"My sketches are really awful" - Nendo's Oki Sato

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In our second movie filmed at the opening of the new Camper store in New York, Japanese designer and Nendo founder Oki Sato admits to Dezeen that he is not very good at drawing, but that his sketches are an important first step in all of his designs.
"I'm not a good sketcher," Sato says. "But it's really the story that's the most important thing for myself. When I meet a new client, if I can't come up with a nice story for them then it's really difficult for me to proceed with that project."
Despite his limitations as a draughtsman, Sato says he still starts every project with a sketch, because he believes it helps him to convey the story behind the design in the most simple way.
"The process is fairly basic," he says. "I start from rough sketches, stupid sketches, and then we move to renderings and models. I have a feeling that when you're a good sketcher, when you draw pictures and sketches in a very beautiful way, it makes the story a bit blurry."
He continues: "Since I'm not good at [sketching], it helps me. [They're] really awful sketches, but it has to be something that everyone can understand and I think that's important. The simpler the sketches, the better the story is I think."
Once he has sketched out his initial ideas, Sato says that it is also very important for him to make models of his designs.
Sketch showing the idea behind Nendo's Splinter furniture collection for Conde House
"We make a lot of models," he says. "We have three rapid prototyping machines in the studio which work 24 hours a day. We're considering buying one or two more because it's really important to see the form physically."
Nendo works in a wide range of disciplines, designing large interiors like the new Camper Store in New York as well as tiny products such as Data Clip, a USB drive shaped like a paperclip. Sato says that he approaches all projects in the same way.
"I enjoy designing anything," he says. "Whether it's a paperclip or a big interior, it's basically the same for me. I'm just addicted to design and I just enjoy whatever it is I'm doing."
The key to good design, Sato believes, is simplicity.
"A good idea has to be something that you can tell your mother or a small child who knows nothing about design," he says. "If she thinks it's interesting, I think that's good design."