Dialogue between Design Masters: Genuine Insights from Twenty-Five Leading Experts in Japan

Author: [Japan] Ichiro Sato / He Ji Hui, etc.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This is not an ordinary interview collection but a compendium of heartfelt insights from contemporary Japanese design masters. Compared to the phenomenon of designer worship in the 1970s and the highly acclaimed Design Era, it is rare nowadays to have the opportunity to visit the creative studios of those era-defining design masters or to directly experience their presence. As we wander along the trends of consumer society, we often wonder where the dazzling Beautiful Designs around us come from—it’s like facing a roaring river yet being unable to find its clear source. We have gradually lost the ability to focus on the origin. To regain this desire to trace the roots, the spirited photographer Kazuharu Sugihara decided to embark on a journey upstream, documenting everything that happens at the source through words and images. With his almost amateur-like curiosity and relentless effort, he ultimately achieved his persistent exploration of the wise production sites.
The premise of compiling an interview collection, of course, is interviewing, and the key to interview skills, if summarized in one sentence, might be the principle of "Harmony in Diversity." However, what is even more important is the question of "Selection." The criteria set for the interviewees, on the surface, seem to have no particular distinction beyond conveying what has become our new common focus—the entirety and authenticity of design as a profession. Yet this book assembles a comprehensive lineup of creative talents of the era, and the twenty-five individuals included are absolutely indispensable—excluding even one would make it impossible to complete the book in its current form.