Wabi Sabi Living Room

Wabi Sabi- The Japanese philosophy that embraces imperfection, randomness, and the lack of purposeful symmetry. Dents, cracks, messes, imperfections, and scratches in furniture, pottery, gardens, etc… show character and enhance the beauty of the object rather than making it undesirable. It strikes me that each of us can feel broken, scarred, or bruised by our mistakes and challenges in life, but these things only make us stronger and wiser.

The challenge

I did a design challenge a little while back that asked participants to think of visual representations of positive and negative feelings that serve as feedback to both Japanese and Western users. The idea was to have clear, understandable symbols that would transcend language and give the user feedback that would encourage them in their use of the product.

Leveraging mental models

I wanted to make sure borrow from universally understood symbology to make clearly positive icons. I started brainstorming simple icons that would universally convey positive meaning to users. The obvious symbols (i.e. Thumbs up, thumbs down, happy and sad faces, up and down arrows etc…) had already been used so I had to think a little further outside of the box. I thought of a trophy cup, a medal with a ribbon, a graduation cap, a four-leaf-clover, and even a little person with their arms up in celebration.

Culturally focused mental models

After picking all the low hanging fruit of western symbology, I wanted to dive deeper into Japanese symbology to cater more to Japanese users. I worked for ten years in a sushi restaurant and have always been fascinated with Japanese design aesthetic, whether it was dish-ware, garden/landscape design, or even flower arranging so this part of the challenge was the most interesting and fun for me.

I started with Daruma Dolls. Daruma dolls are traditionally given in Japan as gifts to bring good luck and encourage perseverance and hard work. They are round and low so when they get pushed over, they bounce right back up on their own. That’s perseverance!

A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred.

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Pagodas are found all throughout southeast Asia. They are beautiful multi-tiered buildings used for both religious and non-religious purposes

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The Maneki-Neko, or Good Fortune Cat, can be found in many Japanese homes and businesses. It is thought to bring good fortune to it’s owner. Most people have seen these little guys waving from the window of a store or restaurant.

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The paper lamp is found all throughout Japan. I love these things. They are large in profile, yet very light-weight. I played with this lamp for a long time and realized I wanted it to be more natural in color.

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After finishing the design challenge, I wanted to work more with my paper lamp and more kanji symbols. Working with my paper lamp made me realize I wanted it to have more of a life and maybe even light up a room. As I started to create a room for my paper lamp to live in, the first thing I did was create a couch and a floor. Other details followed, but as I worked I realized that without consciously doing it, I was re-creating the living room of my old house. The couch, floor, and side table reminded me of all the sweet memories I have of when my son was an infant. I spent countless hours on the couch sitting with him, helping him learn to stand on that soft surface.

The couch had many reminders of his spit-up, milk-spills, and messy hands. He took his first steps on that old hardwood floor and spilled many many different foods on it too. These memories and experiences made this very mundane and normal object so special to me, it gave a beauty that can only be earned through experience.

Obviously I did not have the lovely paper screen walls, but a guy can dream can’t he?