Design Hero: Kazumasa Nagai
Here is a look through my process for sophomore spring semester 2022 working through the design hero project. We began the project by choosing a design hero and writing an essay about them, collecting research and assets. The four parts include creating a poster, booklet, mobile experience (app), and finally a 1–2 minute animation. The goal was to work through each aspect, improving how we communicate our designer to create a cohesive overall identity that blended our styles along with theirs.
We all chose designers that we looked up to, that we both saw ourselves in and reflected a part of our identity.
This was the most mentally challenging project for me. Partly because it reached me at a point where I myself am trying to navigate through understanding my worth and the type of designer I want to be. As much as the project is a reflection of your design hero, it is also a reflection of you. This was the first time I had the autonomy to decide what I wanted my work to be, and the first time I had to learn to trust myself and what I had learnt so far. I think this is tough, because in actuality, you don’t really know a lot — you are just at the start of your career.
Despite everything, it was an enlightening and painful journey. As I got to know my design hero, I realized he too had been through painful times with his health circumstances etc. As my animation reflects, he realized that it was only through losing himself that he was able to find something amazing in him and in his work.
Part 1: Poster
Design an informational poster for someone who knows nothing about your
design hero. You will gather, curate and craft text, images and typography that best tell the story of your hero and their work. Duration: 2.5 weeks
Research, Story, Mood Board
Why I Chose Him?
I chose Kazumasa Nagai as my design hero for several reasons. There was something that immediately caught my eye with his animal illustrations and designs. I was drawn to his simple, but effective translation of nature and abstractness of his designs. Additionally, I have always loved animals, perhaps for the same reasons. I like personifying things, characterizing them, and making them come to life, it reduces life’s mundanity. I think hearing Kazumasa speak and describe what design was to him, learning about the themes he chooses to focus on and why he does what he does, I admire him, respect him, and relate to him. His character’s bring humor, joy, they make you smile.
Starting with writing the essay was a good edge to begin the research process. A lot of this meant translating interviews and youtube videos from Japanese. The thing that stood out to me the most was that he was 92 years old and still designing. He mentioned that it was design that “gave him the courage to keep going”.
Writing the Essay
Ten Poster Sketches
To start sketching, I thought about compositions I could create that would be intriguing and visually eye-catching. I thought about his use of color in his recent works which is usually limited to singular often primary pops of colors. I found it hard to keep generating ideas and so moving on to a digital medium of sketching was good
Two Poster Sketch Iterations
More idea generations, I began to play with some patterns and textures along with typography. In most of Kazumasa’s work, he doesn’t use a lot of experimental typography and as mentioned in my mood board, a lot of san serifs for titles and it was usually pushed to the corner. I’m wondering whether to embrace that or try to bring in that aspect of it to enhance his designs.
Usually, the focus point of his work was always the illustrations or designs that he had created.
Based on the sketches, we were asked to choose two of our ideas and start developing it further digitally.
Feedback:
- Feels very safe, experiment with the typography and elements
- Try to incorporate the body copy more into your poster design.
- Get all your body text in there so you know what you’re working with.
- The treatment to the illustration is engaging but there is more you can do with it.
I think generally people were more attracted to the first iteration than the second — it had a greater dynamism to it and the black blocks were also effective in drawing the viewers eye downward.
One Poster Iteration
Struggles:
- Feeling stuck, receiving too many opinions and the limiting design constraints is causing me to iterate on a specific idea and then come up with a new one.
- I was too focused in trying to incorporate all of his designs into one poster.
- I feel as though I haven’t developed my eye enough to know what looks and feel right.
Process:
- Right now, I’m focusing on making the poster more engaging. I’m using typography to try to draw the viewers eye across the page.
- Making sure to bring in my style to compliment his style
- I’m noticing that play is a big part of what I’m doing, dragging things in, pushing things out, clustering his works and going from there. It’s also a very messy process, honestly a pretty stressful one as well — one where I’m hoping something works out.
- A grid helps guide and provide structure/constraints.
Thinking about:
- What is the story I’m trying to convey with my poster?
Whats helping right now is having a wide exploration range, pulling assets together and trying what works and what doesn’t.
Big Takeaways from Class and Critiques:
- It’s very nice to have a contrast between large elements and small elements. The juxtaposition draws you in and adds complexity. They are like little easter eggs.
- Think about purpose — why is this timeline structured in a way?
- Find a balance! Not everything has to be eye-catching
- Remember the prompt and guidelines — make sure you have those in first and then work on the rest.
I think I am headed in the right direction.
Peer Reviews:
Final Poster
Iterating and dealing with finer details now. Adjusting kerning and leading, removing complexity and then adding some. Getting final critiques from people around studio + Langston and Yoshi.
Struggles and Thoughts:
- Should I fill up the space on the top right corner or leave room to breathe?
- Fixing tangents was a main problem with the eye illustrations, randomizing the placement of them as well.
- Striking the balance between too much vs. too little in terms of elements in the page i.e. how many of the eye illustrations is the right amount to include. How can I use those to draw the viewers eye around the page.
Reflection:
I think the final poster is cool. It was received well. I like that it has a flow and direction and that there are some fun elements like the fish eating the body copy, the letters interacting with the eye elements. I don’t know if it is complete or not. The portrait got some conflicting opinions — some enjoyed it some did not. Some people liked the white background better. For a first try at this kind of poster, I will say it is alright. I think I also looked at it too long so I can’t really judge it objectively anymore.
Takeaways for the next project:
I’m just starting Part 2 right now, this is what I hope to keep in mind.
- Play is important. Taking risks is scary but fun.
- Organization is key — set yourself up so design comes easy. Small things such as changing the color value of images before you start, packaging files etc. helps reduce the chaos.
- Maybe just embrace the messiness and uncertainty of it?
- Learn how to trust yourself
Part 2: Booklet
Design a booklet for someone who knows nothing about your design hero.
You will gather, curate and craft text, images, typography and several other
elements to tell the best story of your hero and their work. How do you make
a publication that both delights and resonates with your audience, while also
informing and educating them?
I found it hard to jump into creating books sketches right after completing the poster. Having never designed a book before I was also very unfamiliar with the formatting and sizes that would be a good fit for the medium. I did manage to figure out some stylistic elements I wanted to include — I wanted to bring back that eye illustration motif and add little elements of fun as well.
Primary Visual Exploration:
- Addressing information collected
- Playing with ideas, creating moods and layouts
Visual Explorations
more experimental, what is the story you are trying to tell?
I am feeling a little stuck here — this part of the project is always the toughest and the part where it is easy to give up but worth it to keep trying.
A Story Breakthrough
Spending the day at the library was really helpful. I reread some of the books I had borrowed about my designer and found a story about him and how he had gotten lost in a forest as a young child and how it was a traumatizing but impactful experience that encouraged him to explore unknowns.
The book framed it in a great way — him getting lost in the wilderness made it so he could figuratively trap the wilderness through his later works. It took him a while to transition from his commercial working style but he finally found himself as he grew older. Now, at the age of 92, he is able to freely express himself and his ideas.
I created this “logo” that metaphorically represented him finding himself. I like the circle metaphor because he too has sort-of come full circle in a sense. I want to bring that idea in my mobile experience as well — circles on a circular path.
Cover Explorations
Book Iteration 2
Langston gave me some great feedback about my ideas and helped me understand the typesetting and type system better. I think I have all my bases covered and now I just need to iterate and improve the ideas I have. I am thinking about reintroducing some of that humor and wit that exists in his work as well. I think that could be thing that will tie this in better.
Back to sketches:
Version 1:
Version 2:
Part 3: Mobile Experience
Design a digital, screen-based experience for someone who knows nothing about your designer.You will gather, curate and craft text, images, typography, user interface elements, and several other elements to tell the best story of your hero and their work.
Site Map and Wire Frame
I began thinking about how to translate my visual system into a mobile experience. I think the eye illustrations work well as they afford interaction. I broke down the site map into sections and thought about the information flow to guide the viewer through his work.
Part 4: Animation!
Finding and editing the sound was the first step to this process. I already identified an interview clip from a 2020 zoom interview with Kazumasa Nagai. Next, I had to find music to accompany the interview and also edit and cut the clips.
I was looking for sounds that I would describe to be light, intriguing, and magical, to embed some suspense but also reflect his connection to nature and the forest.
The obvious choice was to pick a song by a Japanese artist, which I did include, however, I do think that it’s much more interesting when you stray away from what fits and try to create contrast and dimension. When used intentionally, the unexpected is usually more delightful and impactful.
I always loved Mort Garson’s instrumental album Mother Earth’s Plantasia which was said to be “music for plants”. I think it was the right sentiment for my designer’s work and I chose the song Rhapsody in Green to support the video.
Final Animation:
