Interview with Yuki Ijichi

My current motivation for design is to solve social issues and problems faced by clients. My personal motivation is to reconstruct the culture of life through all design activities.

I chose to become a designer myself.

I design for a variety of media, without limitation of domain: graphic, product, graphic, and web. Therefore, I want to do consistent branding design from product to space and brand identity.
I also want to design for the culture of the land.

Always be aware of capturing the context of things.

I think the difference is that we are able to dig out the essence from the historical and cultural background, rather than just capturing the current trends.

I think it is about capturing the background and making people experience the essence of the design rather than designing it in a descriptive way.

The value is that it enriches our lives and society.
Because investing in it makes society more affluent.

I want to reconstruct the lifestyle culture and aesthetics of the past and design them as modern interior products. I believe that this will be a message to the next generation.

It is a reconstruction of the culture of life.

It's about digging into things and researching historical backgrounds.

Enzo Mari, Achille Castiglioni, Kosei Shirotani

The SEDIA 1 CHAIR was designed by Enzo Mari.
It made me think again about the meaning of the chair itself, rather than designing a chair based on styling.

It is a Chinza no Manma Ao Project. I think it is wonderful that we were able to create a consistent design for this project, from the architecture to the brand identity, based on the brand concept.

It is about continuing to study and consider historical and cultural backgrounds while observing trends in the world.

Entrepreneur or researcher

It is to eliminate the various distortions that exist in society.

My family and the representatives of the design firms I have worked for in the past.

I used to practice Zen and tea ceremony, and the way of perceiving and embodying things that I learned there has been useful in my design work.

The low value placed on local design still feels like an obstacle to continuing to design.

I think it would be to present it at a global competition like the A'DESIGN AWARD & COMPETITON.

Right now there are a lot of graphic projects such as branding again, but I expect another comprehensive project from architectural design and product design to branding and comprehensive projects. We especially expect projects with a cultural background.

It is to reconstruct the culture of daily life and to connect the past, the present, and the future with that culture and sense of beauty.

I think they are looking forward to designs that have a cultural background and provide insight.

We contribute by solving problems in society.

We develop original products that excavate and reinterpret the lifestyle culture and aesthetics found in Japan.

It is a Chinza no Manma Ao Project. In this project, we were able to understand and accompany the concept and design set forth by the client.

I hope that we will see the creation of designs that are not uniform, but are localized and full of regional flavor, helping to build the lifestyle and culture of each region.

As technology advances, the field of design will continue to expand and change.
In addition, I believe that a new way of designing for different environments, such as outer space, will be required.

Depending on the scale of the project, it can take anywhere from three months to two years.

We start by interviewing the client and project organizers to extract the issues and possibilities that exist.

Living as a "consumer" is the key to being able to understand the way consumers think and the issues they face, and then design accordingly.

Trends are created, but on the other hand, things that touch latent needs will spread naturally and remain. I think that trends that touch those latent needs determine design.

It is about efficiency and expansion of expression.

Adobe Series and Fusion360
Mac

It's cognitive communication.

I would like to ask about the concept and the background to its creation.

We will think about the meaning and social role of the thing itself.

I believe in co-design because it takes you beyond your own field and gives rise to unexpected ideas.

Kosei Shirotani

This is “Chami” by Shozo Okuda.
It represents the spirit of the tea ceremony, but I continue to be influenced by the way he prepares himself and his awareness to face design as a human being.

My skills were honed through guidance from senior designers at the design firm, and through practice and reflection after going independent.

I would like to meet with researchers and entrepreneurs to gain various insights and discuss the future of society.

I realized that my experience and design up until now were not wrong, and I want to share that with the world.

I didn't even think about it.

A thousand years from now, we may look different from the people we are today. Even then, we will coexist with other beings, and in this way, I hope that we will be able to live as people a thousand years from now. I will try to create a design now that will lead us to that point.

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.

I think it is about solving problems, connecting smoothly to people and society, and making changes without stress for the better.

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.

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.

Tea utensils

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.

I feel most creative when they become things that allow you to experience their worldview and message, rather than just explain it.

Emphasis will be placed on delving into the background of human, social, and cultural illiteracy.

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.

Along with a sense of accomplishment, we also feel a sense of tension as we stand on the starting line to market.

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.

Consider whether the expression of the object is consistent with the concept, purpose, etc.

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.

I work by myself in developing designs.

I can be reached via my email (info@0hoursdesignstudio.com).