Warittha Nilodom, also known as Ammie, is a visual designer originally from Bangkok, who lived for 5 years in Milan before relocating to Amsterdam and joining argodesign. Her journey started with branding and a background in communication arts before expanding into digital design. She enjoys crafting and being an amateur photographer and full-time explorer.
How do you Think by Making?
Think with your hands: work is never finished if it is only in your head. I always have to sketch, or draw things out to see how they could work or be improved. With digital design, being hands-on in this way may not seem the most obvious choice, and experimenting with new tools, techniques and technologies allows to express it out and bring the bigger picture, using different elements like size, colour, material, etc. Start with pen and paper, then digitize.
What’s one of the gnarliest design problems you’ve ever solved?
A design project that sounded simple — and should have been simple — quickly became a lot more complicated because assets were missing. What should have been a straightforward ask ended up forcing us to reverse engineer and redo large parts of past designs that the client was actually trying to move away from… because it contained the assets we needed. By doing that we also learned more and got some ideas about things that were working well, or not so well.
What’s your current obsession?
I like to make DIY greeting cards, turning recycled materials into unique and valuable work by reusing some nice papers from magazines and posters. Each card is an exploration for my imagination and feeling, as I experiment with different shapes, textures, and techniques. Knowing that each card took time to make adds an extra touch of thoughtfulness, making them special gifts, especially when we live far away from each other.
If you could remove one word from the design dictionary, what would it be?
The word ‘wrong’ because I appreciate the mindset that there are many valid approaches to a design problem. Designers should stay open to solving their problems in different ways, even when they think the way they are doing it is the right one because it has worked in the past. Besides, as a designer who has experienced multiple cultures, I understand that design plays a sensitive role in interpreting messages for diverse audiences. What may seem right or wrong to one person can mean something different to another.
Who is your design hero? Why?
My design hero is Bruno Munari, an iconic Italian designer of the 20th century. He contributed to multiple creative fields, as an artist, designer, and inventor. When I started my Master studies in Milan, references to Munari came up frequently, and his work and books influenced me while I was still shaping my mind as a designer. His philosophy about simplicity, functionality, and accessibility in design aligns with my values and beliefs about creating meaningful and impactful work.
