ABOUT

Lisa Lai - Industrial Designer / Artist

My belief is that designers have a responsibility to create work that takes note of its worldly context, thus design should be both a mixture of timeliness and timelessness. This means it is both relevant, beautiful, sensorial yet sustainable in a visual and material aspect for years to come.

The two values that I have in design and art are creativity + empathy. it is at the core of everything.

Born in Yunnan, China, raised in Saskatchewan, I have now lived in Vancouver for over 9 years. Currently I work full time at lululemon specializing in designing bags on the Accessories Design team.

For 7 years prior, I worked at tentree as a Fashion Designer. This apparel company plants ten trees around the world for every item they sell. They focus on eco-materials and fair social practices with the factories they work with. As one of their first 10 employees, I specialized in accessories design which includes hats, beanies, socks, scarves, bags, as well as fully fashioned knitwear for men’s and women’s categories. I enjoyed dipping into jacquard woven and knit surface design work with organic cotton and responsibly certified wool yarns. At tentree I had become very knowledgeable with design and production processes from trend research, concept sketch, spec creation, to fitting styles, and commercialization having taken over the accessories design category for over 10 seasons.

I have a Bachelor of Industrial Design from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. There I explored mediums such as wood, casting, vacuum forming, and textiles. My bachelor thesis project looked at outer garments through the lens of human packaging as a critical design lense to raise discussions about textiles waste. This project was featured at the 2018 Why I Design Event at Museum of Vancouver in November of 2018.

In the beginning of 2017, I studied at Lund University in the Faculty of Engineering (LTH) for Industrial Design, in Sweden for half a year. There, I did a capsule project creating a spot cleaning tool called Lunne. The work was exhibited at the Degree Exhibition Lund School of Industrial Design in Lund, Sweden, as well as the Spring Exhibition 2017 at Form Design Center in Malmo, Sweden. Through this project I was also able to attend the the Foshan Industrial Design Conference in Foshan, China in December of 2017 where I shared the design process as well my research in textile waste.

When I’m not working on a design project, you’re likely to find me spending time painting with watercolour, trying new recipes, running along English Bay, kickboxing, or catching up with cherished friends over tea.

I am often itching to do projects and love doing collaborative work with local creatives and businesses. Let’s grab a coffee or do a virtual call!

Write me an e-mail at:
hello@lisaylai.com

EXPERIENCE

Strategy & Concept

Strategy & Concept- The first stages of any design process. Understanding your vision and creating a proposal tailored to your needs.

Trend, Colour, Material, Market & Product Research to inform, inspire and realize your concept.

Project Management, Planning & Critical Path to ensure delivery of your project.

Design & Development

Design & Development- Taking research to the next level. Thumbnail sketches of initial concepts and ideas followed by designs completed in Adobe Illustrator.