About me
Ayako Takase is a designer and educator who centers their practice on creating experiences and objects that foster meaningful, emotive connections with people, culture, and audiences. Her life is a mixture of east and west—her early upbringing in Japan fostered an appreciation of minimal but rich forms and a respect for materials and nature, while her education in the US brought modern design practices, problem solving, and big pictures. Ayako worked under renowned designer Ayse Birsel before co-founding Observatory in 2001 with Cutter Hutton, a multidisciplinary design studio based in Providence, RI. Observatory relies foremost on an intuitive process that allows a natural interplay of form and function to take place in their designs. The studio helps organizations and individuals design and develop objects and experiences that have long-lasting impact, with projects ranging from furniture, tabletop products, and consumer goods to UX, UI, and strategy design.
LinkedIn
Instagram