Tania Wiebe and Petra Gent, two designers of different nationalities, met and hit it off when they were students at art university. In 2004, he founded the design office ``All the Way to Paris'' in Copanhagen. Currently working on graphic design, exhibitions and product design, and in 2016 he also participated in the ``1616/arita Japan'' project with Teruhiro Yanagihara. Their simple, modern, yet warm style shows the humanity of the two artists, who value dialogue with their clients above all else.

Story by Petra Ghent (All the Way to Paris)

We met while attending the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts as visual communication and graphic design students. As soon as we met, we both felt that we had a common vision and energy. Tania is the type of person who does everything quickly and pays close attention to detail, and I (Petra) am the type of person who works carefully while checking the big picture, but I thought that if we worked together, we would be able to create a synergistic effect.

While we were still in school, we were both receiving requests for designs and illustrations, so we turned that into a business after graduating. However, since I had no experience working in a design office, I had to repeat trial and error and learn on the job. Now, we believe that the experience we had back then has become a great asset for us. Currently, we have become an office with six designers of different nationalities.

One of the most memorable jobs I've ever done is ``3/arita Japan,'' an Arita porcelain brand where Teruhiro Yanagihara is the creative director, at 1616 days of design held in Copenhagen, and ``Skagerak'', a Danish furniture manufacturer. This is the ``Table Project'' in collaboration with ``. This time, I visited Arita, which has a long history of pottery, and painted a plate from Mr. Yanagihara's TY series of ``1616/ arita Japan''. Arita is a magical place surrounded by misty mountains. I couldn't help but feel in awe, but I remember not being discouraged and trying to work in our own way.

I've always been fascinated by Mr. Yanagihara, not just his works, but the worldview he creates. The first time I went to his atelier and gallery in Kyoto. I had a hard time finding it, so I went back and forth on my bicycle. The atelier I finally arrived at was simple and sophisticated, a beautiful place where history and contemporary, craftsmanship and natural elements coexist. Mr. Yanagihara's current atelier in Osaka is a place where you can lose your sense of time. While the works that seem to intertwine past and present are lined up, outside is the hustle and bustle of Osaka with its rows of skyscrapers. How exciting!

Mr. Yanagihara says, ``Connection, trust, and relationships between people are the key points of work,'' and we have exactly the same idea. Doing a good job depends on the conversations and relationships you have with your clients, and whether you can capture the energy they feel. We chose the name "All the Way to Paris" because we want our clients to feel a connection to us. I want to travel with them, go as far as I can (all the way), and give them the best results.

It is very important to be able to have stimulating and interesting conversations with the people you work with. Again, conversation is very important. Even if we don't have the same vision at first, we feel like we've done our best work when we find a new path through discussion. In 2020, we will continue to work with Mr. Yanagihara as we will be helping create a new showroom for 1616/arita Japan. She is in charge of the tiles, which were inspired by the tiles of a church in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture. I'm also really looking forward to collaborating with TOKYO CRAFT ROOM, a room at HAMACHO HOTEL.

→Next time is Ingejard Roman.

(Titles omitted)