The Crit #10: Yuri Suzuki
Have you ever wondered what designers really think about their own work, and what their honest reflections on success and failure might be? The Crit, Disegno’s editorial podcast, has the answers!
Each fortnight, Disegno’s editor-in-chief Oli Stratford invites a leading designer to reflect on the highlights and lowlights of their career. Each episode, our guest will tell us what worked best; what failed; what pushed their career to new heights; what feedback most shaped their practice; and what they feel needs to be redesigned.
At the end of each episode, to complete their crit, they’ll be asked to give themselves a grade for their career to date: fail, pass, commendation or distinction.
It’s a design-school crit, delivered every fortnight! Subscribe to the show here, or sign up wherever you get your podcasts from.
Our tenth guest on The Crit is Yuri Suzuki, accompanied by show host Oli Stratford.
Episode #10: Yuri Suzuki
For our tenth episode of The Crit we welcomed sound designer, musician and artist Yuri Suzuki into the studio for a discussion about using sound as a means to shape human interactions and public spaces.
Formerly a partner at Pentagram, as well as a resident at the Kyoto Institute of Technology, IASPIS in Stockholm, and the Design Museum in London, Suzuki creates work characterised by playful designs that use sound as a vehicle for openness and inclusivity.
Suzuki is also known for creating fantastical devices that help give physical form to sound, such as OTOTO, a machine which allows users play music using any conductible object, including a saucepan or a banana.
His recent work has taken the form of installations which play with the sounds of urban life or use artificial intelligence to encourage unexpected encounters in the public realm.
Listen to the episode to hear Suzuki review his career to date, from buying his own devices on eBay after a failed business endeavour, to his dream of designing the sounds of electric vehicles.
Show Notes: Yuri Suzuki
Best design: Sonic Bloom
Worst design: Devices for a performance in Japan with visually impaired dancers
Most successful design: OTOTO
Most impactful feedback: Jesper Kouthoofd from Teenage engineering admiring his playful approach to design
Dream design: Sounds for electric vehicles
This episode of The Crit was recorded at Uncommon Holborn.
The Crit’s graphics were created by Leonhard Rothmoser.
The Crit’s music was created by Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki.