Hey Steemit! Introducing Myself to the Platform. Nice to meet you all!

Hello fellow Steem members! 🙂

After using this platform for a month or so I wanted to introduce myself and give you some background in to my work and life. Hopefully it's not too long and boring for you all! haha

My names Mark Robinson and I'm a 28 year old currently living just outside of Cambridge in the UK. At the age of 20 I started a website at the189.com that was originally a blog showcasing interesting modern design from around the web. It was a side project at the time, as I was studying to be a Graphic Designer, but as soon as the course finished I knew I wanted to continue with this project and commit to it on a full time basis.

Luckily I had a small following on my website and I decided to open up an online shop that would compliment the blog, this is now located at shop.the189.com and is still running to this day. The idea being to sell a curated selection of functional design that was inspired by "Super Normal", an exhibition by Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa that originally took place in Tokyo. With a limited amount of funds I started small, connecting with craftsmen who make these handmade functional products and representing them in my online shop. My interest is still rooted in the fields of craft and design how it can still can help the modern world, both aesthetically and in a functional sense.

Japan has certainly inspired many modernist and contemporary designers throughout time, so I felt a strong inclination to support the different craftsmen and at the same time found a niche in representing them here in Europe due to their difficulty speaking English or lacking connections here in the West.

Since 2015 I have been studying Japanese to interact with the makers, I also try to visit Japan each year and meet them face to face, which is very important in Japan and is one of the reasons why quite a few of the posts here on Steemit will be about my travels in Japan. I’m still not fluent in Japanese but I study everyday and it’s a fantastic journey to say the least. Not only has learning a language opened up my business up to a number of new opportunities, it has also helped me as a person to learn about different cultures and understand and connect with people in a more dynamically.

Around the same time as when I started learning Japanese I took up the hobby of making pottery at a local studio. After studying under a local potter in the evenings I built a small studio and now sell a small selection online. It’s still a side project but I hope to pursue it full time in the future.

Living a creative lifestyle is all I’ve ever wanted, having freedom and the ability to write, draw, make and connect with others in this realm. Besides my own areas online that I’ve created for myself I’m glad to have found a website like this where I can respond to comments and feel part of a community. I hope to offer more interesting content for you and showcase my progression in the fields of art, craft and design, as well as my exploits in various countries around the world. Hopefully you will come along for the ride? 😌

P.S. I’m new here on Steemit so any advice is really appreciated. I wanted to show a few photos of my face but I tend to be the one taking the photos rather than being the model. 😅 haha Here are a mixture from the last few years, the ones of me making on the pottery wheel being the most recent. Have a great day and I hope to interact with you all in the comments!