Today is about Sweden’s leading designer “Ingegerd Råman”, her exhibition is held at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Crafts Gallery until 2018.9.14 – 12.9.

Generally she is known as “designer” or “ceramist”, but she calls herself not “ceramist” but “potter“, not “designer” but “form-giver“.

This is because she does not regard her creations as self-expression but is more aware of her craftsmanship, which is obliged to create vessels for everyday use. The term “designer” in Swedish is “formgivare (form-giver)“, but the term has more specificity in its meaning-to give a form to something, the presence of an object.

I have a lot of opportunities to work with Swedish companies or organizations, so I earn about Sweden. Especially as a designer, I pay attention to the high design quality. Last time I introduced the Swedish coffee brand “Lemmel Kaffe“, so I will introduce two Swedish brands today.

The first is craft beer brand “Ominippollo“. Coffee is also a representative beverage in Sweden and Northern Europe, but craft beer is also delicious. Omnippollo was established in 2011, it was chosen Rate Beer Top 100 Brewery in The World. While this brand of vision is “to overturn the image of people’s beer from the bottom”, its label design is super cool as well as its taste. Their message that they want “experiences” rather than “drinking” is spreading in more than 20 countries, including Sweden, Europe, North America, Australia, along with their worldview.

The vol. 2 of From Designers With Loveis about “In-Flight Safety Video”.

I think choosing airline is important when I travel, I always check the aircrafts, in-flight goods, CA uniform etc. Among them, I look forward to watching “in-flight safety video”.

A few years ago the video of New Zealand Airlines was tied up with the movie ‘Hobbit’, I remember being surprised by the high quality.

If you have been a designer for more than 15 years, you will also be naturally aware of the feelings of “creator” other than your genre design (graphic & digital).

I wonder what they are made of? How did the creator did it? What the purpose of it? something like I wonder the background of the creation. I feel happy when I find something common feeling even our genre is different, or it is also happy to find new learnings.

I love any “creators” from designers or craftsmen very much, and I would like to introduce love expressions from designers/creators which I can see from the finished products, so that I named the title of today. In addition to the purpose as a function, there are other purposes such as culturally appeal to emotion or they have social sense of mission. I would like people to look at other roles than functions.

Vol. 1 today is about “Shoji (Shoji is a sliding screen with white paper on thin
wooden laths).” designed by Korin Ogata (he was a Japanese painter, lacquerer and designer of the Rinpa school).
I visited the MOA museum of art in Atami the other day, there are facilities except for the museum such as Noh theater, Tea garden, Tea house etc. And I write about the Shoji of Korin’s Residence (reconstruction) which he spent the last five years and drew national treasure paintings there.

The world is becoming more digital but I still use mail system such as letters or postcards. I go to a post office sometimes and always check design stamps there. There are many kinds of stamps seasonal ones, limited ones, characters, traditional Japanese drawings etc. Also they change the designs often.

It is so fun to see the design in a small space, there are stamps with sheets. Some stamps make one design. I’ve heard that there are only seven stamp designers in Japan!

Design stamps (seals) were sold in Denmark in 1904 first. Einar Holbøll, a Danish postal clerk developed the idea of adding an extra charitable stamp on mailed holiday greetings during Christmas. The money raised to help children who are sick with tuberculosis. Since then, the stamps have been sold during Christmas season every year, and it has also spread from Denmark to Scandinavia, Europe, America, and Asia. Now around 80 countries participate the activity.

I have worked for over fifteen years as a graphic and digital designer, and I still LOVE to design.

Maybe people think that “design” is act of making visual things (surface decoration) mainly, but the word includes a wide range of activities such as planning, making plans, concept working, making structure.

In actual projects, I spend 70-80% of time on “researching or thinking”, and the rest of 20-30% of time is for “making something visible” with Mac.  (I think most of people think this one is “design”.)

I think that going to book shops or museums, going on a journey if needed, even taking walk is even wonderful part of job, because these are all researching or thinking act. There is always a project in the head, and it seems that the directions is decided through various experiences.