User Preferences: Tech Q&A With Multimedia Designer Yuri Suzuki

Each week we chat about the tools of the trade with one outstanding creative to find out exactly how they do what they do. The questions are always the same, the answers, not so much. This week: Yuri Suzuki. Click here for more User Preferences Tech Q&As.

Who are you and what do you do?
Yuri Suzuki: Cannot really identify myself—can be a sound artist, interactive/product designer, or art director.
I do sound installation, product design, and sometimes direct film. In 2012, I became a visiting artist at Teenage Engineering.

What kind of hardware do you use?
I mainly use a MacBook Pro. Regarding sound development, I use Teenage Engineering OP-1 and Roland TB-303. For sketches, I use a Moleskine notebook and a Uniball Signo pen.

Sound Chaser (2008)

What kind of software do you use?
Illustrator, Photoshop, sometimes Solidworks. For sound production I use Ableton live and Max/MSP.

What piece of equipment can you simply not live without?
Probably my computer, as I travel all time and I dont have a specific place to work. So it can be said that the computer is my office.

Androp: Worlds Words Lights (2012)

If money were no object, how would you change your current setup?
I might change my lifestyle itself. Settle down in a city, less travel. Less internet communication, more physical meetings. So I’d probably try not to rely on computers.

Is there any piece of technology that inspired you to take the path you did?
I know anything we imagine could come to true, and then I paid less attention to brand new technology development. However bizzare old technology is, it still surprises me a lot. For example, the Pixelvision Camera, Tefifone and so on.

Also Tim Hunkin’s TV series Secret Life of Machines is really inspirational. I started making this project based on this short .

The Animatic (2009)

What is your favorite piece of technology from your childhood?
My parents and grandparents gave me many English educational toys.

I still remember when I was child I played a lot with Disney World of English. The TalkAlong card system had a fascinating feature. A series of picture cards with an audio tape strip and if you swipe them in the reader, you could play back the sound. Furthermore you could record over your voice into the card as well. Surprisingly I can still play back my childhood voice.

Also Texas Instruments Speak And Spell. I didn’t understand system when I was a child but it played really nice sounds and artificial voices.

Sound Taxi (2012)

What fantasy piece of technology would you like to see invented?
My dream is to design a magic or fantasy experience which probably involves many technologies, or perhaps not. For example, Disneyland is still one of my favorite places and has gave me amazing memories. When you’re there, it’s as if you’re inside of sci-fi or fantasy story and you can physically experience it.

So for me is technology is not really important, it is more about what I can design that will enable people to enter a story naturally.

The Sound of Earth (2012)

White Noise Machine (2010)

The Animatic (2009)

@ImYourKid