Based in Chicago but originally from Bangkok, Thailand, Alissa Touranachun approaches her creative 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 design background, her work observes the interactions between materiality, user, and their context. With an emphasis on objects’ sensorial engagement, she believes entrancing connections between an object and its user can be formed by balancing utility and emotional expression. This includes humor, nostalgia, and sometimes childlike narratives in her work. 

With 5+ years of professional experience as an industrial designer at multiple design studios, her responsibilities range from user and market research to concept development, design, sourcing and material specification, prototype, and fabrication.

In her own practice -- natural materials (wood, ceramic, paper, etc.) are often combined with industrial-made fixtures and found objects. Leveraging material manipulation to create subtle designs with unexpected physical and/or emotional engagement. By incorporating mass-production techniques into her hand-driven process, her work appears machine-like yet exudes warmth.



CV


2024-Present
* Design Assistant at Norman Teague Design Studios (NTDS)
* Contract fabricator at AllKinds Studio

2023
* Teaching Assistant at UIC School of Design (Design Drawing)
* Graduate Design Researcher at UIC Innovation Center
* 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


2025
* Solo display at Chicago Rebuilding Exchange’s featured maker program
* Exhibit an donated The Disposable to Art is Action Chicago fundraiser

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