Friday Five with Katie Lim of BARK

Katie Lim is Director of Industrial Design at BARK, the world’s most dog-obsessed firm greatest recognized for BarkBox. There she helps push innovation, aesthetic, and play by main the design workforce for Tremendous Chewer, a line of toys for canine who like to play tough and wish a problem. As a part of BARK’s in-house design workforce, Katie additionally oversees product branding, product growth, and prototyping of the design course of for over 430 new and authentic toys every year. She thrives when searching for out new alternatives and techniques, arising with by no means earlier than seen merchandise, and modern makes use of for brand spanking new supplies. Katie additionally manages the @Bark_Creative Instagram account the place she offers followers an inside take a look at the model’s behind the scenes design course of. Katie earned her diploma in Industrial Design from Savannah School of Artwork and Design, and started her profession in toy design engaged on manufacturers corresponding to Shiny Begins, Oball, and Taggies. Simply previous to becoming a member of BARK in 2017, she was lead designer for Child Einstein’s toddler toy merchandise and oversaw all of their play gymnasium innovation and growth. As we speak Katie is becoming a member of us for Friday 5 and sharing 5 issues essential in her life.

Photograph by way of Dezeen

1. Younger Spirits
Doesn’t matter what age (or species!), I like anybody/something with refreshing views and excessive curiosities. There’s a sure power and real emotion in these younger at coronary heart that I discover very inspiring. So far as literal younger spirits, I like seeing children use their creativeness in play and even when simply making an attempt to make sense of the world round them. Kids suppose and categorical emotions with out boundaries, and so they carry a pleasure that’s onerous to bottle, however it’s an essential lens for me as a designer to repeatedly look via. They remind us to be expressive, be bizarre, be curious, and continue learning. I attempt to convey that feeling into each product I design.

Photograph by way of Ghostly

2. Dieter Rams’ 10 Rules for Good Design
“Good design is modern, makes a product helpful, aesthetic, makes a product comprehensible, unobtrusive, sincere, lengthy lasting, thorough all the way down to the final element, environmentally pleasant. Good design is as little design as potential.” The Vitsoe print extolling these ideas proven above hangs to the left of my studio desk. After I begin to get misplaced or indecisive with my work, these assist information me ahead. I attempt to keep grounded in these all through my total course of for design, and verify off as many as potential earlier than any merchandise is produced. It’s straightforward to cram a lot into each side of a design, however you want to let it breathe and comprise solely what is critical for each aesthetic and materials use. There’s a much bigger dialog round every of those, however we are able to depart it at this for now.

Photograph by way of Wikimedia

3. The Commute
My every day commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan averages round 40 minutes, involving a bus switch to a prepare that crosses over the Manhattan Bridge. The mild rocking movement of the prepare juxtaposed by the frenzy of transferring from the bus to the labyrinthine subway under by some means makes it straightforward for me to get misplaced in a thought or comply with an concept. It’s additionally a time after I really feel most related to town and the folks in it. You catch small particulars in human habits that offers insights for designing options for as many alternative customers as potential. It additionally will get me out of the bubble of my very own life and perspective. I’ll catch somebody utilizing an object in a manner I’d by no means suppose to do, or see a necessity that I by no means encountered myself. I like that New York is at all times transferring and taking dangers. Being in that power motivates me to do the identical in my very own work and provides me confidence to share my very own voice.

Photograph by Daniel Koehler

4. Group and Mentorship
Social media, podcasts, and the blogosphere have been instrumental within the rising sense of neighborhood within the design discipline, particularly at a global degree. @weeklydesignchallenge, @renderweekly, @minordetailspod, and @adv_des are just some accounts created by passionate professors and designers that assist foster this via Instagram, and who I flip to frequently to study new approaches and applications. This has grow to be an amazing platform for designers in any respect ranges to point out work and be related, and I like how open everyone seems to be with sharing their course of and methods in a discipline that’s so aggressive. The photograph above was taken throughout my first time main a sketch workshop that was organized by a nonprofit group, Superior Design (@adv_des). Not solely was this a possibility for others to study from my experiences, however I additionally realized a lot seeing how they utilized their expertise to what I taught. I additionally respect James Connors and Nick Baker opening up conversations of their podcast, Minor Particulars (@minordetailspod), round struggles we undergo however don’t often discuss. They create on a variety of company and set a tone for open and sincere discussions within the business.

Photograph by way of Dezeen

5. Sculpture and Interiors
Earlier than I knew about Industrial Design, I grew up torn between eager to be an Inside Designer or a Sculptor. Fortunate for me, Industrial Design combines each of those passions. Even luckier, I can nonetheless be impressed by unbelievable kinds and considerate areas for the work I do now. There’s a enjoyable train I love to do – I take a look at blogs like Dezeen or Architectural Digest, discover a house that stands out to me, after which design objects that might slot in that very same house. It may be something! Furnishings, home equipment, toys, equipment… it helps problem the private aesthetic I gravitate in the direction of mechanically and expands my visible library. That is one thing I particularly love bringing to the pet business, canine toys don’t need to be objects that you just wish to kick below the sofa as quickly as firm arrives. You possibly can benefit from type, colour, and texture to create one thing that may be very useful for play, but in addition lovely.