Today we’d like to introduce you to Irma Hardjakusumah
Hi Irma, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am not someone who has major shifts and transformations throughout her life. I am more of a slow burn where everything grows deeper and stronger over time. I grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia. Since I was young, I had a soft spot for art, math and stories, and it seems like everything I love to do is related to that: drawing, reading, making things, inventing worlds, patterns, Legos, Tetris, puzzles. I am not good with doing things I don’t love (or have to do, haha).
I studied Architecture in college and there, another love was born: space. I did however, learned, that due to its permanent nature and its desire to minimize risk, it is very hard to challenge old ideas in Architecture. Especially if it’s been working. One summer I learned about Environmental Design (the discipline that combines Architecture, Interior Design and Product Design) and the rise of temporary spaces, and that has been a steady path for me ever since.
In 1998, Asia suffered a massive economic crises that affected the local creative world. I moved to Los Angeles at the beginning of 1999 originally with the plan of furthering my studies, but I ended joining an up and coming design studio in LA practicing Environmental Design and eventually became their Design Director until the time I left. In 2009 I had a child and it became crystal clear that the way design studio/agencies were set up back then weren’t sustainable for new mothers. I resigned from my position, cut back on my time and started freelancing while raising my son.
In 2011, I founded Studio Left, a multi-disciplinary design studio that crafts spaces and experiences for the world of events, exhibits, stage presentations, art installations, interiors, experiential marketing and everything in between. I wanted to create a studio that works with the lives of its members (not the other way around), that also nurture growth and passion projects, while serving quality work: fresh, thoughtful, solution-driven, responsible design work.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There are the obvious challenges: surviving the pandemic, fighting for opportunities when you start from zero on the connection game, fighting for what you’re worth (design is a vague entity), surviving recessions, and many more. However, I would like to talk about something that is a little more specific to the business of design. It’s about the challenge of doing what you love.
Do What You Love is a heavy advice. It will lead you to paths that are sometimes not the most lucrative. It will prompt you to give your all to things that sometimes are not valued as highly by others. Doing what you love in the professional world, and having your heart as a bargaining chip, is often soul-crushing and puts you at a disadvantage (or exploitation).
But in my opinion, it’s the only way to make meaningful, authentic work, and the only way to create work that connects with people.
To love design, is to love its creative process, which in most cases, is not always aligned with the most practical choices. In order for it to continuously be a work of love, the creative process must be honored. However, clients won’t care about our creative process. They care about beautiful solutions and the bottom line. For as long as I have been in design leadership, it is my job to maintain the balance of this equation. To protect our creative space, the team, and our creative process, but at the same time direct that process towards planning for solutions. Just like the blend of art and math, I thrive in the intersection of creative and reason.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Studio Left?
We are a design studio (think of us like an architecture studio for temporary spaces, such as exhibitions, stages, events, pop ups, installations, festivals, retail spaces, theme parks, you name it) with an extensive experience in production and construction. We have a great track record of pushing design boundaries while maintaining budget, time crunch and getting creative with limitations. Our designs and solutions have saved our clients up to 7 figures in the past (while maintaining the look).
We are multi-disciplinary, with a focus on spatial design. Our background includes architecture, product design, graphic design, furniture design, theater design, event design, and digital design. We constantly borrow technologies from one discipline to solve challenges in another discipline. It allows us to bring unique solutions to projects.
We have worked on the spatial design for events such as the Emmys and the Oscars to an annual immersive Holiday Village at Westfield Century City. We have designed stages that hosted figures such as Prince Harry Duke of Sussex, Michelle Obama and Meryl Streep, and worked with brands such as The Wall Street Journal, Louis Vuitton, Disney and more.
Rather than talk about what sets us apart, we’d rather talk about what’s important to us when we design:
1. We believe that all great ideas are dangerous (but necessary). We borrowed this from Oscar Wilde. It’s important to explore solutions outside of your comfort zone, as that’s where innovation happens. Because of the risk, it is utterly important to do the homework of ‘figuring’ to outline how said solution could be a possibility.
2. We believe in Design Thinking: Empathize-Define-Ideate-Prototype-Test. Of course this needs to be adapted into the type of projects we’re in, but all projects will benefit from this process as you will be more likely to arrive at something that works, useful, thoughtful and beautiful.
3. We believe in dialogues with the adjacent disciplines. Design doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Conversations with adjacent disciplines (tech professionals, vendors, craftsmen, fabricators) will always yield a more holistic design.
4. We believe in being a design Polyglot. We don’t believe in a singular style. We believe that a great designer is like a character actor: charged by its subject. We believe that a designer must be able to speak in the spirit of its subject and fluent in all design languages: minimalism, maximalism, classicism, modernism, art deco, art nouveau, kitschy, rustic, and more.
5. We believe that great design is thoughtful: to the environment, to the local venue and city, to the storyline, to the budget, to the production, and of course, to the human/audience that it was designed for.
I always try to remind my designers that beauty is multi-layered, and that our ego is the worst designer of all.
What matters most to you?
What matters the most to me is love. It is important to me to show love to the people that I love, to live the life I love and to do what I love. Why is it important? Because when you lead with love (even when it’s unpopular), you will always be authentic, truthful and honest to yourself and others. Love, regardless of heartbreaks and disappointments, will always give meaning to all facets of your life and lead you to contentment and wisdom.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.studioleft.net
- Instagram: @studio_left
- Facebook: @wearestudioleft
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/irma-hardjakusumah-91a46b1a
Image Credits
Jei and Gaile Romanes (Wanderlust Creatives)
Renee Cascia
Private collection
