, so for most assignments we were given were focused on two-dimensional design such as typography and graphic work.
My liking of drawing shapes and making forms gave me a sense of what I was searching for in my design career: to be a packaging designer. One day I saw a notice posted at the school announcing an open position for a designer at Ralph Lauren Fragrances. I applied for it. And this is when, my adventurous journey as a perfume-packaging designer began.
Della Chuang: Each of my designs originates from a simple desire to make people appreciate a perfume bottle not only as a container for fragrance, but as an experience of art. I do not think I can find a reason to make a comparison between Ralph and Pure Turquoise. Though the marketing approaches are quite different: girl vs. woman; mass vs. luxury; fun vs. elegance, the development of each design and its realization is an equal long, drawn-out process that requires the same amount of deliberation, thoughtfulness, and tender care.
Della Chuang: I’m blessed to have the chance to work for two internationally respected, admired fashion brands! The experience of designing for the Ralph Lauren brand allowed me to appreciate the need for a careful balance between a good design, purposeful marketing and artistic license.
As for the experience with Tom Ford, I learned that although a single theme — like the plot in a novel — can be found running through the design, I must also pay close attention to the numerous aesthetic decisions that will comprise the entire fragrance brand. These decisions must be resolved and elaborated on — each having individual integrity, but working together to support the whole. Just like a novel has its theme, but chapters, sentences, even individual words must come together to form the whole.
I have found that the creative process at Ralph Lauren Fragrances and Tom Ford Beauty is different, and the difference between these two brands can be linked to the differences between poem and novel. They are all beautiful and exciting experiences in my journey of design.
Della Chuang: Oh, I hope your favorite would be my first independent perfume project KyotEau, which is going to be launched in 2010 instead (laugh).
In the design of White Patchouli, the integration of this project into the existing Tom Ford fragrance line was difficult. The challenge, for me, was not technical but emotional: the attempt to capture the essence of the original cross-brand idea and then to transform it into a fresh character or feeling.
Creating White Patchouli was never simply a process of replicating the original design elements such as the corrugated lines, the gold ribbon, and the square gold plaque. My creative process started with an analytic study, based on input from the creative director Lara Modjeski at Estee Lauder, and, after a long time of thinking, I shut that part of my brain down and allowed the nonverbal side to react. No matter how many interactions — research, sketches, and models, I tried to stay close to the core message of Tom Ford brand-luxury. I do not think that I can completely explain how I draw a specific line or circle on the sketchbook — at some point I just have to trust my eye, my intuition. Design is a process of percolation, with the form eventually finding its way to the surface. At the end, Mr. Ford picked my very first sketch as the final design of White Patchouli.
Della Chuang: It never occurred to me that my friends, including my Japanese friends, thought I was being eccentric when I travel alone and lodge in temples in Kyoto. Growing up, I was surrounded by Japanese objects, from the Japanese dinnerware we ate from, to the tatami (straw matt in Japanese) we slept on, to the Japanese folk music that both of my parents listened to. So my strong affinity for Japanese culture is no surprise, nor how comfortable I am whenever I visit Japan, especially the heart of Japanese tradition — Kyoto. Kyoto, to me, is not only a city graced by the Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, as well as traditional culture and rituals, but the secret garden that has a healing power to the mind. Whenever I’m sad and tired in New York, I often take refuge in Kyoto’s consoling fresh air, moonlight, and landscape. Therefore, the idea of using Kyoto as a design case study in my book KyotEau: Bottled Memories was very natural.
KyotoEau Bottled Memories by Della Chuang
Photo credit: Manfred Koh
Della Chuang: Christophe and I never met before I invited him to work on the KyotEau project. I discovered Polo Blue, allegedly the largest and most successful launch of men’s fragrance in the history of perfumery, is one of his creations. In the corporate world, the marketing department plays a key role of communication between the creative department and the perfume house. Therefore, a packaging designer and a perfumer are not required to meet during the working process. Imagine how strange it is to create perfume, by following a textural description to its completion, and only discovering the bottle for the first time right before or on the date of the launch! I have often said that the relationship between perfume bottle and perfume can be likened to the relationship between a book cover and its contents, and this analogy reflects not just the end result but the creative process one goes through in the making of the work: bottle and perfume must work together at the same time to form the whole! I therefore longed for a true collaboration with a perfumer who could share ideas spontaneously and intuitively with me. I wrote if, a poem based on my personal sensory experience in my beloved city Kyoto, and used it as a test to find my ideal collaborator. After months of search, I chose Christophe Laudamiel for his artistic interpretation and sincere professionalism. It was a truly inspirational experience to work with Christophe, who opened my eye to the world of perfume making. In the making of KyotEau, our communication consisted of countless e-mails, photo sharing, and ideas. One of the best advice I was given during the design process was from Christophe, who insisted I should investigate the ergonomics of the squatted bottle that I showed him. Likewise, he was impressed that I was able to identify some ingredients from his creation by smelling. He is a man with a great adventurous spirit. After leaving IFF where he had created KyotEau among other perfumes, he co-founded a start-up company called Aerosphere and became independent.
KyotoEau - the perfume
the fragrance by Christophe Laudamiel & bottle design by Della Chuang
photo credit: Arthur Wesphal
Concerning the photos, illustration and image: All of them were a courtesy of the interview guest, Della Chuang. If you wish to use them, please contact her for previous consent.
8 comments:
Nice interview with a terrific artist. It's great to see Ms. Chuang get some attention for her body of work.
My hopes are that she will get a lot of attention. her skills are really to be noticed!
Simone, just wanted to say again how much I LOVE your blog. And thanks so much for your comment the other day on my "Duro" feature; thanks for those "sex-in-a-bottle" tips. I'll have to try them out. Here's another one I really like a lot: Pierre Montale's "Greyland". The name is so unfitting for this extremely sexy scent; there's that sweat-and-testosterone element there that I also get with Gucci's "Pour Homme", but "Greyland" is less sweet. It actually smells like parts of the body I probably shouldn't be commenting on here. But if you want to know more, just let me know. :-)
Again, love your articles and will be stopping by frequently.
Have a great weekend,
Michael
Great interview! Can't wait to get a bottle of her perfume in 2010.
Chag channukah sameach to you Simone!
Dear Michael,
and I am pretty much in love with your writing too!!
Yesterday I read many articles and this weekend I want to try to catch up and read the rest.
I loved the pictures and I hope next year we will be able to make a project together!!
Have a great weekend too
Kisses Simone
Dear Tara,
I wish you a great hag too, with smells of honey, hot-from-the-oven baked cinammon rolls, wine, spices and all you deserve.
A huge kiss to you and thank you again for being here this year.
I love your comments.
Have a great year!!!
Nice post, finding a good perfume is not a difficult job, but finding a perfume in antique bottle is quite difficult.
This is a very long fragrance article. But I like it thank you for sharing..
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