DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
: I would say design should be understandable to anyone, no matter what their education, age or nationality. And design should be user friendly.
The interactiveness of a design is also key factor to me. How visitors react or interact with designs are fundamental parts of my designing work. I have inspired by novel experiences, like when I first visited NBA all star game for my job.
DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
: This art work is for a local art festival in Manazuru, a small Japanese town. What I tried to achieve is to collaborate with local residents. The paper cranes were made by an origami master who lives in Manazuru, and the manager of the local community center let me use his traditional Japanese tea room before the festival started.
DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
: I hope to find a permanent home for the exhibit so more local residents can enjoy it. Maybe I can also adopt the design to other communities.
DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
: It took me almost a week.
DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
: I featured origami cranes because Manazuru means "genuine crane". So I decided to feature cranes for my installation to make it an iconic art piece for the town. I submitted this design to workshop held by Manazuru art installation. And I got high vote to build my installation.
DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
: No, my design currently it is not being produced or used by another company. And I don't have a plan to sell or lease the right so far. But I am interested in producing my art work for business.
DI: What made you design this particular type of work?
: My work is a lighting installation inside a traditional Japanese tea room. I like applying technology to traditional styles because which creates a unique aspects to my art work.
DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
: For this design, I worked on my own.
DI: Who is the target customer for his design?
: All the local residents of Manazuru, and visitors to the town.
DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
: This installation is not just a static light show. The lights react to music or approaching people by changing their color and frequency.
DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
: The art installation was named after the town, whose name means "genuine crane".
DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
: Derivative Touchdesigner / Adobe After Effects / Adobe Photoshop
DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
: I featured traditional Japanese origami cranes and a traditional tea room. But I added technological aspects to an array of cranes. This fusion style is the most unique aspect of my design.
DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
: I collaborated with a local origami master "Nobumitsu Tsukada" to make the paper cranes.
Technical director "Joe Ohara" and photographer "Kenta Umeda" helped me to implement it.
DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
: I used specialized products and techniques to control LED lights installed inside each crane and the floor. They reacted to sounds and movement of people. But in my opinion, technology should not come first in my art work. Technology is just a way to realize the concept.
DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
: I did historical research about Manazuru, but it was not analytical research.
DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
: It was hard to synchronize all LED lights perfectly with the music. And wiring and placing the cranes from the ceiling was also complicated.
DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
: A' Design Award is a one of the biggest international design competition. I have had some success in Japanese competitions, and I wanted to see how my design would succeed in an internationally-renowned competition.
DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
: I did research especially on the technical side to implement my planning. To synchronize the music, I tested many devices to control LED lights with high frame rates. This testing was a valuable opportunity for me to learn about new technology.
DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
: Design and art are making our lives better.Some people do not pay attention but still benefit from them.
Our lives are filled with many well-designed products. I would like to add to these.