Katsunari Shishido

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Katsunari Shishido ("KS") for their original perspective and innovative approach to design as well as their creative lifestyle, we are very pleased to share our interview with our distinguished readers.

DL: Could you please tell us a bit about your design background and education?

KS : After graduating from a design school, he worked not for a design company but for a dance studio and a non-profit organization while experimenting with his own designs and working as a freelancer.

DL: What motivates you to design in general, why did you become a designer?

KS : I wasn't an aspiring designer when I was a student, and I was heavily influenced by street culture. I was attracted to dance, skateboarding, graffiti, and hip-hop. That led to pop art, and I was so impressed by Andy Warhol's posters that I decided to become a graphic designer.

DL: Did you choose to become a designer, or you were forced to become one?

KS : When I was running an event as a student, I was asked to create a poster for the event. At that point, I hadn't studied design in school, so I was an amateur, but I was making designs, but they weren't very complete. The more I studied from there, the more I was drawn to graphic design, and the more I became interested in poster design, the more I wanted to be a designer.

DL: What do you design, what type of designs do you wish to design more of?

KS : I do art direction and design by myself, but taking advantage of the lightness of footwork, I do branding, naming, logo development, store design, illustration, web design production. Sometimes we plan and produce events regardless of genre such as organizing.

DL: What should young designers do to become a design legend like you?

KS : They say you need to value your peers and your team, but how dense your personal time can be is also important. It's important to gather information and gain experience, but I think it's also important to be able to experience the process of challenging, experimenting, and verifying to create everything with your own hands. In my case, I didn't have any seniors, teachers, peers, or bosses, so I experimented with design by groping and asking myself many times in order to establish my own style. I think I will be able to show even more strength in the team with my individual experience.

DL: What makes a good design a really good design, how do you evaluate good design?

KS : I have a definition of what I consider to be good design when there is no waste and it is in beautiful condition. There is a simple existence of an indispensable thing, a convenience that is built into a hidden function without asserting itself, and the existence of a supporting role that does not interfere with the main but asserts its existence. The concept, the theme, the look, the function, the convenience and a little bit of margin in one brilliantly designed thing feels so great that it makes you drool.

DL: What is the value of good design? Why should everyone invest in good design?

KS : I have a definition of what I consider to be good design when there is no waste and it is in beautiful condition. There is a simple existence of an indispensable thing, a convenience that is built into a hidden function without asserting itself, and the existence of a supporting role that does not interfere with the main but asserts its existence. The concept, the theme, the look, the function, the convenience and a little bit of margin in one brilliantly designed thing feels so great that it makes you drool.

DL: What is your secret recipe of success in design, what is your secret ingredient?

KS : The ability to put things together. To be able to look at things from different perspectives. The ability to draw anything. We focus on these three things. In order to identify problems and find improvement ideas that come across in the various requests, it is important to put them together in one piece. You can't be a designer if you think like other people, you have to have a 360-degree perspective and an eye for what no one else can see. From there, new ideas are born, and it's a question of whether you can draw the ideas in your head by hand first. The touch of handwriting, which is faster and more delicate than a computer, can open up even more possibilities for ideas. I think the most important thing is the process before you go into the design process using a computer.

DL: Who are some other design masters and legends you get inspired from?

KS : Ikko Tanaka (died in 2002), a Japanese graphic designer from his home country. He has received worldwide praise for his imposing and graceful style, sublimating Japanese shapes, colors and textures into modern design. He is a wonderful creator who knows the culture of the people of his country, from the inheritance from the historical culture of his home country to future insights, ukiyo-e prints, traditional performing arts, and so on, and uses them as the subject of visual expression in his contemporary creations.

DL: How do you define design, what is design for you?

KS : Design is closely related to people's lives and exists everywhere. It enriches people, it's beautiful, it's functional, and it's able to express emotions. I believe that the design is also made of love.

DL: Who helped you to reach these heights, who was your biggest supporter?

KS : I am grateful for my loving partner, my family, Quarryant, and my favorite friends.

DL: What helped you to become a great designer?

KS : It's an exhilarating mind. I can't stop getting excited when I'm thinking about being creative. The first thing I get excited about is when I'm working on an idea. How do you aim for a goal that has no answer? That roadmap is the point where it's up to my ideas. The next step is when the idea actually takes shape. This is the moment when the blueprints in your mind come true. At the end of the day, the excitement of being able to please the client and the people in the future is like flying into space.

DL: Which people you interacted had the most influence on your design?

KS : It was every person I met.

DL: Which books you read had the most effect on your design?

KS : I learned a lot from the Japanese manga in my home country. From the detailed setting to the characters, the background and message you want to convey, the layout, the expression of your emotions.

DL: Irrelative of time and space, who you would want to meet, talk and discuss with?

KS : He is what is called a master of the past. I would like to know how they completed the painting hundreds of years ago.

DL: How do you feel about all the awards and recognition you had, is it hard to be famous?

KS : It may be very important as a status, but what's important is that you can create a design that's benefiting the world.

DL: What is your favorite color, place, food, season, thing and brand?

KS : I like the colorful taste, but I think monotones are colorful too.

DL: Please tell us a little memoir, a funny thing you had experienced as a designer?

KS : I have a habit of evaluating advertisements, billboards, store designs, products, and so on in my daily life, and people who are with me think I'm a weirdo.

DL: What makes your day great as a designer, how do you motivate yourself?

KS : I have a daily routine of diet, exercise, yoga, and meditation because a better design is only possible when you build your body and mind.

DL: Please tell us anything you wish your fans to know about you, your design and anything else?

KS : Design is made of love.