領 域 ： グラフィックデザイン
派遣元 ： 
ロッテルダム芸術アカデミー
期 間 ： 2005.09.12 ～ 2005.12.20
Today I go to Tokyo! I'm ready... The previous weeks were very crazy and busy. After successful finishing my illustration/graphic work in Holland at the Kooning academy, I was finally officially on to the last year of study. The 4th year of University. Now I could concentrate at the big adventure that was ahead of me, my study in Japan. I would like to get to know more about Japanese style in Design.I would like to know why Japanese design has such an own style and is on such a high level. I would also like to know what the differences are in the way that design is taught at the University's, in Japan and Holland. Thanks to the support of my professors and my friends I have completed this exchange and landed it wel! It has been an important and valuable experience. Of this I want bring you a summarised evaluation. I want to give you an impression of this experience.
In the plane to Narita Tokyo I saw many tired passengers. It was a quiet flight. It took me 11 hours from Amsterdam to Narita Airport. I got my first sushi served during this flight. I found it nice! I decided to prepare myself by studying my underground railway map. Hopefully I could find it all, and would it not be to difficult to find my room in Tokyo! I did not understand much of that card. Unrecognizable character and symbols and a lot of coloured lines with crazy Japanese names. I knew that I had to pick up the key of my room in Shinjuku, West-Tokyo. After an eleven hours flight I landed on Narita Airport. I was in Japan!!! At immigration people neatly established in range. Everything was well organised almost perfectly and very clean! I manage to go to the office where I could pick up my keys. I was helped by a friendly Japanese lady who could talk English and she told me which bus I had to take. My trunk was lifted for me in the bus and I could sit and enjoying the first views of this country! Everything was so different. The cars on the motorway had much chromium and were generally a bit more luxurieus than the cars in the Netherlands. Models and marks which I had never seen before. Buildings seemed built in another scale. Smaller, but more. I will never forget the skyline of Shinjuku which I saw for the first time that day! I was really in Tokyo! It took me almost an hour before I arrived. It was hot outside. With my heavy trunk and hand luggage I arrived at the street in where the office of my room had be. I had reserved a dormitory in the Netherlands using the internet. It was a room from the Sakura-house office. An agency which rented, rooms and dormitories to gajin's/ foreigners. I had a reservation for a bed in a room with more people. That's all they had at that moment. With six girls in a room...Not ideal but it didn't looked bad on the internet. At last I found the office. Two hundred signatures later and after paying my rent I could finally look for my room. It was summer in Japan and very hot. When I arrived at the underground station. I didn't understand anything of the railway system. Once arrived at my stop in Shinjuku I could find my gajin-house fast enough. I was very tired then, I started feeling the jetlag. When I arrived at my dormitory could not believe my eye! It was a dark small room, filled with three battery beds. The green curtains were the only little privacy we had. A very small space with too many people. It was kind of a cellar-room, little to no daylight. The floor had to be one of the dirtiest floors in Tokyo. (I thought people didn't wore shoes in the house?) I couldn't believe my eyes! The photograph which I had seen on the Internet had been probably made after they finished building the house! ten years ago! Haha!! But I didn't cared too much, I was in Japan!!
After a couple days acclimatise in Tokyo I started the first introduction day on the academy. Where we were introduced to the president of Tokyo Zokei University and the co-ordinator of foreign affairs, mr Yoneyama-san.
He worked very hard to make this exchange into a success and I am very gratefull for all his efforts!
Tokyo Zokei University cellebrate her 40 years anniversary next year. In this period they have had about 10 exchance students. But this year however was very exceptional, with 9students who came to Zokei University.
From the organisation they had therefore clearly the feeling they had to do something special. It was the first time receiving this many exchange students in one semester.
Tokyo Zokei University has contact with academies from Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands. The first day was an intoduction diner, we received traditional wooden chopsticks from the president. A big honor! We got to know each other and also met the Japanese students who could speak English. Students who helped the foreign students on translating. Everyone presented themselfs and I met my translators. The next day we had a meeting with our professors.
By an administrative mistake I was placed at packaging design course. I study at home illustration and graphic design.
I saw this, however, as a challenge and decided to try this course, and work hard. The level of the course was very high.
Students could do with 4 hours sleep per night and arrived on the first lesson already with a lot of material. My professor for this course was Misawa-san,he was a respected designer and artdesigner. He had cooperated in many projects.
Because he had lived in New York for almost 10 years he could talk English very well.
Professor Misawa-san told me about "the UK design week". A week where much interesting designers from the uk came to Tokyo to show there works.
I had made a girlfriend who was at a graphic designer in Tokyo. Her name was Rachel and was from London.
Rachel mailed the Executive Board of the uk design week and asked them for a invite to the openings party at the Uk ambassay. We could go together. On this feest we talked to many great designers.
One of them was a very famous bag designer from London, Jas MB.
It concerned a serial of nine products every product must have an individual character, but nevertheless it had to belong to the group. A spicy task, because you need to have a good concept and a strong visual communicating product.
We started of making the concept. Because I always needed the translation of a co-student, I frequently had to deal with the disadvantageous of second-hand information. Important information in the class that I didn't hear. Especially in the beginning my translators found my colleages interesting that sometimes they forgot translate...
Because of the language barriar I didn't understand that I my assigment on the packaging design course would be one that would continue the whole year. On the Willem the Koonig academy we mostly work with short tasks. Many tasks just lasts only a few weeks.
I chose to make the packaging for a shower products-lineUnder the name; "flower shower". The products would be the more luxerer than a shop chain such as the Bodyshop. Target group was, men women and young little girls. The products for the woman were the "flower shower", who for the man the "leaf shower" and for the young little girls the "blossem flower".
Made in sub-logo's. The packing of the fold had been typified by round, almost voluptuous forms. The packing of the man by tight male lines and those of the little girls organisdh but not yet this way speciefieke line (as a woman body in gestation).
The material choice had be also an aware choice, and could tell where the product for stood.
I chose for transparent plastic. That reminded me of a shower. On transparent plastic were colour had been added (a dark colour for the man, a deep and warm red colour for the woman and a palette of green, yellow orange for the young little girl.) Plastic became decoraded by small plastic droplets, which remind to splattering water and had at that same time a certain structure. Those were my ingredienten for a good communicating and concept-full make packing. But it was more difficult than I expected.
In sum I think that I improved and remade my collection about ten times. My professor encouraged me, however, but criticised my work just as well. And I found everything what he said certainly to understand, but it was difficult! Finaly he gave me its approval on my work. But I had to finish it. This project continued to the end of the year. Unfortunataly I had no time. My time in Tokyo was almost finished. Otherwise I could have totaly finished this project because many things needed to be done like the brochure for the products, the assesoires for your shop (- chain) and the reclamecampage for your products followed (posters, flyers ect.)
I enjoyed looking at my co-student's work. I could learn a lot of there approche on design.
Many works were made in the Japanese style, which I think is facinating! Japanese people are very hard working people.
Another factor which is responsible for the high level of the Japanese design is the system of the university and Japanese society.
Tokyo Zokei University is a private university. The parents of students work very hard to finance there childerens studies.
So most of the students live at home. That means that most students consentrate only on their study. They are at home for a long time and looked after. It is seems luxuriouse to study. In Holland most students leave the parents-home when they start studing on a university.
They live in student houses. The goverment stimulates studing by giving the students studie-mony. I think studying in Holland is very different from studying in Japan.
Japan can be a demanding society. The lat is laid very high. That's how Japan became a very prosperous country in a short period.
Tokyo became a main capital. Japan is a country with design on an exceptionally high level, progressive technologies, almost no robber, stable, clean streets, friendy people. But on the other hand a very high (to high) pressure in the working environment.
The specific Japanese style in art has do also with a topographical factor. Japan is an island. An island that for a long time had been excluded entirely of the outside world. Japanese art therefore has a style that is very own.
During of my colleges of cooper identity we found big differences in conceptions concern colour interpretation between the Japanese student and the Dutch student. Each week we got a different colour. We started with the colour red.It was discussed what our personal feeling was for that colour.
We had to make a concept for that colour a communicating 3D object. 3D a piece of work wish we presented in the second lesson. All the discussions were in Japanese. But I had a translator who helped me. But nevertheless it was a tiring matter.
A complete day trying to concentrate on a strange language and having translation was not always easy!
First we had to describe what kind of red we would choose. My red was bright red. Like the red you could see in the red area in Amsterdam. I could imagine red neon lights. My red was a sensual colour, which I associate with silk and lingerie and also the colour of desire and love. My rood is clearly and almost artificial. After I had given my defenitie of my red came a big discussion. Didn't understand my associations. Red is for most Japaneses people the colour of honour and bravedness. Red stands for heroism and camecaze. That's what i have been told. Very different! During this week in which the colour green was given I gave my association with that colour. For me green stood for young and naief. Like a beginner sometimes is called "a green one". Green as a young leave on a tree.
I was also told that Japanese people have different associations with the colour blue. The granny, green appeal for example is called blue apple. And a young student is "blue one". Very different!
I made many discoveries like this. At each colour I saw big differses! If a Dutch child makes a little sun she of he will make it yellow. But when a Japanese child draws it, it will be red.
We made a 3d pieces of work every with every time a another colour topic. My work during this college was a appreciated. The compliment perfectly works! of my professor at my work concerning the colour blue gave me the stimulance to work hard and use this concept for the expositie at Kuwasawa. I made a city with skyscrapers of playing cards, which I had designed. I had made them much bigger as normal playing cards (approximately a4 format). (I have been cutting paper for a few days!) The colour of the paper was blue and the prints on the card were paterns of fingerprints and blueprints like in the architecture. My idea was; blue stands for living, like a blueprint for ones life. The fragile houses made of paper showed that live can also be this way. That was emphasised by the word "fragile" with I made out of shiny plastick on the wall and on the floor. It was a lot of work, but the result on the exposition was great! The exposition made at Kuwasawa design school during the last three weeks of my exchange.
We, the exchange students, got the chance to show our work at Kuwasawa design school. A sisterschool of our University, Tokyo Zokei University, located in the heart of Tokyo, between Shibuya and Harajuku. A great chance, because we were the first ones making an exposition at Kuwasawa. We could use two very large rooms. I decided to stop my packaging design course and fully concentrate to make this expositie into a success. I started with designing the flyers and posters. The name of the expositie was "a Lot" because there were many exchance students this year.
We made sure there were enough flyers and posters to let everyone know about our event.
I have had small meeting with the directors of both design schools. They told me from that this exposition was important because it would mean a renewed contact between Zokei University and Kuwasawa design school.
A lot of students of Zokei had never been on Kuwasawa and the other way around. Tokyo Zokei University is very proud of its foreign students programe, because on the sister school Kuwasawa there are no foreign exchange projects.
The expositie was a success! We had a good number of visitors. All exchange students had made their contributions by showing beautiful work. There was a lot to see like; illustration and fotografie, movies, painting, free art, and product design. Very diverse, and fun! Sometimes professors of Kuwasawa Desingn school took their students to our exposition spaces to look at our work. That was very nice and leaded to interesting discussions while talking about the works. This expositie to me was fantastic end to a very succesvol exchange programe!
My time in Tokyo came to an end, so I needed to return to Netherlands. I have had a great learning experience in a wonderfull country! I have seen and done so much! I was going to miss my new life my new University and professors, my new Japanese house (yes, also moved again in Tokyo!) and my new friends! So many great things in this city, which sleeps! Fantastic! They will see more of me in the future, that's for sure!
●東京造形大学およびこのサイトに関するご案内
学校法人桑沢学園 東京造形大学
