For Atlanta-based designer Mimi Tin, the Sushi Style and Sushiami lines are the culmination of a lifetime of artistic passion. Inventing and creating from the earliest age, Mimi is no stranger to pushing the design limits to realize her visions. Born in Burma, Mimi came to the U.S. with her family in search of freedom. Although she was only a young child, Mimi did find freedom – the freedom to use her imagination. Raised on the romantic stories from her mother’s impressive upbringing in Burma – the stories of how she could describe a dress to a seamstress and have it perfectly created – Mimi was taught that anything was possible. As a young child, Mimi relied on her imagination and natural curiosity to discover her new environment. Manufactured toys were not a luxury as she began her new life, so Mimi began to transform ordinary paper towel rolls into doll furniture, colorful pieces of paper into one-of-a-kind doll dresses and cardboard boxes into an array of imaginative toys.
Mimi’s creativity was boundless. Her artistic abilities were noted and nurtured in school, and she was granted a Fine Arts Scholarship to Carson-Newman College in Tennessee. Her desire to learn more about graphic design was insatiable, and she went on to pursue a degree in Design at the Portfolio Center in Atlanta.
In her final year at the Portfolio Center, Mimi’s love of furniture design was reignited when she was assigned a project to create a chair inspired by the Pop Art Movement. With stylized furniture on her mind, a meal of sushi quickly evolved into a wooden bench with sushi-shaped cushions – the prototype for her line of high-end functional ottomans. Thus Sushi Style was born, and is now comprised of three collections, including the Sushiami line which features playful ottoman “poufs” and two easily lovable plush dolls for the young at heart.
For the past nine years, Mimi has shared her love and enthusiasm for graphic design by teaching at the Portfolio Center, and is currently teaching Olympic Branding and Retail Branding. For seven years now, she has owned and operated Mimi Tin Design, her own graphic design company, and thrives on the challenging projects that inspire herself and her clients. Mimi’s graphic design career is multi-faceted as she works in all areas from identity creation to implementation. Her client roster is impressive and has included work with The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Airlines, Samsung Electronics, Sydney Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (SOCOG), Sony Corporation, Chick-fil-A and more.
Mimi currently volunteers with the International Rescue Committee in Atlanta and hopes to one day fund an organization to help Burmese immigrants living in the United States.
