As many catholic kids, I had my first communion when I was 10. I received many presents from friends and relatives, most of them were books and clothes. But the one present that I liked the most was a digital wrist watch, a Casio that could play 12 different melodies. I loved wearing it, it felt like having the future in my wrist. If you turned it back you could see it: “Made in Japan”. It always kept me wondering how marvelous would be that country where they made such amazing objects. I was so fond of the watch that I decided that one day, when I grew up, I would not just wear such things but visit Japan and be part of those privileged who made them, who made the future. That was the dream of a 10 year old.
I’m 36 now and I run an interaction design studio. I’ve decided that we are going to work in Japan.
Yes, Vostok Studio is going to Japan. Not as tourist as in the previous trips but as designers who want to work there, for the Japanese, with the Japanese, among the Japanese. Japan has been giving us many things for many years. Now it’s time to give back and to be part of the beautiful renaissance that will come from a country which always teaches us, excites us and recently made us cry.
No good designer can ignore the influence of Japanese culture in our doing: Japanese gardens, Casio, Sony, Sega, Bandai, martial arts, Muji, Panasonic, sushi, zen, Seiko, Toyota, anime, Gundam robots, Naoto Fukasawa, Kenya Hara, and many other inspiring names and brands…
Japanese commitment to quality and perfection, the craftmanship, the sense of beauty and balance, their integrity… These are values that we pursue as well at Vostok. I believe we share a common ground in a perfect momentum. We cannot be more excited about this.
We could go on and on, listing all the references we have, all the brands and designers we admire, all the achievements… And yet, we still feel there is an opportunity to contribute to a better interaction design in Japan. The country has had always great engineers and a society that is tolerant to the downsides of engineer driven products. The arrival of the iPhone to the country showed that their society welcomes well designed interfaces and experiences. Will there be room for us?
Expanding the activity of a design studio to a different country is tough. It is unusual for a small company born in Spain to go international and still want to remain small. Our road is paved with insecurities and doubts on what to do and how to do it. But we are serious about this. We’ve been working on the move for some time now, both from Madrid and Tokyo. Our people there have been translating and adapting many of our materials, case studies and videos so we can better explain what we do to our potential Japanese clients. We felt that translating was not enough so we decided to go even further, to have a stable presence there. That is the job of Eri Kageyama and Dani Alías, two excellent professionals who swim confident in the seas of design. Karyna Wallace has also been of great help. Being a western fashion and fabrics designer who has lived in Japan for a decade, she knows her deeds there and she has been willing to share them with us. The work and help of these marvelous people plus the unquestionable commitment of my team make me feel confident.
So here I am in a Japan Airlines plane that will land in Haneda Airport in four hours. The cabin is dark, people are sleeping but I can’t rest. I’m excited like a kid before his first day at High School. This is by far the most important move we’ve taken as a studio since we were born, five years ago, and it’s about to become real. Starting in Japan has been a bold and risky decision. It is also a great investment in time, money… and love above anything else.
