Living a Creative Life: Fumie Shibata

Fumie Shibata is the establisher of Design Studio S. Since Shibata was a kid, she had always loved to draw images and create things. My inception of design seems to be linked to those days when I enjoyed making clothes for my dolls or picture storybooks stereoscopically. Also, I grew up in a family that owns a textile business with craftsmen. In this creative environment, I felt completely natural to use my mind and create what I felt like creating.

Fumie Shibata and her "Capsule hotel "9ｈ"nine hours /kyubic 2009"
Photography: Nacasa & Partners

I show up at the office at 10AM. My staff comes in around 9:30AM to get ready for the work and often stays until 10PM. It is difficult to draw a line between business and personal matters for a designer. I would say that I spend about ten hours doing the design work.

I lead a healthy, well-balanced life. I live and work in the center of Tokyo, having a lot of opportunities to meet and talk with people. In Japan, design has not received a proper understanding and support by distribution and marketing in most cases. This may be an obstacle to an innovative design life.

I try to clear numerous hurdles everyday to keep refreshing my vision and creativity.
I feel that I have to prove myself as a designer in establishing my own way to get over those daily challenges. I often deal with mass-produced items. So, I consider the environmental consciousness and cost effectiveness as my challenges to face any designs. I believe in myself and what I have been through before. I always know that I can overcome any challenge.

I don’t really find the design world to be stressful. Human beings, not design, make us feel happy or sad. I feel stress once in a while when having to deal with human relations. My great relief of stress is to run around in nature or have a chat with my friends. This works to me almost perfectly.

I can do my best when my clients trust me and I feel the most satisfied when my design is truthful to myself. I would like to say that all aspiring designers must trust their possibility. We are facing a new era with difficulties such as the environment concerns. I hope we can tackle those challenges with the wisdom of design. I believe that design and what design can do is one of the resources left on earth. I wish to continue to introduce a quality life through the items of my design. I am going to take on a challenge in the items I have never designed before.

I always try to express the core of my mind. So, I don’t feel pressure very much. I do a stretching exercise every night. I feel relaxed through this exercise and maintain my good energy level.

SWEETS pure
Thermometer "MC-670" / OMRON HEALTHCARE 2004 & Training mug "mug baby" / combi 2010