The Feeling I Had Almost Forgotten

Since the beginning of NiiNu, taking part in design markets has been one of my goals.

Over the years, I have joined several design markets, and each one still fills me with excitement.

There is something special about seeing people touch the pieces in person, sharing conversations, and witnessing their reactions firsthand.

It is a kind of experience that cannot be found online.

Although I have worked as a designer for many years, there was one thing I did not expect when I started NiiNu.

I became far more emotionally attached to my work than I had imagined.

Perhaps it is because every part of it begins with me.

Drawing the prints.

Developing the shapes.

Making each piece by hand, one at a time.

Looking back, I spent many years creating designs with the goal of selling.

Of course, I always loved design.

But somewhere along the way, the pure excitement I felt when I first became a designer—the joy of bringing something new into the world—may have quietly faded.

Since starting NiiNu, that feeling has slowly returned.

At my first design market, people stopped by and said things like,

"Beautiful."

"I really love your work."

Simple words, yet they moved me more deeply than I expected.

I felt almost overwhelmed with happiness.

It surprised me.

I had forgotten that I was still capable of feeling such genuine joy.

A design market is a place where products are sold.

But for me, it has become something more than that.

It is a place where I meet the people on the other side of my work.

A place where conversations begin.

A place where I discover that something I created has found its way into someone else's heart.

And perhaps most importantly, it is a place that reminds me of a feeling I had almost forgotten.

Tomorrow, I will return there once again.