grad604-kannonhen

[grad604-kannonhen]

Reflection

This semester, particularly this paper, was very challenging for me with many setbacks and challenges. I definitely have a way better understanding of the community of design in New Zealand and a clear view of where I am as a student. It helped me recognise many core values that have built me as a creative and solidify what I am passionate about. It reminded me of my love for Japanese culture and its amazing creators/creations. To be honest, I don't think I did my best performance, with recent events I struggled to get my hands on decent work or be in the right mind to think creatively, but it was a big learning experience that made me reconsider many things about myself and my creativity. With these things in mind, I need to start getting back on track with my degree and actually try to organise internships.

[grad604-kannonhen]

Printing

I spoke to the workers at the art store and was advised that a normal printer wouldn't print well on the kinds of Asian paper used for calligraphy and such. Unfortunately, I didn't have time or budget to contact and arrange for special printing. I'd like to explore the possibilities of printing on special paper in the future though. Instead, I printed on smooth white paper 120 gsm. I liked this because it printed really crisp and the colours would not be altered like tinted paper.

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[grad604-kannonhen]

Essay

Getting feedback from Ezra 1:

Making correct referencing and starting to add imagery to the work. Ezra also commented on a few parts that needed rephrasing or reordering. I was introduced to Zotero for organising references and was directed to the AUT website for clarifying anything with APA 7th.

Getting feedback from Ezra in person:

Because I missed a lot of class time, Ezra kindly offered to meet in person for final feedback. Sorry and thank you:)

I got to clarify a lot of questions in regards to referencing or other phrasings that I was unsure about. Especially things like, do I reference the year the movie was released or the year the still images were released? Because I was referencing many movies or in-person conferences like the AGI Open, it was difficult to get the correct reference.

Quite proud I got just about the middle of the word count:)

[grad604-kannonhen]

Poster development

I originally took a photo but decided who am I without illustrating. So starting to draw over the original image here:

More details and some recolouring. Some items that I could not fit like my guitars or A1 painting boards from high school, I put onto the papers on the wall.

For the final drawing, I wanted to sneak in a dreamy fantasy feel and little parts that if you look closely you can find. I put little characters from the concertina project (because it represents myself and my lifetime). I think this is heavily influenced by Naohisa Inoue (the Japanese painter who creates fantasy-like worlds) and Tekkonkinkreet (with extremely detailed settings and design that can actually be a town).

Instead of just slapping type on I tried using effects to dissolve it a bit like ink. I thought it could work well with the nostalgic atmosphere I'm going for. The second one is where I drew over it to exaggerate the bleed but I don't think it worked well with the poster design.

Laying things out. The type is too closely laid out. The image could be smaller.

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Final design:

Some little changes like adding the Ichigo Ichie or changing font weight of some parts.

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[grad604-kannonhen]

20 elements revised

I will replace one object with the wooden watch that my grandfather gifted me 6 years ago. My grandfather passed away in October and it reminded me of my connection with family and culture. It also made me realise or reconsider many things.

The watch makes me think of time; the 6 years without seeing him in person, 1 year without speaking, 2 months until I got to see him again, and the 1 day I got to see him go.

He had gifted me the watch 6 years ago and funnily enough it recently broke with the seconds hand falling off. It still moves and is on time, but I haven't worn it for a few weeks in case anything else falls off. Now I am back in New Zealand with many more watches from my grandfather, although none of them move or fit me. It's completely a coincidence, but now I'm left with a single watch he gave to me hand to hand that moves but is broken, and heaps of more beautiful watches none working or fitting that I know nothing about. I wish he was there to explain to me how special each is.

 Experiencing the rituals, sutras, and process of cremation first-hand has reminded me of my relationship with Japanese culture. Looking through his room at home, I was astonished at his collection of magazines that were still in good condition despite their age. Through these, I got to know his character and what inspired him throughout the years, and it encouraged me to create timeless works that resonate with the viewers’ characteristics. I still have not digested it fully, but I would like to learn more about the history of my own culture as well as my family. 

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[grad604-kannonhen]

Inspo Akiya Kageichi

Another Japanese illustrator for inspiration:

I really like the flat line-focused illustration style combined with gradients and beautiful colours with a clear theme. The art style reminds me of Muscha and the flat solid colourings from Ukiyo-E Japanese art.

The way the subject matter is incredibly condensed but feels organised in a natural way is interesting and particularly relevant.

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[grad604-kannonhen]

Essay Reference list:

三鷹の森ジブリ美術館フォトギャラリー. (2016, July 21). nippon.com. https://www.nippon.com/ja/views/b05404/

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Answers – Stefan Sagmeister. (n.d.). Work – Stefan Sagmeister. https://sagmeister.com/answers/

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Ichigo Ichie

Senbird Tea, A. (2022, November 23). The meaning of Ichigo Ichie: Making the most of every moment. Senbird Tea. https://senbirdtea.com/the-meaning-of-ichigo-ichie-making-the-most-of-every-moment/

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Miyazaki, H. (Director). (2023). The Boy and the Heron. Studio Ghibli.

Watanabe, A. (Director). (2019). Children of the Sea. Studio 4°C.

Klim type foundry · Untitled sans fonts. (n.d.). Klim Type Foundry. https://klim.co.nz/retail-fonts/untitled-sans/

Hume, D. (1757). "Of the standard of taste" by David Hume. California State University, Long Beach. https://home.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/361r15.html

Studio Ghibli. (2023, September 18). 千と千尋の神隠し. スタジオジブリ｜STUDIO GHIBLI. https://www.ghibli.jp/works/chihiro/#frame

Bootleg -discography-. (2017, November 1). 米津玄師 official site「REISSUE RECORDS」. https://reissuerecords.net/discography/bootleg/

[grad604-kannonhen]

wk10: class work

Initial rough unfinished idea;

Instead of having a coding system, I thought about using the I Spy system where the viewer tries to find the item within the frame. The working title for my essay is Ichigoichie which is a Japanese saying translating to One Chance One Meeting relating to the common themes of Japanese culture and ancestry.

Contextual Inquiry: At the moment it isn't showing enough historical influences. While there is a lot of links to inspiration it feels unorganised and not well integrated. I Spy books might be random compared to all the Japanese influences thought there's a lot of talking about childhood and parental influences? The visual references could be pushed much further through image-making. and typography. Explore more typographic options.

Research Skills: Method and stylistic choice could be considered to make it more connected to influences.

Critical Analysis:

I took inspiration from the Studio Ghibli exhibition of having a desk space of a creator and their assets all laid out naturally:

I also like the dense subject matter that is often seen in traditional Japanese art as well as those from Perimetron.

I want to add more Japanese inspired elements, particularly from the Taisho period design style in which my great-grandmother was born. They tend to have these cool framing with patterns and ornaments along with iconic Japanese typography that is unique to its era.

[grad604-kannonhen]

Wk10

Inspiration: I Spy books

In a way this is a visual inventory right?

I love I Spy books and I used to stare at this for ages as a child. Because I'm talking about some influences of childhood picture books this could be a cool way to gather and create an organised chaos type of inventory.

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[grad604-kannonhen]

AGI

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Taku Satoh's talk was one of my favourite from the AGI Open event where he talked about Hodo-Hodo, just enough design. The Malt Whiskey bottle design project that he introduced was particularly interesting to me. He quotes, "The more unique the shape, the faster it becomes trash, it's just an empty whiskey bottle." But with a stripped back simplistic yet beautiful shape, it is more likely to be reused because it is simply more reusable.

Foreign Policy Design from Singapore.

Kenya Hara is a Japanese designer famous for designing the Muji design system, a member of the Japan Design Committee along with Taku Satoh, and a lecturer.

The project, Architects' Macaroni he talked about was interesting to me and gave a good insight into his philosophy and the roots of his minimalistic designs.

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Stefan Sagmeister:

I studied Sagmeister for the M&M paper the very first one in the first semester of my first year. I remember reading the interview on his website, particularly the section where he talks about beauty, and it felt so familiar and helped me make sense of what I felt about creation. It was bizarre hearing him talk about it in person and it reassured me of my idea of beauty.

Some quotes from the interview that were interesting for me:

"I very strongly believe that the sole pursuit of functionality often leads to work that does not function at all, the public housing projects of the 50ies and 60ies being a prime example: The goal was to house as many people as effectively as possibly resulting in projects that were not fit for human habitation, - they needed to be torn down again 20 years later."

"Beauty is a fantastic strategy when it comes to sustainability. Just look at the Pantheon in Rome, 2000 years old and it is still there, in use, because it is so incredibly gorgeous that no generation had the heart to tear it down. "

"And the wonderful romantic Theophile Gautier even postulated: "Something can only be truly beautiful when it has no function whatsoever. Everything that's truly useful is ugly. The most useful room is the house is the toilet"."

"Richard said very matter of fact: “The purpose of art is to have no purpose.” He also went on to say that a good artist creates a distinct, personal world, and that we, as an audience, are allowed to look into this world, compare it with our own and expand our view."

[grad604-kannonhen]

Wk9

Testing illustration:

30min class exercise:

Ignoring the fact that it is shit, it is inspired by the examples I posted earlier of the animation movie storyboard and encyclopedia pages. Encyclopedia is a neat clear way of organising information but I don't think it relates to me as a creative as much as other formats. The storyboard one, I would then go and ad handwritten notes to replicate the format more.

Yuko Higuchi examples:

Her works are like a massive map of creatures with this unique dreamy dark atmosphere. Her handwriting also has strong characteristics that weaves between illustrations. I love the fluidity of her writing and illustration composition. Though it is probably not fit for long texts.

[grad604-kannonhen]

mid sem objects 4

Choker Necklace from great-grandmother:

My great-grandmother was born in the 15th year of the Taisho period in Japan, the very last year of that period (1926) before it changed to Showa. She unfortunately passed away at the end of last year but I heard many stories about her from my grandfather(her son). I did my research paper in my first year about Taisho design and learned about how design in Japan was revolutionised. In short summary, Taisho era art and design was significant as it was when Western culture started to become widely popularised and mixed with Japanese traditional culture. This created a unique style referred to as Taisho Roman in current days to point to the characteristic balance of the merging of Western and Japanese culture where it has a retro yet modern look. Side note, it is also crazy to think that she was alive at the same time as some of the significant Japanese Bungo novelists (mentioned in Kenshi Yonezu's section)...

Earrings from grandmother:

My grandmother on my father's side gave this to me when I was in Japan for year 9. At that point, I hadn't pierced my ears. This reminds me of my ancestors as I heard stories about her and her marriage with my grandfather who was a Korean man. My grandfather passed away when my father was 14. At her time marrying people from a foreign country was still not welcomed and I heard briefly that this led to a lot of difficulties. It astounds me that whilst all that trouble they still married and their three children led to more children like myself and my cousins. It also reminds me that my family is the only one that moved overseas and I always feel disconnected from my family in Japan. It makes me think of the miracle as well as the fragility of family relations. Now my ears are pierced and this is one of my favourite accessories to wear. I don't know what my grandmother felt giving this to me back then, I hope someday I get to know her a bit more.

Kenji Miyazawa bookmark:

I got this when I went to the souvenir shop at Geibikei Gorge in Iwate prefecture. Geibikei Gorge is one of the locations in the 100 Landscapes Japan selection from 1927 as well as being designated the National Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument since 1923. This location and Kenji Miyazawa are incredibly significant for the culture of my born prefecture in Japan. The image depicted on the bookmark is perhaps his most famous work, the Night of the Galactic Railroad. At first I was simply interested in Miyazawa because he is from the same prefecture as me, but through many other influences such as Hayao Miyazaki, Kenshi Yonezu, or Yorushika, I started taking an interest in Japanese literature. Miyazawa's works have a dreamy children's book type of atmosphere, while also being mysterious and almost creepy. His unique world in his works speaks to both children and adults. It definitely fueled my love for beautiful, nostalgic world-building and the unique atmosphere of Japanese literature.

Key of the old house in Japan:

Before I moved to New Zealand in 2010 I used to live in a tiny house located above a restaurant in Japan. This key reminds me of my grandfather whom I never met. I understand this is a sensitive topic for a lot of people if I really dig into it, but ancestry and culture is a crucial part of my creativity. My grandfather on my father's side as mentioned is Korean, and he was one of the people taken to Japan through war. We were quite poor and the house that we lived in was old and broken down. My grandfather had built the place when he was younger as he worked in a factory, the restaurant was his brother's Korean food restaurant. It's sad that I can't go back to that place anymore as the restaurant has taken over. I got this key when I was in Japan in year 9 and it was perhaps one of the hardest times of my life being in a small town as a foreigner who could barely read textbooks at school, but it's also when I started learning how to learn, to work hard for myself, and do things without being told. It's also when I actually got a chance to communicate with my family members and it felt special being back in my childhood home once again.

Picturebooks?

Other than drawing one of my favourite activities as a child was reading picture books. I've had these since being in my old home in Japan, and it's clear that I was very introverted all my life. One of the first examples of creative illustration and storytelling I had was through these picture books and I think it shows through my current interests and works the impact picturebooks has on me. Some of these are Japanese, but some are translated from foreign countries. My mother is very interested in overseas culture and arts especially those from the UK area. I think her collecting these works for us to see has fed our creativity in a unique way.

The clock on the right-hand side is from my mother who had this since she was a student. It depicts Alphonse Mucha's work on the clock face. Again, my mother was really into art culture from a young age and her influences are very prominent in my upbringing. It is said that Mucha was fond of Japanese art, backed up by the point that Art Nouveau has references to the flat, curved, and decorative nature of Japanese traditional art. Likewise, Japanese art during the Meiji era was also influenced by the style of Mucha. His style had a lasting impact on Japanese manga comics as well.

[grad604-kannonhen]

mid sem objects 3

The two art books:

Tekkonkinkreet art book Shiro:

Tekkonkinkreet is an animation film by Studio 4C, original manga by Taiyo Matsumoto. I was gifted this book for my 18th birthday by my mother and younger sister. The Shiro (meaning white in Japanese, also being the name of one of the main characters) version showcases the background art used in the final movie. Background art of animation movies, particularly hand-drawn ones, has always been one of my core artistic inspirations starting from Studio Ghibli. It has always been a dream of mine to collect art books and this is the first ever one I owned which already makes it incredibly special for me. Tekkonkinkreet has won many awards, one of which is the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year; it incorporates hand-drawn illustrations combined with 3D technology which creates immersive camera movements while keeping the tactile quality of hand-drawn background. The artwork of Tekkonkinkreet stunned me and has affected my creative eye. The old nostalgic broken down cityscape and the density of the place are inspired by actual location in Japan and is depicted in the fictional reality, realistic fiction. It reminds me of the Tokyo Chaotic style named by Perimetron.

Tekkonkinkreet art book Kuro:

I was gifted the Kuro(meaning black in Japanese, the name of the other main character) version this year for my 20th birthday. The Kuro version showcases more of the behind-the-scenes works like the storyboarding process and initial sketches done by the art director of the film, Shinji Kimura. After having looked through the Shiro version first, looking at the sketches that came before all that deepens the world-building and makes it even more immersive. As a viewer we rarely ever get a chance to see the storyboarding process or initial sketches so it was a special experience for me.

Drawing tablets:

Wacom drawing tablet:

Wacom is a Japanese company famous for creating drawing tablets, founded in 1983 having its head office in Saitama prefecture Japan. This is the first ever drawing tablet I bought for myself. It's the smallest size sold from Wacom and honestly, it isn't the easiest thing to use, but it still is special for me because it is what enabled me to start digital drawing. Digital drawing as a medium was a complete change from the traditional paintings and analogue drawings that I did throughout my life up until then, and it has influenced my interest in Japanese internet culture. It led to me looking through many artists online with the same practice and learning from their beautiful works. It was also a tool that was essential for creating some university projects like the concertina or the awareness campaign. It is a beginning and an end to certain chapters of my creative journey and as crucial key object for the development of my illustration practice.

XP-Pen display drawing tablet:

The display drawing tablet was an upgrade from the small tablet. I only got this last year and it was a major turning point in my illustration process and workflow as well as my mindset as a creative. I used to not take illustration very seriously and was only little doodles on the side of school work I didn't want to do, thus why I spent a minimum amount of money for the smallest tablet available. However, as I drew more and more, like any other creative person, I started seeing my limits and lack of technique or skill. I abandoned drawing all the time, and I still do, but purchasing this large tablet marks a change in my efforts and the significance of illustration within myself that it's a good equipment that I own so I must use it up to its potential.

[grad604-kannonhen]

mid sem objects 2

Japanese Omamori charms:

These are Japanese amulets that you can get from both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Shinto and Buddhism are the two major beliefs in Japan and its shrines and temples are still very much treasured and visited in Japan. I heard you are supposed to return them after about a year as the idea is that you borrow the luck temporarily and at the shrines or temples they do the steps to return the luck back to the gods. However, as I can't go to Japan I still have heaps of these at home. I don't know maybe I'm terribly cursed.

Furoshiki Cloth:

A furoshiki is a square piece of cloth that originates from I believe sometime before the 10th century that is used to wrap and carry goods or for decoration. They tend to have traditional Japanese patterns or have lots of significant seasonal prints. I got this right before I first moved to New Zealand back when I was 6. I used it to wrap my clothes and shoved it into the suitcase. It's important for me as it's nostalgic and reminds me of the biggest turning point of my life. It almost feels like a ticket to flip my life around. Japanese traditional patterns and the importance of seasons in its culture fascinate me and I was inspired by it a lot, particularly in the yr1sem1 concertina project and yr2sem1 publication.

Old painting series:

This is the art board from the painting class back in year 13. This is where I started looking into the Impressionist art movement in more depth and practising it through my own works which I think triggered a lot of works and stylistic choices. I also mentioned in the formative presentation that this was heavily inspired by Studio Ghibli or other animation movies and their background art. Still to this day, I take great inspiration from Impressionism and its ideals or concepts. I looked at some other contemporary artists who had a significant impact on me such as Nathaniel Dorsky, Eric Roux-Fontaine, Rex Preston, Toshio Ebine, Naohisa Inoue, Reynier Llanes, etc.

Naohisa Inoue Book:

I first saw Inoue's works through the movie Whisper of the Heart by Studio Ghibli. His works were featured and animated in. a section of the movie and Hayao Miyazaki states that he is very fond of Inoue's paintings. He also created a short film solely inspired by (and used) Inoue's works called Iblard Time (Iblard Jikan). I was personally very influenced by his works, particularly in years 12-13 for painting boards. Furthermore, this has led to my interest in Japanese arts and culture as well as Impressionism. I studied a lot of his painting techniques and applied them to my works. I think it fed my experimental artistic thinking and my love for fantasy and nostalgia.

Concertina Project:

Self-Matters concertina project was the first ever studio paper that we worked on in university and it challenged us to visually express our self-identity. The main keyword that sparked my ideas was 'intangibility' and I approached the design thinking more about non-holdable identities like birthdays, fortune tellings, and Japanese culture. The fact that it was the first project I did in university makes it significant as a major turning point, but it also made me dive extremely deep into my identity and I think it took my thinking to places I had never been before. I think it also has a lot of influences from all of the creatives that I have mentioned so far, even ones that I didn't put in the presentation. It has so much symbolism scattered across the whole concertina that cannot be explained in any few words. As I work through my university degree I keep coming back to this project as it reminds me of my origins in a language that is incredibly personal to me and me only. It's like a treasure box of intangible unspoken stories that I will always hold, perhaps never told.

[grad604-kannonhen]

mid sem - The Single Object

https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/11-05-2021/the-single-object-how-this-pen-was-used-to-highlight-police-racism

this series introduced was really interesting for me especially this one with the pen as well as some others like the Chinese typeface or the staircase. The action the man decided to take and the choice of object, a single pen, I thought was dramatic and interesting.

#Youtube

[grad604-kannonhen]

mid sem objects:

Guitars:

Learning guitar was one of the most significant evolutions of my life. It has led me to my interest in music as well as Japanese culture. Before then I didn't have access to much music or didn't learn about new music. Learning guitar made me want to learn more chords which led me to go look at trending Japanese music that I hadn't known before. This is where I met some of my favourite musicians like Kenshi Yonezu. In the long run, guitar is probably the trigger to digging through YouTube and the internet for music as well as me getting interested in Japanese internet culture. If it wasn't for guitar I probably wouldn't have looked into the various artistic worlds of music or its promotions (like CD covers, MVs, lyrics and its literature/poetry, etc.)

Classical:

A Stag guitar I first got after about a week or two of starting guitar. I remember I was hesitant to say I wanted to learn guitar because I was concerned about its costs, we were never really stable. In my second year of intermediate, I was roaming around the guitar tuition teacher at an expo within the school as I was interested but wasn't sure if I was allowed to when he handed me the form to sign up. I didn't know what to do with the paper so I had it hidden away in my bag for a few days until I gathered up the courage to hand it to my mother. I'm glad I did. I started off with joint sessions with another student as it was cheaper, but my guitar teacher recommended me to do one-on-one lessons as he was surprised by my learning speed. He also recommended me to get a guitar of my own instead of the broken-down school guitars. This classical guitar sounds cheap, and it is cheap, but it's incredibly special to me. It got even more special for me after listening to Ohzora Kimishima, a Japanese guitarist I mentioned a few times through this course, as he also treasures and masters his cheap classical guitar from his childhood.

Acoustic:

An electric acoustic guitar from the British guitar brand Tanglewood. I moved to Japan for a year during year 9, and before I did so I decided to gather up all my bits and scraps of pocket money and get a steel string guitar as an upgrade. It was only less than a year of learning guitar but I was enjoying it so much I was learning like Fleetwood Mac and some advanced songs. My mother helped me with the fund as well and it was the biggest purchase of my life at the time. It's a beautiful guitar and it was the only one left at the store, it felt a bit like when Harry met his wand for the first time. I have a Studio Ghibli solo guitar scorebook and I used to play the whole book with this guitar every day.

Electric:

I only got the electric guitar after about 4 years of playing guitar, again, it is painfully expensive (at least for my broken wallet and heart) so I was hesitant to get one. Compared to acoustic fingerstyle, I'm really bad at electric guitar but starting here I started learning a bit more about rock music and some older bands. It reminded me of how my father was super into Western or English bands from his time.

Kenshi Yonezu albums and CDs:

Discovering Japanese music through guitar and the internet was a major step for me to find Yonezu and Japanese internet culture or its music. If I start listing how many things he has led me to it would be endless. Other Vocaloid producers, Japanese bands, solo musicians, Japanese literature such as Kenji Miyazawa, singers disguising their faces(also strongly from Japanese internet culture), animation studios such as Studio 4C, manga artists, video producers, these are just to name a few categories.

[grad604-kannonhen]

mid sem

Encyclopedia pages:

very clear and organised way of showing multiple components in one page. I like the illustration style and the vintage colours coming through. Not sure if I'd go for such a structured approach but is a good inspiration. Also important to note how each page is clearly categorised and has a theme -> think about categorising objects and how that could lead to potential essay themes or titles.