Currently based in Chicago but originally from Bangkok, Thailand, Alissa Touranachun approaches her design practice with curiosity and interest in ubiquitous narratives. Mundane encounters like the shape of fruits, the shifting shadow. Or the texture of something in her palm inspired her designs.





Informed by her human-centered training, her work observes the interactions between objects’ materialities, users, and the contexts. With emphasis on objects’ sensorial engagement, she believes delightful connections between an object and its user can be formed by balancing utility and emotional expression. This includes the use of humor, nostalgia, and sometimes childlike narrative in her work.  She often combines natural materials (wood, ceramics, paper, fabrics, etc.) with industrial-made fixtures and found objects, leveraging material manipulation and handcrafted methods to create subtle designs with surprising physical properties.

Professionally, she utilize her design research skills, including user observation, in-depth interviews, and market research, to generate insightful design opportunities for custom-made furniture, medical devices, and home-use appliances. With 5+ years of experience working in a design studio environment, She is proficient in communication, collaboration, and prioritizing tasks according to the project goal.

Her responsibilities range from research, concept development, design, coordination, prototype, and fabrication. Typical methods of making include rapid prototypes, CAD modelings and renders, CAD-led fabrication (3D printing, Laser-cutting, CNC), woodworking, and ceramics.



CV

2024-Now

Design Assistant at Norman Teague Design Studios (NTDS)

Fabricator at AllKinds Studio

2023-2024

Graduate Design Researcher at UIC Innovation Center

2023

Teaching Assistant at UIC School of Design (Design Drawing)

Design Internship at Norman Teague Design Studios (NTDS)

2022

Student coordinator for UIC Public Design Seminar Series

2019-2022

Designer at Glo Design International

2019

Jr. Product Designer at Orbit Design Studio

2017

Toy Design Internship at PlanToys



Education

2024

MDES in Industrial Design at University of Illinios Chicago

2019

BFA in Industrial Design at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi



Awards / Exhibitions / Events

2024

UIC Board of Trustees Waiver for Academic Performance

Thesis project exhibition at UIC Year End Show

2023

UIC Board of Trustees Fellowship Waiver

Bangkok’s Strange Tools exhibition at Bangkok Design Week (Bangkok, Thailand)

Plastic Ooooh! at Good Chaos (Chicago, USA)

TXATXA’s Shelf Life, curated by Studio Herron under NTDS (Chicago, USA) 


2019 (BFA)

First-Class Honors

Blue Cheese Graduation Show at Siam Center (Bangkok, Thailand)


2015-2019 (BFA)

Petch Prajom Klao Academic Excellency Scholarship