We are excited to announce a great and exciting new online feature for PICA Things We Love at the Love Japan Magazine this week! The magazine reached out to us to do an interview, and we were thrilled to collaborate. We talked a bit on our partnership and our creative history, how living in Japan has shaped our designs, what inspires us, and what’s coming up next in the world of PICA. It is an honour to be featured in the magazine that’s as passionate about Japanese culture as we are!
UPDATE 22.09.2020
Unfortunately, the Love Japan Magazine has been discontinued. So we are posting here our original magazine interview along with its photos that was first published in 2016.
Interview: PICA, a Japan Inspired Design Duo
Love Japan Magazine: How did you become a design duo, and what do you enjoy about working creatively together?
Alyona: Our lifelong partnership was born in design school. We met each other while doing our undergrad studies in Image Arts: New Media, where after teaming up for every project that came our way, we discovered that we not only complemented each other in our eccentric humour, but also in our creative endeavours. We both had something to offer to the table that the other was perhaps missing. I was strong in illustration, where Robby was excellent in interactive design. Our creative skills truly complimented each other, allowing us to collaborate on projects that we were proud of. I would say it was a perfect match as we absolutely loved working and spending time together, in and outside of school.
Today Robby and I still hold very specific roles that compliment each other and help PICA grow. I am still the force behind the illustration design and colour composition, where Robby over the years became the master of typography and my biggest critic. Despite having different strength and skill aspirations, we share the same style sensibility, design principles, and know that by working together we produce something much greater than what could have been had we been working alone.
Love Japan Magazine: How do you think living in Tokyo for two years has shaped your design style?
Alyona: Living in Japan has given us a deep understanding of its beliefs, values, customs and people, that are often overshadowed by the glamorized image of the Cool Japan. This insight into Japanese culture is what drives our creative process and inspiration at PICA. We are not aiming to just create prints that are stereotypically Japanese. Our subject matter is the Japanese culture that is known by few, but is very dear to us—expats and its natives. We hope through our prints to create awareness that there is more to Japan than sushi and Japanese swords.
Japan has also long been known for leading in fashion, architectural, industrial and product design due to its culturally rooted design philosophy. Our experience of living there has taught us to embrace the Japanese way of purity, simplicity and functionality. Keeping that close to heart, we always strive to create work that not just emulates these principles but embodies them in all facets of our design process and print product production.
Love Japan Magazine: What do you draw your inspiration from?
Alyona: We draw our inspiration from the Pop Art movement of the 1960s. Pop Art is characterized by the bold, simple, vibrant colour imagery featuring everyday objects of mass culture. Similarly we strive to celebrate the aspects of the Japanese culture—traditional and modern—in the analogous manner by employing a bright colour palette alongside bold, clean line illustrations.
Additionally, we are completely enamoured with the Japanese normcore interior design trend, much celebrated by MUJI (one of our top favourite brands), with its neat, plain design furniture in natural wood and white colours. At PICA we find this inspirational, and strive to create art that can live and coexist in such minimal spaces, while bringing a touch of bold, bright colour to the otherwise plain neutral coloured walls.
Love Japan Magazine: What's next for PICA?
Alyona: There are lots of exciting new prints in store for PICA. We have been collecting ideas for awhile now, and the list is getting long. There are a couple of new designs in the works right now as we speak, and a whole lot more to come. Every object we celebrate in our prints has a story or a deep cultural meaning associated with it, so you won’t be disappointed!
As for PICA’s whereabouts, while we are currently based in Toronto, Canada—the multicultural mecca, it is quite possible that PICA might find itself returning to its origins and continue to thrive creatively in Japan. Stay tuned!