Midori Yamazaki

Creative Director / Artist / Researcher. Graduated From London Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design / MA Communication Design and worked at DLX Design Lab, the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo. Specialized in art and design with multimedia. As for a career background, took the role of Creative Director at adidas, NIKE, former Facebook, Condé Nast, and representative of Out of Blue Inc. Won multiple awards including Design Space Associate Award, Art Directors Club Award, NY Art Directors Club Award, and Type Directors Club Award.

Out of Blue is a creative lab that maximizes the power of art and design with research to give you unexpected views. Out of Blue is active in major aesthetic fields, such as communication design Including digital, graphic, and space design, branding, and experimental one-off artwork. It distinguishes itself by a unique methodology drawn from a wide range of experiences.

I am interested in Aesthetics in design. Since I have been designing for mass media, I would like to be able to create beauty as the greatest common denominator, in other words, beauty that everyone finds beautiful and that is universal.　In order to do so, I became interested in what makes people feel beautiful. To be more specific, I am interested in the Golden Rule, fractals, fluid dynamics, etc., which formalize the laws of nature. For example, as a surfer, there is a physical reason for the shape of the waves that I am interested in, and it can be expressed in mathematical formulas. This is the main reason why I am studying programming. The ability to program = the ability to understand and apply. I believe that this opens up new possibilities. I feel that there are relatively many digital creators with engineering backgrounds, but I am interested in what can be done if designers, who have the methodology to create beautiful things in the first place, can interpret programs.

My work ranges from graphics to space and installation and is said to be innovative, but the source of this image is various things that I consider "aesthetically pleasing". I believe that human beings are very simple in theory, and I think it is important to express what I simply feel is "aesthetically pleasing", and to integrate that into communication.

In fact, the very beginning of my career was in fashion. My first memorable experience was creating the pattern for a Burberry coat from scratch, which had over 100 parts.

What I am trying to do these days is to combine elements of design and science. I am challenging myself to use the latest technology to create designs that have never been seen before.

Does it create new value? Is it universal? Is it unique? And does the audience feel the aesthetics?

I believe that design with a creative process is the key to success.

When I judge a design, I focus on two things: whether it is memorable and whether it can make people feel good.

I believe that the role of a designer to society is to be a visionary. I believe that by visualizing and sharing a positive vision for the future, we can make it a reality.

I had a digital exhibition and presentation at SIGGRAPH 2024, the world's largest academic conference on computer graphics and interactive technologies lately.

I am interested in Aesthetics in design. To be more specific, I am interested in the Golden Rule, fractals, fluid dynamics, etc., which formalize the laws of nature. This is the main reason why I am studying programming.

I want to be able to create universal beauty that anyone can find beautiful, and for that reason, I started to become interested in what makes people aesthetically pleasing.

I live in Tokyo, Japan. Japan has four seasons, and I think Japanese people are very sensitive to the beauty of nature, and I feel that my design is influenced by that.

I choose the appropriate way depending on the job, but I try to maintain good relationships.

I try to allow the imagination to flow freely and allow for a more creative process.

A pencil that I sharpened to your desired shape. A scrapbook of myfavorite designs. Design-related books that I have bought in various countries. A desk and chair that I designed and customized myself. A perfume that changes my mood.

Being able to judge the quality of the designs you have created, in other words, learning standards for judging design, is an effective way to improve your design skills.

Being a designer has really broadened my world. There aren't many negative aspects to it. If I had to say one thing negative, it would be that it keeps me busy.

I think the most important thing is to become skilled in the coordination of imagination and action. I believe that good design can be achieved when the brain and hands are smoothly connected.

I collect things that catch my eye every day, so I don't have anything in particular in mind.

I accept that design can be a very time-consuming task at times, and I don't try to control it too much because it becomes stressful.

It really depends on the work situation. I've created an award-winning design in three hours, and I've also had projects where I spent 10 years creating the production environment.

I enjoy doing design work that I have never experienced before. This is because there is so much potential to create new designs.

I am currently creating an art installation using the laws of nature, which I am currently researching, and I would like to actually exhibit it.

Sometimes I work in a team and other times I develop designs myself. Each has its advantages.

If you have any inquiries to me, please send me an email (info@out-of-blue.com).

Creative Director / Artist / Researcher. Graduated From London Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design / MA Communication Design and worked at DLX Design Lab, the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo. Specialized in Communication Design Including Digital, Graphic, and Space Design. As for a career background, took the role of Creative Director at adidas, NIKE, Facebook, Condé Nast, and Won multiple awards including Design Space Associate Award, Art Directors Club Award, NY Art Directors Club Award, and Type Directors Club Award.

I used to make clothes for famous brands such as Burberry and COMME des GARÇONSs, but I began to want to not only create high-quality products, but also increase sales through brand marketing, which led to my current job as a designer.

At first I was forced to choose a completely different profession, but I chose to become a designer. It wasn't a natural decision, it took willpower.

I am interested in the algorithms that lead to the aesthetics, so I would like to create more related work.

I want to create a life-size version of the perfect wave I designed in my award-winning work "Waiting for the Wave in Metaverse".

Nick Knight, Rei Kawakubo, Kaoru Kasai, FIELD, Gaudi, etc. And I think I am most influenced by nature.

My goal is to work with photographer Nick Knight. He uses the latest technology to create his own unique worldview and has a major impact on the world.

Being able to judge the quality of the designs you have created, in other words, learning standards for judging design, is an effective way to improve your design skills.

I have learned so much from everyone I have met, both good and bad, and I believe that has shaped me into who I am.