PMKFA Design based in Tokyo

PMKFA, aka Michael Thorsby, is a young Swede residing in Tokyo working on contemporary design and illustration work in numerous fields. His designs can be found in tons of magazines, books, T-shirts, accessories, album covers, and wall art. He has Been running PMKFA full time since 2005,  and co-founded It's Our Thing in 2006. Tokyo is known to cultivate edgy creative visual artists like PMKFA that always seem to be a step ahead, exactly the type trend-hunters would love to get a hold of years before their work gets filtered through the direction of ad agencies.  His career highlights so far include being in situations when he was able to explore stuff he had never experienced or tried before.  "Curiosity, positive unpredictable feelings and surprise"- I always strive for delivering to the clients what they didn't know they wanted rather than use a safe trademark style where you get what you expect".

What isIts our Thing? It's a creative outlet for me and is a collaboration with my business partner and screen printer friend in Osaka. It's a small label we've been running since 2006 and I'm trying to implement what I learn from working with other companies in the business. I'm very excited to see the reactions on the new line so go and check it out. We're trying to be the best-looking graphic-driven little label coming from Japan and I think that's what we are. We have just started a blog at www.itsourthing.net/blog where me and two Tokyo-based journalists write, a blog that focus on popular culture from less obvious angles than the norm and with a spoon more of ambition than the rest.

What are your inspirations? Challenges no doubt are the biggest inspirational force I know. I don't think inspiration is the same thing as books or magazines, it's more like a rush, a thrill that comes when you feel that you're walking uncharted ground for yourself. Graphic inspirations from the past have been LSD-related crappy art by people in the 60's, right now it's hard to say, it's very fragmented. Analogue-generated psychedelic imagery, optic manipulations etc...

What would be a dream project for you? I don't really think like that but every time I've been longing for doing a certain kind of project a project in that direction have been served to me, I'm extremely grateful.

Work you are most proud of ? "Probarious" my 2007/08 3D installation at Diesel Denim Gallery here in Tokyo. A clothing/shoe line for DC Shoes. Some of my stuff for Sixpack France, and the new direction for It's Our Thing. That's what I feel good about for the moment. Other favorite artists?

• Ai Wei Wei simply amazing
• LiekoShiga the best Japanese photographer.

Favorite websites? www.itsourthing.net www.bbc.co.uk worldservice, btjunkie.org, www.sr.se/p1

Plans for 2009? Get It's Our Thing out more, deepen my collaboration with Sixpack France with whom I'm releasing a book, maybe exhibition, a big visual identity for a DNA-research company, work for a popular science museum in Tokyo and hopefully there's some time left for updating www.pmkfa.com