Why I’m inspired by Japan as a designer
The first time I went to Japan, I was impressed (and surprised) at how many design museums and exhibits there were. At the time, I was working in Learning Design and was especially interested in Experience Design and Interaction Design. There were so many immersive experiences (on various topics) that I decided to dedicate my next 2 week trip to just binge on design in Tokyo.
A little while after that second trip, I went back to uni as an adult student to do a Masters in Healthcare Design at the RCA. I had never studied Design formally, so hadn’t come across things like design philosophy or really thought much about design process. I became really interested in how designer’s came up with concepts as I explored ‘how to think about design’.
My happy place - The Royal College of Art library.
Besides being incredibly inspired by my design supervisor Professor Ashley Hall, I think I can sum up some of the other key influences that shaped the way I think about design: Design is about solving problems in the real world, responsibly (Victor Papanek), and that means most problems we encounter will be complex, wrapped up in messy ever changing systems (Horst Rittel & Melvin Webber). But that shouldn’t put us off, it just means we need to learn ways to approach ‘wicked problems’ and systems (Richard Buchanan and Donella Meadows). Design as a practice isn’t about wild random moments of inspiration (John Kembel - my mentor in Design Thinking), but can be really powerful and efficient if we approach it systematically (Bruce Archer). I am especially drawn to the work of Kees Dorst who develops very practical and powerful ways to design for society. Therefore, now, to me, design is a responsibility and a discipline, and I want to ever hone the way I think “through design”, “for design”, and “as design” (Nigel Cross) to maximize my use of design to the best of my ability.
Designing Design by Kenya Hara (he also has a few other books which are all excellent).
One day, while browsing in my favorite aisle at the RCA library, I came across the writings of Kenya Hara (Muji’s Art Director). I was immediately drawn to how he reflected on design from his personal perspective as a Japanese. It was so deep, yet so articulately simple. He talked a lot about the act of sensing, with many references to the Japanese way of life and culture. It portrayed to me a very calm, reflective way of seeing the world through design, and it resonated with me a lot.
After that, I started to search for more Japanese designers; I was curious if they also thought like this. Over the years, I have seen a trend (at least in my bias searching) of this very humble, unassuming, careful, considerate, altruistic way of thinking that stems from the heart. It’s beautiful, and it’s not just designers, as a mass generalization, it’s the Japanese way of life.
So then, this is the reason behind my focus on Japan at the moment.
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