Master's in Product Design
Year of Graduation: 1988
Current role: Product Designer
Country: Japan
Tomoko Mizu was born in Japan. After a period of professional training in the watch industry at SEIKO Corporation, she moved to Milan. She received her Master in Product Design from Domus Academy in 1988 and established her own Milan based studio, Mizu Creative Design Lab, in 1994.
Tomoko Mizu was born in Japan. After a period of professional training in the watch industry at SEIKO Corporation, she moved to Milan. She received her Master in Product Design from Domus Academy in 1988 and established her own Milan based studio, Mizu Creative Design Lab, in 1994.
Her activity focuses on product design and corporate image: she is a product and communication consultant for Fiera di Milano. She works with international companies such as Cappellini, Sawaya & Moroni, Horm1988, Bonacina Vittorio, Rithzenhoff, Giovanni De Maio, Trunk e Kanebo. In the past few years, she has been closely working with Italian artisans to enable a closer relationship between the artisanal and the design world. She participated in the Biennale d’Artigianato Sardo in 2009, for which she was awarded the “Compasso d’Oro” in 2011.
Her projects were exhibited in many exhibitions and published on Italian and international magazines. Since 2010, the vases she designed for Cappellini are part of the permanent collection at M.A.G.M.A. Museum in Roccamonfina (CE). The last project she developed with Giovanni De Maio was exhibited at Expo Luxe in Rome. She runs workshops at Domus Academy, Politecnico di Milano and IED.
“The year that I did Domus Academy was truly unique and special. It is hard to name only one person that has influenced my thinking, my carreer. If I had to name only one person I would say Arch. Ettore Sottsass jr. Thankfully, even after Domus Academy I had many opportunities to talk to him. He taught us that beyond the measurements of the human body , there are many things to be considered, the social movement and the culture. He opened another perspective of the function in design.“