Interview with Masaki Hirokawa
Masaki Hirokawa is a Japanese multidisciplinary artist, UI/UX designer, and app developer whose practice spans visual art, digital media, and interactive technology.
Designer Interview
1 October 2021
I lost my beloved grandfather when I was 16 years old, and I found myself designing on the anniversary of his death. My grandfather was a palace carpenter. After that, I became interested in programming and made interactive movies, but in 2019, I went back to my roots and started pursuing graphic art expression. It's been 24 years since I was 16 years old, but I'm starting to regain the feeling I had when I was younger.
I have been developing applications for smartphones as a sole proprietorship for the past 8 years. I resumed graphic production in 2019. Currently, I have released a total of 8 iPhone/Android apps, with a total of over 20 million downloads. I pay sales tax to the government, and I am considering incorporating our company in the next fiscal year.
To manipulate a person's eyes. Nowadays, it means to manipulate a person's fingers. In short, it is reading people's minds. Design is done with the mind.
I am fascinated by Surrealist art. Modern science has already proven the extra dimension, and is closing in on those arts. I believe that the time has come for art, science and religion to be integrated.
I like Leonor Fini's paintings best. I admire her for leaving the Surrealist art movement and establishing her own art.
I started my own business and delivered web design when I was 18 years old.
Photography / Digital / Photo Collage
This is when you feel connected to God, the loneliness disappears, and your hands move automatically to work. The ego cannot exist there.
It is considered complete when the light is overflowing. My work is at its peak when the color information disappears and all I see is light.
Elation, sadness, loneliness, happiness, gratitude, and love.
I am happy to be alive. I am grateful that all my negative emotions have been sublimated and I have been able to live.
It is a design that reaches people's hearts and purifies their minds. It is a design that gives love and inspiration to people.
I focus on whether the design is needed by the world. What I don't focus on is my own personal desires. On the other hand, what I don't focus on is my own personal needs.
It is to face the pain of the world without panic even in an emergency situation, and to sublimate it into one's own work while absorbing it.
I think it lays the foundation for anyone to become a creative person. The ideal world is one where everyone is an artist.
The last time I participated in a group exhibition was in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan in 2009. Since then, I haven't made any graphic art for 10 years. In the future, I would like to exhibit my work anywhere in the world where there is a need for it.
For example, inspiration does not come to us because we have these feelings, but when we consider the scale of our need for the world. What I try to do is to keep my body clean and to go to shrines, churches, and the air of nature.
I have received feedback from viewers that they feel "comfortable" and "warm" with my graphics. My style can be light or dark, and conceptual, based on 100% inspiration.
I live in Japan, where there are many different cultures and four seasons. This is probably the best environment for me to express my multifaceted nature and to receive a wide variety of inspirations.
I do not take work from any company and continue to work independently. I make what I want to make, what people in the world need.
It is good to hire a company that will promote your company's branding and not just focus on the superficial design.
First retouch the material, then collage it, and add various corrections. I don't complete the work here, but start from there.
Angel goods, good luck charms from shrines, lighting equipment, Mac Pro, pen tablets.
When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is pray to the altar, check my work report, get ready for the morning, work, check my report again in the evening, pray to the altar, and go to bed.
It seems to me that it is not about using the tools, but about creating them. I think the most precious thing is to build an environment where young people who will come after us can devote themselves to creation more comfortably.
The positive side of being a designer is that you can enjoy the fun of making things so much that you forget about your personal life. The downside is that your private life is also a part of your work.
"Rhythms and vibrations. The more I get into creating, the less I can distinguish colors, and the more I can only see light. In this situation, what I rely on is the rhythm backed by my senses. In the first place, color is a shadow of light.
It's a feeling. I think it is the ability to read r-waves while relying on the other end of the sense of touch.
The software used during the design process is Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. Hardware used is Mac Pro and Intuos Pro. When creating graphics, I always chant Mandoora and touch the "Akabeko", an ancient Japanese red cow figurine.
I register my appointments in the Reminders app on my Mac, I don't leave any tasks for the next day, and if time is available, I move up next week's appointments to this week. I start working at a certain time and always stop working at 6pm in the evening.
I need 24 hours at the earliest and 3 weeks or more at the latest. There is still instability and variability.
"What is the meaning of this?" It is. To that, I can always answer. The nominated works are the most difficult to explain.
What was important was my experience as a DTP operator, a system engineer building core systems, a web designer building rich content, and my ongoing experience in application development.
Our business partners, Apple and Google, are very rich in heart and soul.
I like the work that I do the most, from start to finish, from design to development to marketing and promotion, all of it.
I want to build a more comfortable environment for young artists and creators to create. So I'm distributing all my source files. I hope that in the future, all people will be able to create.
I do my own design work.
I still want to create better works and I believe that I am just at the starting line.
I get a lot of inquiries via email, Instagram and Facebook.
I can't think of any at the moment.
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