Design couple Alice Tiankaizi Bi and Josh Yoon tell Viva how their different skills complement each other's.
Alice Tiankaizi Bi and Josh Yoon are partners in life and in work, collaborating on several projects and running an illustration and web design studio called AJ Studio. They have also created Little Dot, a sweet local brand of stationery and accessories they call "fashionery" - stationery that's like a fashion accessory (you can buy some at dearlittledot.com).
"We both love paper, especially the textured ones, and we love to craft things, anything from baking cookies to making furniture," explains Alice, who came up with the Little Dot character while studying fine arts at Elam.
"I always wanted to make stationery but it was a project without a deadline. It was one of those things that seemed easy but I had no idea where to start. It was something I thought I would do when there was enough money in the bank account."
The pair decided to embrace their dream and started the brand as a way to "provide a space for naivety and imagination through illustrations, colours, texture and form".
Josh's background is as a product designer, while Alice is an illustrator. "What I do in general is to make things pretty and what Josh does is to make things work," she says.
10 FAVOURITE THINGS
1. Bernina sewing machine
Alice: I still remember those nights making dolls by hand from the characters I designed. Two years ago Josh bought me this Bernina sewing machine on his birthday. Yes, that's right, on his birthday. This is one of my favourite things, without a doubt.
2. Wacom Cintiq 21
Alice: I started to paint when I was 3, oriental brush painting, oil painting, printmaking ... I love playing with colours but found it expensive to keep up with the art supplies. When I moved on to Adobe Illustrator, although I loved it, I felt there was something missing - the joy of drawing by hand. Then Josh bought me Wacom Cintiq, a tablet allowing me to draw directly on the display surface. I still draw by hand but I love [the tablet] so much I miss it every time we go away.
3. The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson
Alice: I came across this book five years ago and it totally changed my life. Josh is not a bookworm but he loved it too; so it definitely is one of our favourite things. We came up with the tagline "keep on dreaming" for Little Dot, because we hope to inspire big, scary, wonderful life-changing dreams through our products. And one of the things I hear often is "I don't know what my dreams are". The Dream Giver is a good place to start.
4. The Rabbit badge
Alice: I bought this from Disneyland in LA when I was 17. I would wear it on my cardigan as often as possible, so if I met someone new and they asked my name, I would just point at the rabbit and they would get my name immediately because of the Alice in Wonderland connection.
5. The Muppets Take Manhattan LP
Alice: I was over the moon when I dug out this LP from Real Groovy six years ago. At the time I had just bought my first Crosley LP player. I would put this record on when my friends came over to my apartment and they'd say, "Gee Alice, that's nuts, turn it down". But I love it. I can dance with it and laugh out loud just by myself. Don't get me wrong, I love my iTunes but I think nothing can compare to the sound a genuine LP, especially if it's the sound of a frog.
6. Fountain pens
Josh: I like our name-engraved fountain pens. It's like saying hi to an old friend every time you pick them up. Also, to me personally, I feel a special connection to my father's generation. Alice, on the other hand, thinks she's more like a grown-up when she uses her fountain pen.
7. Angry Bird
Josh: Alice bought this game app from iTunes and I thought, here we go, another game. But when I started playing it, man it's funny, in a silly way. I like to calculate the angles and distance to hit the pigs, and feel quite accomplished when I crack a level.
8. Camera
Josh: When I was working around-the-clock as a design engineer, I was so desperate to break free. I bought this Samsung GX-10 DSLR camera for fun. I didn't know I would use it to shoot Little Dot products one day. It's a keeper.
9. Hardware stores
Josh: I like to walk around in the hardware stores before designing anything, whether it's a chair or a notebook. I find those bits and bobs very interesting and inspiring.
10. internet
We don't think we could survive without the internet really. Give us a computer with internet connection, then we are happy. It needs to be fast, though.
