Yota being interviewed after his dolls were announced as the winning designs.

How did you begin exploring your ideas for your Momiji dolls? Food is always my first interest, not matter what the subject is. That is where my idea started so I thought it'd be great if I can combine food and British culture together. As a result, I came up with the theme 'Afternoon Tea'. And that's the birth of Dippy-D, Cuppa-T and Bakey-C

What’s your usual way of working; do you sketch first or immediately create digital files? I'm a pretty old-school person so, I made lots and lots of sketches. I believe that if we initiated them from digital it'd not came out like this. 

What was your favourite part of the design process? Definitely the sketch part cause that is when I can think and play with my ideas the most. 

Tell us about your workspace. Do you design in a specific place or do you find it easy to work anywhere? Before I had my own place I was better at sketching outside. Now everything is mainly created on my working desk. 

Tell us about a typical work day. Wake up at 8-9am, watering some plants and herbs in my tiny terrace garden. Have some quick breakfast, check email, facebook then start to work until midday. After that I grab some lunch and I continue on working til 5 or 6pm then go to swim or work out at the gym. Then have some dinner and start to work again until late night if there are things to get done. If not, I will fix some drinks and enjoy my movie night. 

What would you say are the most important characteristics for anyone wanting to work in design? Enthusiastic in many ways, not just about design but life, lifestyle, music, film, food that is where you can learn something from or initiate some idea of. 

In the movie of your life which song would be the title track on the soundtrack? My favourite track changes every 6 months but for now I think ‘Voxtrot - The Start of Something’ is played the most on my iPod 

In the kitchen, what’s your speciality dish? Nicely set and slightly runny scrambled eggs  ;)

If you could live in any other city in the world where would you choose and why? Recently, I had quite a long trip to New York and I think it is the one of my new favourite city. It has many things to offer, you can find anything from posh burger in the michelin restaurants to gyro in the food truck. Basically, it's just like London in many ways only cheaper.

Friday nights or Sunday mornings? Can I say Saturday mornings? I am not a party person myself and when it comes to Saturday mornings I feel like it is the perfect day-off and you can do anything you want and there is still another daybreak left.

Who are your design heroes?Plenty and not always relate to only graphic design discipline. People likes Naoto Fukusawa, Jasper Morrison, Martin Margiela, SANAA, Rem Koolhaas and much more — they always amuse me with their creations.

What are your favourite magazines? Most of my favourites are food magazines such as The Gourmand, Gather, Alla Carta, Swallow, Bon Appetit.

Thanks, Yota!