Designer and founder · London · Japan
Tom
Vining
I design and build products where software meets the physical world. Co-founder of More Air and Auwa. Formerly Head of Experience Design at Nokia.
- 20+years in design, at leading agencies in London and Tokyo, and then at Nokia
- 16years running More Air, the London studio Rieko and I founded in 2009
- 8design awards, from iF and Red Dot to IDSA Gold, for work with Nokia and Ford
- 3ventures: a design studio, a Japanese IP and a price index for art collectors
01In short
Beyond the screen.
For twenty years my work has sat where a screen meets something you can hold, wear, drive or live with. I've designed the software for award-winning Nokia health wearables, the interface for Ford's autonomous vehicle simulator, and the brand for a robotics company that went on to raise a $100M Series B. For nine years More Air was embedded with Nokia Design, and I later led its Experience Design team in San Francisco remotely from London.
I learned the craft inside leading design agencies in London and Tokyo, including R/GA, AKQA, Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo, Razorfish, Imagination and Publicis, before building my own studio.
Today I run More Air with my partner Rieko, and I still build most of what we design myself. AI changed how fast that happens, not who decides what good looks like. Alongside the studio we're building Auwa, Rieko's world of Japanese spirit and craft, and More Rare, a set of price indexes for collectable art.
02Now
What I'm building.
More Air
A senior, founder-led studio in London. Brand, product, websites and design systems, taken from concept to shipped code, for clients including Cobot, Gritt Robotics and Nokia. We also design AI systems: the agents, skills and context a company runs on.
moreair.coAuwa
An illustrated universe rooted in the Japanese belief that everything has Kokoro, a heart. Illustrated stories, a journal on Japanese craft and seasons, a hand-finished figure and collaborations with makers. Rieko created it; I build the world around it.
auwa.lifeMore Rare
Price indexes for collectable art, starting with Banksy: every print, what it is worth today, and every auction result since 2006, each linked back to the auction house's own record. A home for serious collectors to track what they own and follow its value over the years.
morerare.com03The thread
Digital, made physical.
Most designers spend their careers on screens or on objects. The unusual part of my history is how often the job has been both: software on a wrist, in a car, on a robot or in a kiri wood box. That is the work I'm drawn to, and where products are heading as AI moves into the physical world.
Auwa
Characters and stories, and a hand-finished figure now in production, made to order and packed in a kiri wood box. The world around them, from journal to site, is designed and built in the same studio.
ObjectsCobot and Gritt
Brand systems and websites for Cobot, the collaborative robotics company founded by Amazon's former VP of Robotics, and for Gritt Robotics in construction.
RoboticsNokia
Product and system design for Nokia's connected health range, including the Steel HR Sport watch and the Health Mate app, and the Nokia Pure design system across its enterprise platform.
WearablesFord
Lead interface design for Ford's Autonomous Vehicle Simulator, exploring trust, safety and control in self-driving cars. Earlier, instrument clusters for Ford's hybrid electric vehicles.
VehiclesTokyocube
Co-founded an online platform bringing Japanese art toys (KAWS, Blobpus) to collectors worldwide, with more than fifty merchants. Featured by the BBC and Wallpaper.
Collectables
04Japan
Two cultures, one studio.
Rieko is Japanese and I'm British, and we've worked side by side for more than sixteen years. I spent 2008 and 2009 in Tokyo, as creative director at Great Works on Audi's Japanese launches and then at Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo.
Later, More Air designed a new identity and website for Waseda Business School, part of one of Japan's leading universities, and Fujitsu, a gold partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, asked us to study the design successes of London 2012. We delivered a report in Japanese with thirty recommendations, from architecture, transport and accessibility to apps and games.
That gives us a bridge between British and Japanese ways of working, and real taste for the craft, patience and care that Japanese makers put into everyday things. It shapes everything from how we shape a brand and its voice to how we wrap and package a single object.
05Life
Life, by design.
We work a three to four day week, by choice. The rest of the time goes on what the work is for: mountain biking in Epping Forest and road rides through the week, snowboarding in Nozawa most winters, autumn in the Dolomites, and as much time in Japan as we can make each year.
The time away feeds the work. The craftsmen, materials and places we meet end up in what we make, and the studio is built to run well from wherever we happen to be, from London to a ryokan in the Japanese Alps.
06Photography
17 million views.
Photography is how I take a place in properly. Seven of my photographs from Japan and Iceland are on Unsplash, where they have been viewed more than 17 million times and downloaded over 185,000 times.
Published by Vogue, Condé Nast Traveler, Time Out, World Economic Forum.
07Path
Where I've worked.
- 2009 to nowCo-founderMore Air, LondonSenior design studio. Nokia, Sky, Fujitsu, Waseda Business School, Cobot, Gritt, Cleo AI, Auwa.
- 2019 to 2020Head of Experience DesignNokiaLed Nokia Design's XD team in San Francisco from London. Design systems and UX strategy across the enterprise platform.
- 2019Design Lead, ExperienceArrivalAppointed to define the driver experience for next-generation electric vehicles, before Nokia called.
- 2016 to 2017Design Lead, AutomotiveNative DesignInterface design for Ford's Autonomous Vehicle Simulator. IDSA Gold.
- 2013Design LeadAKQAConcepts, UI and iconography for the Nike Training Club iOS redesign.
- 2011Art DirectorSky CreativeVisual design for the Sky Movies iPad app, plus mobile and TV platforms.
- 2011HMI DesignerImaginationInstrument clusters for Ford's hybrid electric vehicles.
- 2010Creative DirectorBBC World ServiceIconography, illustration, UX and UI for the World Service website.
- 2010Design LeadPublicis, LondonConcept, UX, UI and build of the Publicis Blueprint website.
- 2008 to 2009Creative DirectorGreat Works and Wieden+Kennedy, TokyoAudi launch campaigns for Japan; a launch site for an EMI Music Japan artist.
- 2006 to 2010Co-founderTokyocube, London and TokyoJapanese art toys for collectors worldwide.
- 2005 to 2007Senior DesignerR/GA, Razorfish, MullenLowe Profero, LondonNokia N-Series, Apple, Nissan and Universal Music. Before that, the Virgin Digital website.
- EducationBSc (Hons) Multimedia DesignUniversity of WestminsterHuman-computer interaction, cognitive psychology and visual perception.
08Recognition
Awards.
- iF Design AwardNokiaPure Design System, WiFi, All-in-One
- Red Dot AwardNokiaPure Design System, Steel HR Sport
- IDSA GoldFordAutonomous Vehicle Simulator
- EPDA GoldNokiaSteel HR Sport
- Good Design AwardNokiaHealth Mate
- SiteInspireMore Air, More RareStudio and venture websites
09In their words
What people say.
“Thoughtful, intelligent, finely-tuned design is what you'll receive from Mr. Vining. And he's a very nice man, so you can't go wrong.”James HiltonCo-founder, AKQA
“The work he brings to the table is always on a high level of craft and creativity, and that combined with his relaxed and open-minded approach makes him a real pleasure to work and collaborate with.”Gui SchneiderDirector of Product Design, Threads
“He has a very precise, very graphic style, that feels fresh and modern. And he cares passionately about the quality of his work.”Anthony DaviesMD Global Design, on Tom's work at Sky
“An experienced and tested UI designer with a great eye. I would definitely recommend him for anyone looking for someone to solve design problems in the world of technology.”Erich MartinoPrincipal Design Manager, Microsoft, who managed Tom at Nokia
“One of the most creative individuals I have worked with. He has a wide range of skills including design, rich media, and full web development.”Sheraz KhanNow Senior Program Manager, Apple
“The website pushes the envelope with regard to both design and features, and sets a new standard for excellence in the world of business school websites.”Sean M. HackettStrategist and Professor, on More Air's work for Waseda Business School
10Writing
Writing on Japan.
Essays from the Auwa Journal on the makers, rituals and landscapes that Rieko and I keep returning to. Time spent with people who give their whole lives to one craft is where much of our taste comes from, and it's why we care about the details nobody asks for and build things to last.
Yaoyorozu no Kami
Eight million gods live in the world around you.
Shigefusa
On waiting a little over a year for a knife.
Nozawa Fire Festival
A village renews its bond with its guardian spirits.
The Onsen Lesson
What hot water and strangers teach about being alive.
Making Washi
Cold water, mulberry bark, a thousand-year gesture.
Oroku-gushi
Made from wood that breaks axes. Named after a girl.
Koya-san
Prayers chanted on this mountain for 1,200 years.
Narai in Snow
Four hundred years of the same street, unchanged.
Yakushima
On the island where the trees outlived history.
11Get in touch
Let's talk.
Building something real? Tell me about it.
- FoundersBuilding in AI, robotics or hardware, and wanting a design partner who ships.
- Investors and partnersInterested in Auwa, More Rare or More Air, or the founders we work with.
- JapanCompanies crossing between Japan and the UK or Europe, in either direction.
- Talks and writingOn AI-native design, the move from digital to physical, and the value of craft.