Designer and creator of eco friendly aesthetics
View(s):In an age where eco friendly design is all the rage, we meet 25 year old Jithmi Wijesinghe, an artiste stepping away from conventional designs while incoporating the environment around her to represent her work in a very unique way. Not only is it eye catching the pieces are also elegantly finished, making it stand out.
Jithmie with some of her creations. Pic by Pankaji Wijesinghe
A proud Heartian from Sacred Heart Convent Galle, Jithmi is currently waiting to graduate from the Department of Integrated Design, University of Moratuwa.She currently handles two FB design pages, Designator and Lomodor.
Even from her school days, Jithmi says she had a very different way of looking at the world. Her school fortunately recognized that and showed her how important her way of thinking is and encouraged her to develop those skills.
Her hunger to experiment with new things and to create something never seen before made her end up following a degree in Integrated Design at the University of Moratuwa, specializing in product design. Jithmi emphasized that her university education guided her to the right creative process.
However, it took some self reflection to decide to become an independent designer, and Jithmi was not sure of her family’s reaction. Looking back, however, she says that her family’s reaction was more positive than she thought it would be.
“They are very supportive and they inspire me in countless ways. I have to give special credit to my family for always being there with me,” she says.
Combining design forces with Chalana Thilakarathna, who specialized in the same field as she, they develope the two brands Designator and Lomodor.
The word designator was created out of the concepts of combinging design and creators. And thus they created a word of their own – ‘Designator.’
Lomodor was born out of the concept ‘let me do right’ and combining it with the turtle shell logo, showcases their passion.
In fact, the start of Designator was a portrait she did. Seeing it as something unique and original, she continued with it. And so ‘Designator’ was created, to make handmade portraits using three different techniques, paper collage, bead collages and string arts. But as of now, Jithmi is planning to introduce other techniques as well.
Coconut shell planters. Pix courtesy Jithmi Wijesinghe
Lomodor, her other venture, essentially deals with ornamental items. It aims to fulfill a needs in an eco-friendly manner. Lomodor products are created by waste matter using the technique of up-cycle to create but to also preserve in terms of the environment. The duo have also started making handmade journals, which have caught the attention of many.
Jithmi is inspired by anything and everything unique and original. “Almost everything in our environment inspires us,” she said. “It evokes the designers in us and leads us to create things original and unique. As we are not fans of copying another’s designs, we always come up with our own original ideas. But at the end when you see the final result of your effort, you see those sleepless nights are totally worth it.”
So far her business has been gaining a lot of traction, Jithmi says. Thanks to new customers coming in, she is actually busy a lot of the time now.
“I was able to come this far only because of the support given by each and every teacher who has schooled me from my childhood till today and my University lecturers. My customers and followers have motivated me to create new designs and supported me. Even though I can’t mention each and every one, I am thankful to all of them who have supported me one way or another.”
To learn more about Jithmi’s work, you can visit her pages Designator and Lomodor
- Facebook – Designator
- Instagram – designator
- Facebook – Lomodor
- Instagram – l_o_m_o_d_o_r
(Paramie Jayakody)
String art
A personalised handmade journal
A collage of Sri Lanka’s iconic Gini Raksha created using food wrappers