Interviews with Tsutomu Tojo

In all my design work, I get inspiration from the Japanese “Zen Spirit”.

Zen style design is characterized by simple, elegant and powerful message.

I focused on firmly communicating the goodness of Yamagata to travelers visiting Japan from overseas.

Many of the users who viewed this site would like to visit Yamagata during their trip to Japan.

In a few years, I'll suggest clients to renew their website.

Good design is universal, but it's still a bad idea to ignore trends.

I decided the concept in about a week while communicating with the clients.

I designed it at the request of a company.

It is a design that realizes the client's desire to convey the charm of a traditional Japanese hotel with a history of 300 years to people all over the world.

Since my award-winning work is a website, no special manufacturing process is required, but all copyrights are transferred to the client.

Of course, the client's permission is fully obtained upon entry.

I wanted you to know the charm of Yamagata city, and created this design to maximize it.

Since this is a website for tourists, I decided to use this design because I think it is more appealing to use large photographs rather than posting many detailed explanations.

No designers were influenced by the design of this website.

Instead of the existing design, the design focuses on the psychology and behavior of the user.

No designers were influenced by the design of this website.

Instead of the existing design, the design focuses on the psychology and behavior of the user.

When appealing to the world, the local area alone is trying to appeal, so we have considered the surrounding area as one piece of content.

When we hear Japan, many people imagine Tokyo or Kyoto. That's not a mistake, but the true Japaneseness can be seen in a small town without a name.

Another Japan that is different from Japan that everyone knows. That is "Another Japan".

I used Adobe products such as Photoshop and Illustrator and the code editor "Coda".

It is not just about advertising by one company, but about the appeal of the entire area.

This is a technique called "Shakkei(borrowing scenery)" used in Japanese gardens, and I incorporated it into my website.

In most cases, I do all the projects alone. So is this project.

For websites, everything is a gift of technology.

Hurray for technology!!!!

I studied behavioral psychology of overseas travelers visiting Japan and economic activities based on it.

To that end, we conducted interviews with more than a dozen travelers and analyzed the information obtained from them.

Targeting travelers from various countries such as the United States, Europe, and Asia, it was very difficult to design each preference into the greatest common denominator.

I was recommended by the secretariat and decided to apply.

In the past, I often created targeted designs, but this time I learned how to extract the greatest common divisor of designs that people around the world like and challenged myself. I feel it worked.

Japanese culture is a culture that values the attention to detail. It is a very important element for design. Born and raised in Japan, I have acquired a sense of nature and attention to detail. I think that is my personality as a designer.

I am grateful to my hometown of Japan and its culture.

I dropped out of college.

After all, I started working for a design company and learned design.

I don't remember how I became a designer. Maybe I think it was a natural process to become a designer.

I wanted to become a designer. And it was a natural process.

Focusing on corporate and regional branding and website design, we do various designs to convey the appeal of clients, such as brochures, posters, video works, and logos.

Just move it!

I first look at how to get the margins.

Good design comes with calculated margins.

Good design exists to convey the goodness of a company, product, or service.

That's great value for everyone.

Good design conveys the appeal of a company or product rather than asserting itself.

If I have the time and opportunity, I want to design a whole small town.

It would be great if we could design everything such as houses, stores, landscapes, infrastructure, and welfare.

Japanese Zen mind.

I respect Japanese designer Taku Sato.

I really like the “XYLITOL" gum packaging design.

The package conveys all of the product.

The color of the package lets you imagine the taste, the mark tells you that it is a good product for your teeth, and the product name is very easy to understand.

I feel that it is one of the completed designs.

This is the website of "Another Japan Yamagata" which won the A'Design Award Bronze.

This site is a website created for travelers from overseas at the request of a client (a Japanese hotel group company).

It is the best example of success that was able to fulfill the client's wish by winning the award at the award outside Japan and getting attention.

I can't imagine that.

In commercial design, design is to convey.

I did a lots and lots and lots of design work.

And I did lots and lots and lots of thinking for design.

Until now, I used to work in Japan, so it would be best if I could work in various countries around the world!

Now I'm working on a video. I plan to open a channel on youtube soon.

I think that more parts will be left to AI.

By letting AI take care of our designers, they can spend their time thinking about a really easy-to-use UI.

I will interview the client first when the project starts.

I can't even think of a concept without knowing the thoughts and feelings of the client.

Don't add unnecessary things, Don't omit necessary things.

Always natural. This is the Japanese Zen philosophy.

Design sets the trends first, then trends set the designs.

In other words, pioneers are always great.

I read "Daniel Kahneman Thinking, Fast and Slow" over and over again.

This book contains much of the essential knowledge of design, such as cognitive psychology and behavioral economics.

Jimi Hendrix!!! and Sen no rikyu.

Sen no rikiyu is a famous tea master during the Azuchi-momoyama period, who invented Wabi-cha,” which became the origin of modern tea ceremony.

It is the origin of all Japanese culture.

It's a great honor to be recognized, but it's just one indicator.

And being recognized is a result, not a goal in itself.

I don't remember how I became a designer. Maybe I think it was a natural process to become a designer.

ZICCA Design is a Japanese design firm.

It incorporates the Japanese philosophy of Zen into its design and conveys a simple and powerful message to the user.

Then, focusing on corporate and regional branding and website design, we do various designs to convey the appeal of clients, such as brochures, posters, video works, and logos.

For me, design is everything I need.

I like the simple, easy-to-understand message design.

I really like the gum “XYLITOL" gum packaging design.

The package conveys all of the product.

The color of the package lets you imagine the taste, the mark tells you that it is a good product for your teeth, and the product name is very easy to understand.

I feel that it is one of the completed designs.

I always think that the design is natural.

Do you really need the picture?

Is the decoration really needed?

If you ignore these and design, it will be very unnatural and bad design.

Basically, I ignore my emotions during design.

In many cases, I become a user and think about how I feel when I look at a design.

I think it is necessary to succeed in thinking thoroughly.

It's important to think deeply about what the user wants, whether it's the design they are happy with or not.

I first look at how to get the margins.

Good design comes with calculated margins.

I think that more parts will be left to AI.

By letting AI take care of our designers, they can spend their time thinking about a really easy-to-use UI.

In all my design work, I get inspiration from the Japanese “Zen Spirit”.

Also, various Zen-influenced Japanese cultures are very creative, profound and a source of my inspiration.

My design style is "Zen style design".

The Japanese Zen philosophy is incorporated into the design to convey a simple, elegant and powerful message to the user.

I live in Japan. Japanese culture is a culture that values the attention to detail. It is a very important element for design. Born and raised in Japan, I have acquired a sense of nature and attention to detail. I think that is my personality as a designer.

I am grateful to my hometown of Japan and its culture.

Tell me what you think.

From there, the designer finds the essence and puts together the main points.

And it's best to let the designer completely decide how to convey it.

We are professionals who have been practicing and practicing for years what they feel when they see them.

Incorporating client preferences in design is not a good idea.

I think there is no doubt about choosing a good designer by choosing a designer who has won the A'Design Award.

Just move it!

The negatives of being a designer is that you can't help but worry about the kerning on the street signs.

On the positives side, we won the A'Design Award!

Skills of listening to the client and seeing the essence are important.

I mainly use Adobe products.

I also read "Daniel Kahneman Thinking, Fast and Slow" over and over again.

I will strictly adhere to the deadline, and will not manage the time very carefully.

Companies and public bodies and etc..

There are relatively many clients related to tourism.

Until now, I used to work in Japan, so it would be best if I could work in various countries around the world!

In most cases I design by myself.

Please contact me from the contact form on my website.