Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization

Information design is by no means a new field of design. Owing to the fact that the objects of conventional design have invariably incorporated aspects of information design, high-quality design has often been possible. However, changes of transmitted information and of the media through which such information passes have resulted in the more complex design, for instance in connection with the design of software interfaces. This means that an environment is now necessary for designers, design companies and clients to direct their attention consciously toward information design. It often happens that more time and money are required to solve the highly complex problems designers are facing. The perspective afforded by information design is effective in enabling us to appreciate the specific design problems. Adoption of a perspective based on information design further enables us to review conventional design from a fresh angle and to create designs of higher quality.
In this report, Suguru Ishizaki, a researcher into kinetc typography who is principal designer with Future Tense, Inc., considers the importance and potential of information design.

Suguru Ishizaki, Principal Designer, Future Tense, Inc. (Boston)

Erik Spiekerman suggests that we need to have more attention to the essence of design through "information design", especially in connection with the transmission of information, understanding of those on the receiving end of information, and the relation between form and information transmission . Erik Spiekerman, founder of MetaDesign and chairman of the International Institute for Information Design (IIID), visited Japan in last November.
In this report we have summarized the remarks made by Erik Spiekerman, at a round table meeting held at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, about matters such as attitudes to information design, the activities of IIID, and in particular the international symposium "Vision Plus" which is one of the major projects on which IIID is working.

Erik Spiekerman, President. IIID

The SOHO district in New York is known as "Silicon Alley", and as the design capital of digital media becoming a focal point for talented young designers.
In this article we take a look at noted designers active in Silicon Alley such as Razorfish, Funnygarbage, I/O 360, plumb design, Design Machine, ECCO Design, frogdesign TEXAS, and examine their most recent work from the perspective of information design.

Yoshimi Matsuo, Director, P.L.C. Associates Inc.

On the 50 cc two-wheeler market, scooters are the category in which manufacturers are fiercely competing. High-performance scooters aiming especially at young people are classified as 'sports scooters". Despite the fact the age group of users of these vehicles is very restricted, about 200,000 sports scooter is on the market.
Suzuki's "Street Magic" aims to provide a fun ride, without being inhibited by conventional concepts associated with this type of vehicle. Suzuki have attempted to create a wholly new style and body structure by mounting a scooter engine onto the body of a sports bike, on the principal concepts "novelty", "simplicity" and "sprightliness". The designers based their work on the image of people and vehicles running nimbly along a street.
Design News discussed the design development of the "Street Magic" scooter with its designers, Toshio Tsushima (Assistant Manager), who are both members of the Product Planning and Styling Design Dept. at the Suzuki Motor Corporation. The report refers to the design and the design process of "Street Magic", on which attempt is a fusion of the motorcycle and the scooter.

Edited by Design News

Auricular thermometers employing infrared sensors are currently being sold by several Japanese and overseas manufacturers, but almost all have the conventional stick figure. "Mimippi" by Terumo Corporation has a rounded form like an egg and has a soft feel of a small animal with its back rounded. There is none of the inorganic coldness which is a feature of most medical instruments. One's impression is of softness and gentility, there being no immediate sense of the item being a tool for measuring bodily temperature.
In this article we take a look at the process that led to the emergence of this form which departs so radically from the stereotyped forms of conventional thermometers. This process began with careful investigation and analysis of the actions of measuring body temperature, and ended with the creation of a form which suggests being wrapped in the palm of a mother's hand.

Edited by Design News

An interesting feature of Italian design over the past few years has been the emergence of "autoproduzione", that is to say the manufacture of designers' self-production. Many designers are involved in "autoproduzione", owing to the background the vast number of small and medium scale factories and workshops have traditionally existed throughout Italy. In this feature we take a look at eleven cases of young leaders creating even small companies, and famous manufacturing enterprises having developed. In this article, Madoka Sato, a product designer living in Milan, examines the development in Italy of "autoproduzione": a concept full of the spirit of enterprise pursued by designers aspiring to new design ideas and wishing to create their products on their own initiative.

Madoka Sato, Product Designer, Design Studio ETAZIOO.