T-1 WORLD CUP/English » Talk session




Which one is going to win?_Part3

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The final volume of the special discussion for T-1 from
Zenta Nishida, an assistant editor of “Casa BRUTUS”.
Risa Tanaka, an editor of “Senden Kaigi”.
And Ureshka, chief editor of onlile design magazine “Pingmag“.

Which T-shirt is going to be a winner?
How are those three specialists foreseeing ?
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──

Finally, I would like to ask you this question.Which T-shirts do you think to win?

Uleshka

Whoa! (laugh)Well, even though this is a design competition, still they have their own concepts.For example, if I get to know about the meaning of Taku Sato’s “104.5°”, I might be interested in it and buy it and……

Nishida In fact, there is no project talked so much about T-shirts!
一同 Hahahahahaha.
Nishida

That’s is true, it’s even too much. (laugh)

There are resumes, interviews and profiles…

I would read it if everything is taken care of like this well.

You can follow so far the meaning of graphics or an individual designer to buy T-shirts.

Also there might be people who buy their favorite designs at their first sight.

I thought why Tom has won last year was because of the color of hemline.

But he didn’t do it for this time.

Uleshka Oh, I see.
Nishida

From watching Tom’s T-shirt and Kashiwa’s (who won the second prize last year) “Peace” T-shirts,

I can kind of see the tendency.

Uleshka Yes.
Nishida Everybody buy simple stuff.
Tanaka Every single of them is nice but if I think of wearing it.
Nishida There are some levels.
Tanaka

For this tournament, you should go through the levels of the design, the concept, the designer and the fact if it really looks good on you or not and think of it.
I really can’t guess.But from the cuteness, it might be Kam Tang’s.

── Does it mean you would like to wear?
Tanaka

I think so.I feel like both of men and women would think it is cute.And Taku’s T-shirt is there might be people who would like to be asked, “What is the number?” and those people will buy it. (laugh)

── Talking about cuteness, we have received pretty a lot of e-mails from readers, and they like Tsuguya Inoue’s T-shirt.
Uleshka

Uh…

This is difficult….

Nishida How about choosing 4 of these T-shirts that seems going to the final match.
Uleshka If Japan were the host of this world cup, I guess Gugi’s T-shirt would win but…
Nishida This T-shirt is such a tricky play. (laugh)
Tanaka Yes. (laugh)
Nishida

Fukasawa, Tom, Mimi, Yanai and Nando.

These are my guess.

What about you, Uleshka?

Uleshka Well, I’m thinking…. (laugh)
Nishida What does the back of Katsunori Aoki’s T-shirt say?
── “Japan”.
Nishida

Okay, and there is a rising carp…

How about you, Tanaka?

Tanaka I would say Fukasawa, Kam Tang and Taku…
Nishida ほう。
Tanaka

And I’ve seen a T-shirt like Nando’s that people from Japanese soccer team was making it and wearing it.

I wonder whether the design affects soccer funs or not.

The message of Yanai’s T-shirt “OREKOKO (I’m here)” can be effective, too.

── Did you decide it, Uleshka?
Uleshka

I’ve chosen Fukasawa, Katsunori Aoki, Phunk studio, Hamansutra and Nando.

Personally, I love the Kinga’s Chopin, too, but it’s not much about soccer.

──

Everyone has voted to Fukasawa.

Two of three you guys have voted to Nando and Mimi.

Nishida Nando’s and Mimi’s T-shirts have a sensitive atmosphere, so women can wear it, too.
Tanaka

Yeah, you are right!

Actually, thinking of buying it. (laugh)

Uleshka On the other hand, I couldn’t decide about Fukasawa’s T-shirt, because the impression is womanly.
──

So, you thought about “How is this for men?”.

For your information, the print of backside of the Phunk studio’s T-shirt is reverse of black and white.

Uleshka

Oh! That’s cool!

Really?

──

And the tag of the Stefan’s “NEW YORK CITY” T-shirt got a picture of John Lennon.

Nishida That’s intense, too!
──

What do you think of Jun Aoki’s T-shirt?

Nishida

Fukasawa’s T-shirt could be taken too womanly and vice versa, Mimi Son’s T-shirt is really cute but it can be only for women.

Talking like this, Jun Aoki’s T-shirt can be barely worn by men.

But if the audience rate of the world cup soccer were high, it would be the Kam Tang T-shirt! (laugh)

Uleshka

If you are a soccer fun, you can’t ignore the Phunk studio and the Nando.

If you are not a soccer fun much and like cool T-shirts, it’s going to be Katsunori Aoki, Kinga or Hamansutra.

Jun Aoki’s design is really beautiful and nice but if you were not Japanese, the sensitivity would be hard to understand…

──

Well, it’s difficult to choose only one of them for a champion…

Nishida

It can’t be chosen for just the design of T-shirts straightforward. Besides that, you have to think of “Hobonichi” readers and a viewpoint from abroad, it’s a hard work. (laugh)

──

Sorry. (laugh)

Nishida

But there are winning or losing for T-1, so the result is coming out anyway a month later.

──

That’s why we are so excited.

Uleshka

That’s true.

I’m getting excited, too.

After thinking all of this. (laugh)

Nishida

It was difficult as was expected.

Making a wrong guess is kind of ashamed so everybody was scared. (laugh)

Tanaka It can be the T-shirt we didn’t even mention about would win. (laugh)

2006/6/20

Which one is going to win?_Part2

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We present a second volume of the special discussion for T-1 from
Zenta Nishida, an assistant editor of “Casa BRUTUS”.
Risa Tanaka, an editor of “Senden Kaigi”.
And Ureshka, chief editor of onlile design magazine “Pingmag“.

How those three specialists see the “Tokyo design” ?

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── For this year’s T-1, designers are participated from worldwide-13 countries. How do you guys feel about “Tokyo design”?
Tanaka Talking about Japanese advertisement, the movement like getting a Clio Award this year is becoming visible little by little. Speaking with tendency, advertisements with smaller tricks are getting more attention than fancy advertisements from abroad. Even our editorial office gets the request from Netherlands and Sweden for having a chance to see Japanese creators. I’m realizing Japan is being watched and getting attention.

Nishida ago, so it’s not like Japan is getting attention now particularly. But following them, people like Tadao Ando who trained and had a carrier in commercial architecture came up… And now, 30-60years old architects are blended together and fight and help each other. That is the situation.
So, I thought it was an interesting approach choosing architects for participants.
── We also were excited about the way architects who usually make 3D objects draw their design on T-shirts that is 2D campus.
Nishida Besides that, for example now, people like Kashiwa Sato who is mainly successful in 2D field try to expand their places to a direction of architect.
The border between fields of design may be getting unclear.
Tanaka That’s true.
Nishida For design people, drawing a line for their stage is getting more harder.
Especially after the 90s, non-professional people started to do graphic and make books…that kind of thing became easier and also is an interesting point of Tokyo, I think.
── I see.
Nishida On the other hand, it is severe for graphic designers because graphic is not only for them anymore. For example, we couldn’t think of product designers design T-shirts 10 years ago and even if they did it, I guess that nobody cared. Also there was no media for pulling it together.
── Sure. You might be right.
Nishida Different backgrounds people fight against each other just for under the rule of “T-shirts”… We can say that is why it has got to be “T-shirts”.
No one can take advantage of it.
Tanaka Right.
Nishida And it doesn’t translate to everyone even if you say you made an advertisement for SMAP, because occupations, ages and even nationalities of the audience are different.
It’s amazing that even a name like Kashiwa Sato doesn’t mean anything.
Tanaka Last year’s theme was “T-shirts that everyone wants to wear”, so creators thought about “What do they want to wear?” for the first place.
But this time, I feel more of “spirits of designers”, and there might be conflict between “This kind of T-shirt is cool.” “I want them to wear a T-shirt like this.” feelings and “ Be honest, I want to be chosen.” like-feeling.
── Yes.
Tanaka So, I have a comment that everybody have determined about that part of things and made designs for this T-1. Because of that, it seems more difficult but more than that, it’s really fun to look at.
There were some T-shirts that impression was unexpected. “Kashiwa did it like this for this time.” or “Yanai, I couldn’t imagine this”.
── Was Yanai’s T-shirt unexpected?
Tanaka Yes, pretty much it was.
Nishida What does it mean?
── The name is “OREKOKO T (I’m here T)”…
Nishida Oh, There is Japanese map on the part of a heart.
── Adding for it, if you go abroad, you can ask, “Where is your country?” and are pointed.
Nishida I see. For that reason, I’d like him to remake it when borders changes every single time.
Tanaka Yeah. (laugh)
Nishida You can recognize that T-shirt is from 3 years ago.
“This country is already gone now.” Like this. (laugh)
Tanaka Both of Gugi Akiyama and Katsunori Aoki love soccer, so they made images like this with hearts a full of cheering.
── Only Ayumi Ohashi used “Japan Blue”.
Tanaka Thinking about that, it feels weird other Japanese designers didn’t use it.
── Is there any reason for many of T-shirts on white?
Nishida Well, I guess it is going to be white if you want to win.
Jun Aoki might have thought about it.
Various kinds of T-shirts would appear; so white might be turn to be stuck out.
── Silas’s design, it’s on the satellite…
What is the meaning of “Happy Ending” which was attached to the T-shirt’s design?
Uleshka This is NASA’s design.
There is a soccer field and inside of it, there are Adam, Eve and some balls, “Happy Ending”.
Does it mean happy ending when the game ends?
── Oh, I see!
If I hear that, I can see like that!
Nishida If it’s so, I wanted them to have soccer balls, and then I could understand.
一同 Hahaha.
── Who is the person you’ve known through an interview, Uleshka?
Uleshka Stefan Sagmeister, Naoto Fukasawa, Kam Tang, Oded Ezer, Erik Spiekermann…Tom Vincent, of course. (laugh)
── How is Nando Costa?
Uleshka I know him pretty much.
── What do you think the Nando Costa’s motif expresses?
Uleshka Green color is maybe a soccer field and as well as a color of Brazil. Nando uses this “hand” motif a lot in these days. It’s like a puppet. And the meaning can be that “who has a right to control?”
Tanaka Oh, I see.
Uleshka We have an image for Brazil as “a country of soccer power”.
Using that Brazil color but at the same time, maybe he wanted to put many meanings like “Who is the strongest for real?” or “Who controls Brazilian soccer?” “Does soccer control Brazil?” and made this design.
Nishida Anyway, we usually don’t have an opportunity to discuss about T-shirts like this. (laugh)
Tanaka It seems like we can talk about it forever. (laugh)
── Mimi Son from Korea drew “ heart” in Korean.
Uleshka In this case, does the “heart” have a nuance like “my country”? Mimi is very powerful and energetic woman. She gave a birth in recent, and maybe that’s why the heart is drawn.
I can’t understand well the Ayumi Ohashi’s T-shirt…
── These are Japanese “wave” and “sun”.
In the back, there is “Mt. Fuji”.
Tanaka Those Japanese symbols are used as a motif, so it’s really easy to understand for Japanese people. (laugh)
Uleshka Oh! I got it.
── Maybe it’s easier to understand a T-shirt from your own country.
The Hamansutra’s T-shirt seems wanting a description.
Uleshka He is a fashion designer who was making clothes for German military forces.
He actually had a background of studying making military clothes and makes really crazy clothes.
Nishida Is this a baby?
Uleshka Yes.
This baby is a dummy for crash experiments.
Nishida Ah-huh, the crash experiments for cars.
That is little bit grotesque…
If I look at it carefully, it seems like the baby wears a seatbelt.
Uleshka He was born in Germany and studied in London…
He is a designer being famous in many countries and has a complicated nationality.
His design is freely and aggressive, though.
── Is that from his experiences living in many countries?
Uleshka I don’t know about that.
Klein Dytham architecture’s T-shirt says “Let’s foreign”,
They make a joke about their selves being in Japan.
Nishida How should I get this meaning?
Does it mean, “Let’s being a foreigner.” or “Let’s go abroad.”?
Uleshka I can’t say.
“Let’s” is not used in correct grammar.
── The back print of the T-shirt has a hint.
In Katakana, “Foreigners are great (I’m not scared of foreigners.)!”.
Nishida Ah-huh!
I understand that kind of nuance from it.
── And the motifs are a thing for Matcha and an English teacup.
That makes a “Tea” shirt. (laugh)
Tanaka Tea shirts, okay.(laugh)
Uleshka He’s playing with words.
However, I think the Usman’s T-shirt is hard to tell his nationality.
── Kam Tang, too.
Tanaka This one is cute.
Uleshka Yes, it is cute.
Oded’s design is very interesting, too. We rarely see Hebrew words and the character by itself is really experimental, so actually I think we can’t read it.
── Oded also works on 3D objects.
Uleshka Yes. He makes typography in 3D and creates an object looked like an insect.
He is so famous in his country, Israel.
Nishida I was looking at these T-shirts one by one, but these designs are really sharp for the project of “Hobonichi”.
Is this really for “Hobonichi”?
That’s why it is so interesting.
It is like “They come to a field like this.”
── Those designers are from various fields, so there is not much of T-shirt-ish T-shirts.
Nishida From that aspect, the biggest thing is like I said that borderlines are getting unclear.
If the design by itself is strong enough, even when it’s categorized “T-shirts” for example, all sorts of people who have titles can get together at one point.
Tanaka And you can pick anything if you simply like it without knowing about the designer. That is T-1.
Nishida T-1’s system makes it work.
They keep going in a right way.
It’s weird way of saying but I think you shouldn’t do something that can’t be a business.
It’s not good if you do just singing and having fun.
You should pay an incentive fee for makers and give buyers satisfaction…
Uleshka Especially, people who bought the champion T-shirt can have pleasure of being in first place. It’s got some essence of gambling.
Nishida So, my conclusion is “the important thing is a system. That’s it.” And you get all these people who can do “sharp ” things for their designs together.I’m impressed for that point.

[To be continued]

2006/6/19

Which one is going to win?_Part1

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From an architecture field,
Zenta Nishida, an assistant editor of “Casa BRUTUS”.
A specialist of advertisement,
Risa Tanaka, an editor of “Senden Kaigi”.
And Ureshka, chief editor of onlile design magazine “Pingmag“.

Those three of specialists represented their fields got together
and we had let them talk free about this T-1 world cup.

From today, we present almost everything of the talk session in three parts.

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── Today, since three of you guys are here, we expect to develop a conversation and hopefully in the end, we can forecast a champion.
First of all, please look at these T-shirts and tell us their first impressions.
Tanaka This time is more difficult to choose one; there are more designers than last time.
Wearing your own country’s designer’s T-shirts and cheering your country is one of the concepts, isn’t it?
── It is.
Nishida You’ve approached to architects this time. Jun Aoki, Klein Dytham architecture and Usman Haque, three of them.
── As the assistant editor of “ Casa BRUTUS”, Nishida, what is your impression for Jun Aoki’s T-shirts.
Nishida I don’t know how to say but the T-shirts is just like him.
── Where is the point that made you think like that?
Nishida It doesn’t play too much. But can’t you see everything if you don’t see the backside of the body?
This line goes to the back. Is this line a thread or something?
── Oh my, you are very quick thinking! That’s right.
If the name of this T-shirts tells you anything, “Stitched”.
Nishida This T-shirt can be said architectural, but more than that, I think Aoki has some spirit of playing trick. He doesn’t try to surprise you too much. This T-shirts is not that simple even though it’s pretty much all white.
Tanaka Yes, the more I see it, the more I understand that.
── What is your first impression, Uleshka?
Uleshka It is interesting that I can kind of figure out where the designer comes from by seeing the T-shirt at glance.Another thing is the fact that many of them are based on white. It made me think that it might be a one kind of approach for design to make it on white.
── This time, the number of the country of the representative designers is a lot, but their occupations are in much variety, too.
Uleshka It is really fun to see the design from the different point of view. That Chopin’s T-shirt by Kinga has such a crazy idea (laugh).
Hamansutra’s T-shirt is condensed his elements so much.
Tanaka Phunk Studio’s T-shirt is very interesting, too.
Uleshka It looks like an old adidas design. My younger brother used to wear a T-shirt like this.
Anyway, gathering all these designers for this project impresses me.
── As T-1 is a tournament, what do you think is the point of this competition?
Uleshka This time, T-1 is held for a same period of the world cup, so I think that people would have a feeling of cheering your own country’s representative designer.
All these creators have brought their own messages in those T-shirts so much and have made the image.
Tanaka Yes, they are.
Uleshka So how buyers get the message and vote to which T-shirt…
That part can be determined the fate of this competition.
── I see.
Tanaka It seems like the feeling for this T-1 is getting stronger for those designers from the 1st T-1.
Nishida I would like to ask one question, how did you imagine about the measure that people have to pick those T-shirts when you decided this theme?
── The feeling of wanting cheering your own country’s designer might be strong, but we have expectation for this becoming “a game of design” in the end.
Nishida Ah-huh…okay.
The point is the battle among the designers.
── Of course, we think there might be 2 kinds of people who pick the T-shirt because of their country where you from or simply want to cheer the design of it…
Nishida The T-1’s rule that the most sold designer becomes winner is very fantastic.
Why I think that is not everyone chose the T-shirt from the name of the designer but the design of it faithfully.
That structure of T-1 might be loveliness and interesting.
Tanaka That’s right.
Nishida For example, you see the people who wear same T-shirts on the street that can be happened to you. Designers have some conflict about that, too. They don’t want the T-shirt to be a “uniform” but want many people to buy it. (laugh)
── For example, you see the people who wear same T-shirts on the street that can be happened to you. Designers have some conflict about that, too. They don’t want the T-shirt to be a “uniform” but want many people to buy it. (laugh)
Tanaka It is fun if you can be sympathize with someone from the fact two of you have voted to a same T-shirt.
It’s like, “Oh, you’ve voted for this T-shirt, too” feeling. Feeling of togetherness.
── If there is a difference from another T-shirt’s events, where do you think it is, Tanaka?
Tanaka From seeing the last year’s 1st T-1, I recognized again that T-shirt is a “media”.
And choosing T-shirts is more challenging for your own than choosing other kinds of clothes by the part of the meaning of which print and what kind of thing you would pick to wear for your good.
Nishida Yes, yes.
Tanaka So, for me, watching T-1 made me think which T-shirt I would choose or want to know so much which one that person would pick.
I have bottomless interest for that part.
Uleshka Last year, the judgment of “I want it!” was self-centered but this time, I would more care about the statement besides the design by itself.
── Including that, which T-shirt is in your mind, Tanaka?
Tanaka Umm…it is very difficult to choose only one from all of these…
Naoto Fukasawa’s T-shirt is made of Japanese flag using a rose, and then which is also a soccer ball. Various elements are condensed.
Nishida Oh, I see!
── The name of the T-shirt is “BARA IRO (a rose color)”, too.
Tanaka I can see something like an adult’s “cheering heart”. (laugh)
── I bet there is some different impression from your point of view, isn’t there Uleshka?
Uleshka Well…
I think the reason of Erik Spiekermann designed along soccer was influenced strongly by his country German is being a host of this world cup.
This design is really serious and simple but also humorous.
── That is an analytical comment.
Uleshka I know some of these designers directly.
Therefore I can see their personalities in some of these T-shirts.For example, Usman Haque.
He is interested in experimental design and love technology…
I can really see he might struggle so much and designed it.
Here are some little dots, if you coat with the magic marker that makes a gimmick of changing design. This is who Usman is, very much so.
── I see.
Uleshka He calls himself an architect, but he goes far from it. He actually tries to make electromagnetic field and generate the smell by using technology and stuff.
Tanaka Nishida knows many designers in architecture and product design fields in large part.
Nishida Well, I’ve talked at interview with Naoto Fukasawa, Gugi Akiyama, Jun Aoki, Shin Sobue and Taku Sato…
Tanaka What do you think to see those T-shirts made from those people?
Nishida At first I was thinking that Fukasawa’s design was motif of atom or something like that.
I was reading a book about quantum theory.
I was like” This subject is coming now.” (laugh)
Taku Sato’s design was also “104.5degree”,
So, I believed “the time is sciences from now on!”
Because of that, when I heard that is rose, I was shocked. (laugh)
── Okay.(laugh)
Nishida Last year, when Taku designed a cell phone, I did a panel talk session with him but talking with him was so much fun and exciting.This time, the design “104.5degree” is also interesting.
But if someone asks me about the meaning of it, it’s not cool if I can’t explain it well.
So, this T-shirt needs courage to click the purchase button, I suppose. (laugh)
Everyone Ha ha ha ha ha.
── Fukasawa, Taku Sato and Jun Aoki are participated so…
Nishida This time, it seems difficult and also fun “Casa BRUTUS”-wise. (laugh)
But, maybe my eyes caught Sobue’s and Kashiwa’s T-shirts first.
And of course, Gugi Akiyama’s, too.
Although, Gugi makes Jun Aoki build his house, so at least when he hangs out in his house, I think he should wear Aoki’s T-shirt. (laugh)


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