We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Yuki Ijichi ("YI").
Yuki Ijichi works on a variety of design projects under the trade name Zero Hours Design Studio. From space design and product design to branding, graphic design, and web design, he designs across mediums to meet the challenges of his clients. At Zero Hours Design Studio, he captures the unique characteristics of his clients and matches them with their social context and needs to propose designs that solve their problems. The studio also features designs that take into account cultural context in order to create more sustainable value.
Yuki Ijichi Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Yuki Ijichi.
Yuki Ijichi Design - Chinza No Manma Ao Architecture
Designer Interview of Yuki Ijichi:
DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
YI : I have always loved making things with my hands. With this background, I was inspired to become a designer when I saw a TV program when I was a student that showed a designer working with craftsmen at a local factory to create something and then using that design to break out into the world.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
YI : Zero Hours Design Studio designs in all media, including graphics, products, and spaces, and we transcend genres in order to find the best solutions to our clients' challenges.
DI: What is "design" for you?
YI : I think it is about solving problems, connecting smoothly to people and society, and making changes without stress for the better.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
YI : I like to design not just a form, but to rethink it in terms of meaning and concept, and to design it in such a way that it can be experienced.
DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
YI : My favorite design is a work in which I redesigned the traditional Kagoshima sake cup "Kurojyoka" from my hometown, Kagoshima, to fit the modern age. Knowing the background of how it has remained as a tradition, finding the points where it diverged from the modern living environment, and designing objects with consideration of the mechanisms that would make it a modern craft, was an opportunity for me to find my own design style.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
YI : Tea utensils
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
YI : These are the natural materials used in crafts (wood, lacquer, ceramics, metal, dyeing, etc.) and the handcraft techniques of the artisans who work with them.
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
YI : I feel most creative when they become things that allow you to experience their worldview and message, rather than just explain it.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
YI : Emphasis will be placed on delving into the background of human, social, and cultural illiteracy.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
YI : We try to flatten the emotion as much as possible with a deep sinking image. Then, depending on the project, become one with the target user's emotions and look for design clues.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
YI : Along with a sense of accomplishment, we also feel a sense of tension as we stand on the starting line to market.
DI: What makes a design successful?
YI : I think what makes a design successful is that it digs down to the root of things, and from there the consistency is worked down to the object.
DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
YI : Consider whether the expression of the object is consistent with the concept, purpose, etc.
DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
YI : We plan to dig into the culture of life nurtured in the land and initiate a project to update the concept to meet the needs of the modern age.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
YI : I work by myself in developing designs.
DI: How can people contact you?
YI : I can be reached via my email (info@0hoursdesignstudio.com).