what is your idea of perfect design happiness? HAVING A WHOLE DAY IN MY STUDIO WITHOUT ANY INTERRUPTIONS.
what is your greatest fear in design? HAVING TOO MANY MEETINGS.
which historical design figure do you most identify with? POPOVA THE RUSSIAN PAINTER ( 1889-1924 ) HAS BEEN A MENTOR FOR ME SINCE THE AGE OF 17 YRS OLD.
which living designer do you most admire? ARCHITECT LUIS BARRAGAN AND LANDSCAPE GARDENER FERNANDO CARUNCHO.
what profession other than design would you like to attempt? TOO LATE NOW BUT A DANCER OR PIANO PLAYER.
what is your greatest design extravagance? PRINTING ON A £500 A METER CASHMERE THEN BOILING IT TO MAKE IT SHRINK TO SEE WHAT THE EFFECT WOULD BE.
when and where were you happiest with your design? AT THE MOMENT I CRACK THE REPEAT PARTICULARLY WITH WALLPAPER.
what do you consider your greatest achievement in design? THAT I AM STILL AT IT 30 YRS LATER.
if you died and came back as another designer or design object, who or what do you think it would be? CONCORDE.
what specific design related talent are you lacking that you would you most like to have? TO BE ABLE TO DRAW AND PAINT LIKE THE MARIA GARTHWAITE AND JAMES LEMAN BOTH LATE 17TH EARLY 18TH SPITALFIELD LONDON TEXTILE DESIGNERS.
what is your most treasured design related possession? MY SKETCHBOOKS.
what do you regard as the lowest depths of misery in design? CONFORMING.
what curse word do you most frequently use? BLOODY HELL.
what is your favorite design related word? ELEGANT.
what is your least favorite design related word? COOL / TRENDY /SEXY.
what turns you on in design? A NEW ANGLE THAT IS BEAUTIFUL.
what turns you off in design? TRYING TO BE TOO CLEVER AND BAD DRAWING.
what is your motto in design? KEEP IT FRESH AND EVERY LITTLE PART HAS TO BE BEAUTIFUL.
// IMAGE CREDITS | All images provided by Neisha Crosland. Portrait of Neisha taken by Kristin Peres.
ABOUT PROUST ON DESIGN | Answered by our design icons, these must-ask questions come from a 19th century parlor game made popular by Marcel Proust, the French novelist, essayist & critic. Proust believed the direct questions and honest responses that they elicited revealed the true nature of the individual. For this column, we have put a design related spin on the traditional questions. While this method has been used by many journalists throughout the years, we were primarily inspired by The Proust Questionnaire, which appears monthly on the back page of one of our all time favorite magazines, Vanity Fair (also Krista’s alma mater). Read all of the previous Proust on Design questionnaires here.