Interviews med Jisuke Matsuda

After leaving art school, I was self-taught.

I tried various things, but I only had design abilities.

I chose it myself.

Religion and fashion.

I'm not a legend, but I want to convey that people shouldn't imitate others.

Passion seeks passion, generating even more passion.

For the children of Syria, I want to think of ways they can avoid being shelled.

To express in posters something that encourages and guides children suffering from war, man-made and natural disasters.

I'm not successful so I don't know, but I value being conservative while also defying it.

Stefan Sagmeister

Ikko Tanaka's posters, "Japan" (1986). The softness and gentleness of color and form.

"Finger Prints"

Loving people, expecting from people, being heartbroken by people. But still loving people without learning my lesson.

Politician

The shape of living and the shape of having lived.

Help came from myself, my peers, and the biggest supporter was my mother who gave birth to me and luck.

I haven't become a great designer yet, but the desire to become one has been helpful.

I haven't become a design master yet, but ideas and originality.

Responding to what is presented, rather than presenting something.

Publishing that can promote and sell works of renowned Japanese figures across various genres, such as Akira Kurosawa, Haruki Murakami, and Shigeru Ban.

Creating works that can move people's hearts.

I shouldn't be esteemed by anyone, but if I am, I think it's because I'm expected to break down the identity of Asians and Japanese people.

Designs that can be understood at a glance, such as pictograms, serve as symbols that can be understood without words.

Even aside from what I'm working on, I'm always excited in my daily life.

"Create Theatre Poster" Series

In contrast to AI-generated designs, can we do the opposite using human hands?

With the increasing use of AI to create designs through programming, animation will become part of the design process, but there will also come a time when 2D, analogue and ukiyo-e prints such as those by Hokusai and Hiroshige will also be needed.

First, I write down words at random, then group the written word groups as if they were a mind map, and lay them out with emotions as the priority. The form of the words is then transformed into a form that is in line with the emotion.

My motto is to discover something in ordinary, everyday life.

Trends set the designs.

The role of a marathon pacer, assisting in design.

My software is Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop and my equipment is Mac Studio.

What breathes life into design.

Why did you create that design?

Rather than something coming to mind, the mind is uplifted and bouncy.

I don't believe it.

Takashi Akiyama

Yukio Mishima

I am not yet a master designer, but I'm on that path. I continue to absorb what resonates with me from literature, film, and music in my pursuit of mastery.

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg

It's because of competition that I am who I am today. The existence of rankings has enabled someone like me, who once had nothing, to create designs.

My favorite color is Gray, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.

My favorite place is Mitsukoshi and Isetan Department Store.

My favorite food is banana.

My favorite season is autumn.

My favorite brand is COMME des GARCONS, Maison Martin Margiela, Engineered Garments and Needles.

Humans deceive and insult each other, but design makes people gentler.

The power of feeling, that is the power of creating works.

I'm not a prophet, so I can't say for certain, but I hope for a society free from conflict.

In these times of declining population, I don't believe we're in a state of human prosperity. However, I hope that even 1000 years from now, humans will use their wisdom to avoid extinction like the dinosaurs and continue to maintain a rich and thriving world.

Jisuke Matsuda is still creating posters, and will undoubtedly continue to do so.

My inspiration came from ukiyo-e. I've always wanted to be a fine artist, so I aspired to become a fine artist within the world of design, which has strict rules.

The main focus of my design studio is split between my student's web studio and my own workshop. The theme of my workshop is "Create Theatre Poster," and I create posters for this purpose.

The shape of living and the shape of having lived.

Any kind of design

Ikko Tanaka's posters, "Japan" (1986)

Company logo

Macintosh Apple

The initial rough sketch

I don't understand emotions. My stomach hurts.

My stomach hurts.

A critical perspective.

Color and form.

Designers have no responsibilities.

To become more free.

Last year's "Create Theatre Poster," this year's "Create Theatre Poster" again.

Video, words, scenery, sound, seasons, and others.

independent

I live in Tokyo. I am influenced by Japanese cultural heritage. Like Hokusai and Hiroshige.

A fifty-fifty relationship.

Through competitions, companies can select designers suitable for their projects.

First, I lay out the individual materials presented in a mind map, consider their arrangement, and then add emotion to it.

Macbook pro, iPad, EIZO monitor, iPhone, Nintendo Switch

Wake up, clean, eat, design. Then listen to music and sleep.

Don't get buried in erudition.

Good points, attentive to detail. Bad points, attentive to detail

The usual golden ratio.

Knowledge.

Macbook pro, Adobe illustrator, Adobe Photoshop

I'm not managing it.

Why did you create such a design?

Sales experience.

Everyone who accepts me.

Color transformation. Because it's the miracle of Johannes Itten's color theory vividly occurring on a computer.

It's undecided

By myself.

The "Create Theatre Poster" project, where you can see bright, pop visuals revealing a new side of me.

A'Design. I want to feature you.

There are wars and conflicts all over the world, and both Japan and the United Kingdom have been involved in them. This participation reflects the inherent foolishness of humanity—a foolishness that, of course, includes the Japanese as well. This foolishness gives rise to sorrow. Sorrow, in this case, represents the way the rocks that people have carefully piled up can be so easily toppled by those who stand above. This is what I wanted to depict in the poster for Richard III.

I wanted to depict the sinking of a Japanese warship, a symbol of our involvement in the war, and the crumbling stones of the wall, the remnants of a foolish conflict, sinking into the beautiful sea. To achieve this, I used the embossing technique to create the ups and downs.

When attempting to convey a message, if English serves as the common language for multiple nations, then blending Japanese and English allows us to reach and be understood by more people around the world. As I mentioned before, both Japan and the UK were involved in the war, and so, for atonement and to honor those who lost their lives, the languages of both nations are significant elements in this expression.

Richard III also waged war. War itself is nonsensical—where people kill each other, seize land, and ultimately destroy what they have built. For Richard III, it was equally absurd to dismantle his own kingdom. This reflects not only the foolishness of Japan’s military leadership or Richard III himself, but also the foolishness of the people led by them. This is symbolized by the image of ruins and shattered stones returning to the sea.

The more I delve into Shakespeare, the more I see reflections of the frustrations and burdens that individuals in today’s society carry. The challenge is how to clear away some of that weight through a single poster. My approach evolved to focus not just on the technical aspects, but on making the message strikingly clear—so that the viewer can vividly remember their own shared foolishness. This clarity in the poster’s expression aims to leave a lasting impact on those who see it.

This blue color expresses Shakespeare's “blue” emotion. In Japan, a pale complexion is described as a blue face. Blue is not a simple color. It is a color that signifies complex emotions such as irritation, heightened emotions, discouragement, and melancholy.

Three versions are available: one for embossed areas, one for black ink, and a conventional four-color version. In order to create the embossed and black ink versions, complex paths had to be combined and separated, which was a very difficult task and took a lot of time here.

I’m not necessarily aiming to influence the future of performing arts advertising, but in Japan, attendance for theater, film, opera, and similar arts is declining. Because of this, I believe that if we don’t capture attention through bold, striking approaches—something glamorous, vibrant, deeply sorrowful, or wildly intense—people may stop coming to the theater. In that sense, perhaps this project serves as an experiment that leaves an impact, a stone cast into the water to spark change.

The foolishness, envy, anger, and desires of humanity are indeed quite absurd. That said, I am a very foolish person myself, and when I reflect on this, I am left with pain, fear, and a faint glimmer of hope. As I immerse myself in the works left behind by those who came before me—music, novels, films—I feel as though I’ve learned a philosophy from my self-study when I see, hear, and eventually articulate these ideas myself.

Just like with King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King, I sometimes buy records based on their covers before even listening to the music. I’m drawn to books with stunning bindings, or titles that catch my eye. The impactful visuals of artists like Billie Eilish and Ed Sheeran blend poetry and music seamlessly, incorporating elements that attract young audiences. From this perspective, I aimed to create a poster design that uses a mix of distorted and emotionally resonant typefaces to create an expression that bursts with emotion.