Akihito Shimizu

Specialized in Graphic Design.

Akihito Shimizu

About Akihito Shimizu

Born in Osaka Prefecture in 1983. After graduating from the faculty of economics at Kansai University, I got a job at a bank. After going through the design office,such as advertisement, signs, display, Established LEADER based in Nishinomiya-shi, Hyogo Prefecture. For Company, Store, Product branding, C.I, V.I plan, logo design, Package, sign planning, poster, advertisement, promotion tool, Visual planning and construction of display, website etc., Work on graphic design production through all media. Currently, Nishinomiya is also active in regional brand development activities,design creation, lectures,regional event management and exhibition planning. Member of Japan Graphic Design Association (JAGDA) Member of Designers Association (DAS)

  • Winner of the A' Design Award.
  • Specialized in Graphic Design.
  • Original Design.
  • Creative, Diligent and Innovative.
  • All Designs
  • Graphic
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Interview with Akihito Shimizu

Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
My former profession was a bank clerk. Bankers support management in terms of accounting, but they do not have the means to communicate visually for consumers. I became a designer because I thought that if I acquired graphic design technology, I would be able to support the brand of a company or product from both management and design approaches.
Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
V.I.plans, symbols and logos related to branding of companies and organizations,Promotional tools for sign planning, packaging, advertising, etc. in architecture and space,Exhibition / display planning and construction, WEB, etc.Incorporating design perspectives and thinking into management through various media。 We practice the design of essential visual communication. Participation in the establishment of local communities, for regional and administrative issues,Lectures and recommendations for practical solutions using design methods,Teamwork and exhibition planning with artists active in Japan and overseas We are actively doing it.
What is "design" for you?
I think it is one of the important communication techniques. Whether or not it is visualized as a result, finding the intrinsic value and appeal of the client and maximizing it visually cannot always be achieved without honest face-to-face contact between the client and the designer. Design is not a method of self-expression, but a strategic method that always plays a role of promotion for clients, so not only graphics but also various designs and trends in different fields, consumers' thoughts and actions are grasped on a daily basis. You need to keep it. In a nutshell, design is a fortune.
What kinds of works do you like designing most?
I like everything about design so much that I can't narrow down to a particular genre, but I dare to say that I really like graphic design works and their roles in fashion brands. A message-like visual communication expression that constantly requires change and clarity in the environment where brand logo, tradition and innovation, maintenance and innovation are inherently clearly stated. The required expression must always be clear The structure itself is very interesting.
What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
I like NIKE's branding design and visual communication the most. Not only products and designs covering all generations and categories, advertising development, graphic design, but all promotions are exciting. There is also a marketing strategy that constantly acquires new customers across generations by making things according to the background of the times, the history and tastes of people, coexisting advanced and past heritage, and skillfully developing products. It's great, but everything is named after the goddess of victory, and the story of the logo at the time of its founding is a dream story that is indispensable when talking about the brand.
What was the first thing you designed for a company?
The brand logo design. Since it is related to all designs, I did not include words that indicate a specific area such as graphics.
What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
I like paper and printing techniques the most. The joy of leaving it as a substance and the portability of having it at hand seem to make the smallest building, and I think it is a very fun platform.
When do you feel the most creative?
It's rewarding when clients are satisfied, consumers are satisfied, and the number of regular customers called brand fans increases, but the momentary impression is the moment when something can always be impressed.
Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
An important point to focus on in the first place is "the potential value of the client and the distance from the current user". Once you know the true value and the distance from the user's needs, you will be able to see the challenges that you must face. It is important to know the distance first because it is fun to drive inside the car (inner branding) and the time to the goal is optimized if you make a vehicle suitable for the distance and drive while incorporating various creative methods.
What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
I think it's important to stay calm because my personal feelings are aimed at being beautiful and smart. Depending on the work, it may be influenced by positive emotions such as joy, fun, and wonder, but it is still important to keep calm at the end of the work because there is always a calm confirmation process.
What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
It's joy and tension. When the design begins to develop realistically, the joy that is hard to change spreads in my heart.
What makes a design successful?
Unless various environments and conditions are met, a single promotion or design cannot solve the problem. The key is the client-designer relationship, business decisions, trends, and timing. If any one is missing, it becomes a weak point and hinders the progress of brand development later. Of course, there are many cases where the project is carried out while correcting the trajectory, but if the timing is missed, it often leads to a big loss, so the courage of the manager is tested at the same time as the challenge of the designer. Last but not least, it is important to plan your goals (big goals, small goals).
When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
At the store, it is important for users to pick it up, but the premise is how the product is needed by people and the earth. Since visual communication such as graphics is a technique that plays a linguistic role (translational), it is important to carry out consistent design from manufacturing to distribution, sales to consumption, so the philosophy and philosophy of the brand. , Be sure to consider your actions.
From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
I think it is to create something that is kind to people, society, the earth, and loved for a long time without any load.
How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
From my own profession and point of view, two-dimensional things are expanding three-dimensionally (or beyond), so I think they will evolve into a world that transcends the boundaries of fields. In reality, in medical care, environment, education, social issues, research, architecture, etc., not only flat parts but sometimes three-dimensional, interactive expressions are required, so in the future, designs that combine expressions from all fields will be created. I think it will increase.
When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
The last exhibition was held in February 2021 by a group exhibiting greeting cards made by famous designers from all over Japan. Next is exactly "A'Design Award"? It will be.
Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
Everything you see with your eyes and feel with your skin is the source of inspiration, information, and is transformed into more three-dimensional information through people. The best way to feed is to go out a lot and meet and interact with many people, which is the most exciting and imaginative starting point.
How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
I can't say it in a word, but since I have a career as a bank clerk, I can think cross-cuttingly because the management perspective and the way of thinking about the economy are areas that the arts and design fields cannot have. I think that is my excellent ability and my own style. The approach is to confirm the two points of "having a fun dream" and "knowing the reality".
Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
I live in Osaka, Japan. Japan's cultural heritage is a very important asset that always makes you aware of your identity as a Japanese, but it has become the history of the country, and the road to the present age has changed significantly before and after the war (Westernization). Japan longs for the West, and I feel that it is a challenge for many Japanese people, including myself, to not know about Japan. It is very complicated that the strengths and weaknesses always coexist, but since it is a country where information is very easy to gather in terms of knowing the world, while learning the history and traditions unique to Japan, you can get information on advanced and future thinking of other countries. Japan that can be obtained is very convenient.
How do you work with companies?
Work with all companies, including the areas in which you act. This is because a person cannot live alone as long as there is a definition of existence of self and others.
What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
What if I was the owner of the client? What if you were an employee? What if you were a fan of that brand? I think it is important to ask many questions and propose the answers through design. If you keep thinking about what you can do for someone and come up with an answer that only that person can think of, that would be one of the reasons for choosing. I think a good designer is someone who can talk and is interested in people.

Extended Interview with Akihito Shimizu

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?
After working as a bank employee, he studied graphic design at a design school and began working as a designer. After working as a designer in the advertising, signage, and display fields when he first joined the company, he is currently working in the field of brand design.
How did you become a designer?
This may be an extreme view, but it is because I realized that everything outside of nature, including the earth, was designed by human beings. Since that realization, I have wanted to contribute to and be useful to society by creating and expressing something through the means of design.
What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?
I chose the path of a designer myself. Only a designer can help human society by always thinking about what is wrong and what is right, and by embodying what I envision.
Which emotions do you feel when designing?
I would like to take traditional products from my own country, transform them into designs that suit the current era for the sake of future generations, and promote them throughout the world. For example, I would like to be involved in brand design not only for food and beverages such as sake and Japanese sweets, but also for spaces. Also, as an international exchange of design, I would like to design manufacturing overseas, utilizing the perspectives and advantages of Japanese traditions.
What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?
Understanding the elements that make up a brand is important not only to deepen one's knowledge of each, but also simply to consciously experience them in one's own work and as a user. This is because what consumers and society want, what kind of attractive products should be created for them, and what needs to be done to achieve this can often be seen by constantly learning about the many designs that are in demand around the world and experiencing the brand for oneself. Such exciting work can only be done by designers. This is because a good brand contains a wealth of different ideas for consumer acceptance and satisfaction, which can only come from the designer's experience, accumulated knowledge, and perspective.
What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?
I believe that a great designer is not someone who has decided on his or her own that he or she is great, but someone who is naturally recognized by those around him or her as great. And I believe that if that state of being continues, one can become a great designer. So maybe the difference is just a matter of time.
What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?
It is difficult to decide which balance to prioritize: quantitative design, qualitative design, functional design, or emotional design, but I think the first step in evaluation is to ensure that the deliverables are useful to society. Sometimes the most important thing is not to design, so I think the standard of evaluation is to derive what is best for what the client is looking for. Then, I think the minimum hurdle is to comprehensively serve many people while evaluating multiple aspects of the design, such as determining whether the design is developmentally useful to the social context.
You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?
It is an abstract concept, but as mentioned above, good design is something that contributes to the greater good of people and the international community, both domestically and internationally. And we believe that it is an asset to be shared by the world, leading the human world toward peace. We believe that all humankind should now invest in good design not only for the sake of humanity, but also because we believe that the great challenge is to return the wealth gained from nature back to nature, and that this will lead to a new sense of values. for the survival of the planet we live on.
What is your day to day look like?
Besides commercial design, I would design for the public good and to make my family happy. The latter is rather natural for us as human beings. I think everyone wants to make their loved ones happy with the designs they create.
How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?
You may laugh, but it is a design that can only be done when you get older. I think design is an output of experience as we get older, so something that can only be expressed over time cannot be realized right now. If I want to be involved in traditional Japanese design, which is what I desire, I have no choice but to live in Japan, constantly learning and experiencing.
How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?
It is to always make an effort to keep abreast of the history that has been built up by our predecessors. In particular, analog expressions, experiences, and textures that cannot be expressed digitally are important elements that only humans can sense. As AI evolves in the future, it will be able to act more like human sensibilities, but in the end, human sensibilities cannot be realized. Therefore, the secret of success will be to continue to feel what only humans can feel.
How do you decide if your design is ready?
Calligrapher Kosuke Watanuki. Katsuhiko Shibuya, an active graphic designer.
What is your biggest design work?
There are too many to answer this question. The more perspectives I like, the more I like. I even like the empty bottles that fall around.
Who is your favourite designer?
A Swiss bank envelope given to me by my father, who was a banker. It was a blank envelope with no address or signature, but when I realized that it represented a real private bank, I got goosebumps.
Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?
I think it is to be interested in and experience many things, and not to be limited to one area. It is becoming very difficult to survive in only one field, so I think the next stage that designers should explore is to multiply the specialized knowledge that human beings have developed up to now and develop that area.
Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?
I can't imagine a career other than being a designer, but if I had given up on my dream, I would probably still be a banker.
What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?
I cannot choose. My great grandparents, parents, and family. And my mentors who have guided me to the joy of design.

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