Taku Satoh - graphic design

22 Aug 2005 Category: Features, Graphics, Japan, Recommended, Top Page 10

Today’s guest is Mr Taku Sato. Mr Sato is a well-known graphic and product designer in Japan, famous for his work with Lotte on their iconic chewing gum brands, the Oishii Gyunyu milk brand and a host of other popular Japanese products.

IMG SRC met Sato-san at a design conference about 2 years ago and we have enjoyed a good relationship ever since. He is something of a “design hero” in Japan, and we are very happy to have him here for this seminar! Today, Sato-san will talk a little about his particular approach to design.

First, Sato-san talks a little about a brand new mobile phone he has designed for Japanese communications giant Docomo, which many members of IMG SRC are looking forward to seeing in stores.

This is the FOMA P701iD. About a year ago Docomo contacted him and asked him to supervise the design of a new phone. Like Docomo’s competitor AU - who has a similar focus-group for designing special models - Docomo was looking to create a stylish phone, with real “designer’s” flair.

First, Sato-san says he made a mock-up. A goal during this stage was to make something that did not resemble regular mobile phones. The reason for this was to provoke interest - if someone sees an unusual shape in a sea of similar shapes in a phone shop, they are more likely to become curious and seek more information on that particular model.

Unfortunately, Sato-san cannot show us the mock-up due to the non-disclosure agreement he has signed but he can tell us that the main theme during the design stage for this new phone was “light”…

In the design stage, thinking how to incorporate the theme of “light” was quite difficult.

What should the screen look like? You can’t just make things cool or small at a cost of usability, it needs to be easy for everyone to use. Other communications companies were also undertaking this kind of high-level design project, but with a more design-oriented approach. For this project, Docomo, collaborating with Panasonic (the chosen manufacturer) and Sato-san, wanted to take a more user-oriented approach.

Sato-san shows us the new phone, the FOMA P701iD.

It’s a very cubic model with sleek lines and a minimalist feel. It comes in 3 colours, white, black and coral. Very sexy. Even for a phone.

Docomo decided that this should become part of the new 700 series of Docomo phones. The 700 series focuses on usability over the introduction of new features. However, during the design stage Sato-san thought this “square” look might not appeal to general users such as office ladies (a big market!).

The Panasonic designer that Sato-san was collaborating with suggested that they make 2 variations in body style.

Sato-san tells us he literally spluttered and said “wow, can we do that? really?” - such an idea would be very original and had the potential to be something special. Panasonic had to consider a lot of factors such as cost, marketability, risk etc but finally it was decided that they would make 2 varieties, a square and a more rounded version - the difference between them being only very subtle, but very beautiful at the same time.

To incorporate the theme of “light”, there is a large light on the front face that appears to come from nowhere (underneath the plastic body) - this can be used as a signal for new mails or incoming calls etc. It pulses smoothly on and off, instead of simply “flicking” on and off, and pulses in time to sound.

Inside, the main screen’s menu is basic and again, focuses on usability. Other phones (and indeed, other Docomo phones) use bright 3D graphics and things that jump out at you etc, but Sato-san felt that for this project, a different approach was needed.

For the wallpapers and screensavers, a selection of illustrations and artworks created by Sato-san himself are available for display.

Another nice feature is a clock which is assembled from little pieces in a smooth vector animation when you open the phone, to show the current time. When you send a mail you are treated to 3D vector animations in simple black and white, of a mail being sent.

In 1984 at 28 years old, Sato-san left the Japanese media giant Dentsu to work freelance. His last project with Dentsu involved a popular brand of whiskey called “Pure Malt”, the goal being to create a whiskey that would not only be satisfying to consume, but would be proud to give as a gift.

Concerning the bottle, he thought it is better not to “overdesign”. Whiskey drinkers are a said to be quite resolute in their drinking habits and making something that was too far from a regular design would probably be detrimental.

Another aim was to make the bottle reusable, both in terms of attractiveness and in terms of usability. It also had to have an appearance such that people would look at it and instantly think “hmmm I could use this for something!”.

The bottle uses a simple lid which after you remove, you replace with a cork (included). This makes it easy to store things inside after you drink the whiskey. Also, after you remove the label, there is nothing else on the bottle, making it easy to see what is inside - perfect for storing things (examples given were things like dry pasta, lentils etc).

For Sato-san, “design” is about thinking about experiences. For example, for Pure Malt he thought hard about the entire process of a customer finding the product in a store, right down to them finishing the whiskey and throwing away the bottle - and in this case, they don’t throw it away.

1992, at 36.

Around this time, Sato-san designed the money tray for Fuji Bank (Japan is a very cash-based society and a lot of bank transactions are done in cash, which is placed on trays during transactions). He would often think that money trays at banks were far too big - they didn’t seem to fit any particular size, as they were much bigger than bank books, much bigger than notes and of course much bigger than coins.

His solution for a better money tray was to create a tray with high sides that prevented things from slipping out, with a size tailored to fit the size of bank notes and bank books. Also, the design enabled you to stack the trays neatly. The final touch - a small groove in the middle of the tray which enabled customers to place their inkan (personal seal, used in Japan instead of a signature) without it rolling all over the place.

His next major project was in 1994, for the now all-conquering Lotte confectionary company. At that time he was supervising the renewal of one of their brands of gum - “Cool Mint” chewing gum.

Sato-san tells us it was hard to think of how to create a “new feel” in such a small space. One thing to remember was that small changes were better (and more possible) than big changes, for example maybe putting a subtle reflective backing pattern on the pack so people think “ah, something’s changed..”.

Sato-san’s “eureka” moment was when he noticed how chewing gum is sold in stores. Usually when you see chewing gum in a shop, you will not only see one side - you will see two, the “top” and the side facing you, as they are stacked on the shelf.

Improving on the original design which had a picture and the logo squeezed together on the top side, Sato-san created a new design with a “logo” side and a “picture” side. Now when you see the gum in a store you can clearly see the two different sides of the design, the logo side where the product name and manufacturer are shown, and the picture side, showing the signature penguin illustration.

An idea that he brought from the original design was the “little details”. On the original packet, the tiny picture depicts a picture of a penguin and a whale. However, only people who look very closely will notice the tiny details, such as the fact that the whale’s spout splits into two, or that it flows to the right.

This is the kind of thing that enables the product to not just be a food product, but something to aid communication - the sort of thing you would use to break ice “hey, did you know that the whale’s stream breaks into 2?”.

To carry on this idea, on the new design of the penguin illustration, there are very tiny variations in their poses, which serve a similar purpose - to create a talking point, to create a little bit of interest.

It makes sense then that people would think if there is something to spot on the Cool Mint brand, there is something to spot on the Green Gum brand which uses a similar line of 5 trees… but there is nothing!

At age 40, an interesting project Sato-san undertook was the design of a new line of tupperware. The point about this new line was that different shaped containers could fit into each other. Usually you get tupperware of the same shape (e.g. circular) that all store away neatly inside each other. For this project Sato-san created a design that enabled square and circular containers all to fit inside each other.

We’ve just been revealed a secret! One of the package styles of Tirolean (another product designed by Sato-san) has 5 characters on the front and no words at all…did you know that if you look closely, you can see these 5 characters are saying “Tirolean” (”Chi”, “Ro”, “Ri”, “A”, “N” - 5 Japanese syllables)! Please tell your friends :)

Sato-san finishes the seminar by apologising profusely for going so far over the allotted time. IMG SRC responds by giving him a long round of applause. Over time? We hadn’t even realised! - thanks for such an entertaining seminar, Sato-san. Sato-san is a highly animated speaker and had so many interesting things to show us - on behalf of IMG SRC, thank you so much for coming!

Transcript by Jon

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