How does the texture of stainless steel enhance the design and functionality of your hemispherical mirror?
Functionality needs to be included. The stainless steel look and feel are chosen purely on aesthetic grounds. Beauty is the most important feature of stainless steel, as it reflects its surroundings. The fact that it has a weight inside, so it sways with the wind, is also a great charm.
What inspired the use of wood filament in your 3D-printed frames, and what challenges did you face with this material?
It started more by accident than by inspiration. I was intrigued by a wooden filament that a friend had, so I first printed a thick, round frame from it. I thought the teacher would say the quality wasn't good enough since I made it just two days before the critique day. So, I spent a day polishing and oiling it because I wanted it to resemble real wood. I remember how the oil gave it a wooden appearance, and the tutor was amazed.
From there, I started receiving orders, and I made an effort to create similar high-quality products. Modern 3D printers are so precise that they don’t burn or produce random irregularities. However, natural objects are inherently random, so I have to be careful to maintain consistent quality, like an industrial product, while giving it a natural look by deliberately adding support material and adjusting the temperature based on various factors.
How do you incorporate traditional Japanese materials into your designs, and what modern materials do you blend them with?
I enjoy creating works that use modern materials to evoke a uniquely Japanese pop atmosphere, rather than relying on traditional Japanese materials to produce a modern design.
The Mini Nyan made with BMW Mini is a prime example of this. I like Pokémon, so I often draw inspiration from Japanese character culture. This kind of love for game character sculpture is uncommon among other product designers, and I value the idea of combining this culture with my products. The papier-mâché dolls I made for the research presentation of the exhibition ‘UMU’, which is about public discussion of fertility treatment and childbirth, are one example of this. The papier-mâché dolls are a kind of traditional Japanese talisman, filled with wishes. By modernising their appearance and adapting their wishes to the modern world, the research results are conveyed in an easy-to-understand way.
For example, dog papier-mâché is considered a good luck charm for safe childbirth, as dogs typically give birth to multiple offspring with fewer stillbirths. Building on that concept, we created a penguin papier-mâché, since penguins are known for having same-sex couples who raise children together.
Can you describe a project where you had to overcome artistic challenges to achieve your desired design outcome?
The most recent example is a frame for collaboration between FRAMEs and Millitsuka. At first, I used original paintings, but it was very hard work to produce a large number of art pieces, which made the price too high, leading to difficulties in selling them. Making products is inevitably challenging because it is also linked to business. So we switched to printing original reproductions at a printing house in Kyoto called Sun-M-Colour, which normally restores national treasures.
While the original reproductions are interesting, we tried lenticular printing with a UV printer to ensure they did not look cheap. We experimented several times with adjusting the density of the print quality, among other factors.
The illustrator Millitsuka creates illustrations on the theme of games and fictional spaces, so we achieved sharp edges that are not typically used for the shape, thickness, and product of picture frames. To print this beautifully in one go, the first layer of output was subjected to twice the usual pressure, and the temperature was drastically changed between the first layer and the angle of the overhang. There are many unseen factors involved.
The series of frames we made in this way has been our best-selling series so far and our favourite.
What are your aspirations for the future impact of your designs on people's everyday lives and their relationship with their living spaces?
I don't particularly think about it on a normal basis. I just want things to be used lovingly for a long time in someone's life. Nowadays, the consumption cycle of things is very high, and the time it takes to get things is getting shorter and shorter.
Therefore, I look for the best collaborators and design each product so that customers will want to buy it even if it costs a little more, and they will want to buy it when they save up the money.
