- Aug 28
7
Inside Naoto’s studio
I’m in Tokyo this week, and had the privilege of spending a day in the busy studio of Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa. My taxi ride there ended prematurely when the side street we were driving on became so narrow that the driver actually got the cab wedged between the walls on each side of the street. He managed to reverse to a slightly wider area and let me out, and I continued the journey on foot.
Fukasawa is known for his work with companies like Muji, IDEO, NEC, KDDI/AU, Issey Miyake, and his in-house design brand plusminuszero. During the interview we talked about the differences between Japanese and American design, and the different ways each culture relates to objects. We discussed the pros and cons of plastic and other materials. We also talked about his creative inspirations, and the concept of designing “without thought” — how people’s unconscious (and sometimes unintended) uses of objects can inspire new design possibilities. A few examples of this are Fukasawa’s umbrella with an indentation for holding your bag, and his Light with a Dish for catching your keys and change.
I did some vérité filming of the studio at work, with Fukasawa and his staff fluidly switching back and forth between new chair designs and an exhibition design. Afterwards I visited the plusminuszero shop, and did some filming at the huge Muji store in Ginza the next day.
Doing more shooting around Tokyo this week… if it would just stop raining…
Kanpai!
–Gary
August 28th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Gabriel says:
Hi very interesting, but where can I see or read the interview you made to Naoto.
Thanks
August 28th, 2008 at 9:55 am
gary says:
Thanks Gabriel, you’ll be able to see the interview when the film is released in early ‘09. And we’ll be posting clips from several of the interviews over the coming months.
August 28th, 2008 at 10:04 am
steven says:
gary,
congratulations for creating for yourself one of the coolest jobs on the planet. this film and your last saw you traveling to places i want to travel to and talking with people that i want to talk to. i am incredibly excited to see the fruits of your labor.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Miles says:
Please try and find someone to interview who isn’t exactly who we expect you to interview. A surprise would be nice occasionally.
August 30th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
gary says:
No worries Miles, I think I’ve got Jo Sinel confirmed…
September 10th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Seb says:
Curious,
Do people usually have two pieces of toast, because the generic toaster offers two pieces? Or do you think the toaster was created with two slots to accommodate a standard that was already established?
Ergo : What came first, two pieces of toast, or the toaster?
September 10th, 2008 at 10:59 am
gary says:
Excellent question, Seb. I have no idea. But I seem to remember as a kid our toaster was one slice. So maybe the increase in slots in just part of modern progress.
I like this quote about the single slice toaster, from the wall sign in Naoto’s shop: