Kentaro Shihaku

After chancing upon a work that I really adore in Japan and also learning about the designer Kentaro Shihaku, I went to find out more about him and his works. And I have to say that I am greatly inspired by his works and in a way they drive me to work harder. 

I found out that Kentaro Shihaku is born in Sendai, Japan in 1975 / studied in Tokyo and Rome and he is a creative director / copywriter/ conceptor. His works always give the feeling that makes your heart warm up and greatly influenced by the japanese design style. He has quite a number of work achieved over the span of many years. Here are another two projects other than the Aromalize Project which I totally adore and look up to. 

Aromamora

Aromamora is the line of original blended essential oils started from November 2008. Our innovative design combines the functions of a bottle cap and diffuser into one which makes aromamora a lot handy. We have a relationship with not only domestic retails but also Droog, Amsterdam as well. Our products could get huge good reputations and were introduced by both local and global media. 

  

It is just a very simple product but it is ready to use by having the cover of the bottle as the scent diffuser. Plus the branding and art direction inspires me a lot as they are a concentrate of the sense of smell and also the usage of chemistry apparatus to draw people's attention. Which is almost like what I am planning to achieve for my semester two works.

Aromamora books

The next project is called the Aromamora book which is sort of link to the above project. "Aromamora books vol1 Tohoku" is a photo book scented by a blend of special aroma oil, and is a collection of 50 photos that captured beautiful memories of Tohoku areas. The photos have been selected from over 500 submissions from people who wanted to share their special memories for the project. The photo book was created in hopes to keep the good memories and times of Tohoku.

Each photo has a message from the person who took the photo. The book also include a map that shows the location of where each photo was photographed, and a refill bottle of the aroma oil.

after opening the box, Tohoku’s forest scent is immediately coming up

dropping aroma oils when the scent is gone

each photo has a message written by its photographer on the back

50 collected photos, the map and text, 1.5ml-aroma-oil, a smelled coaster, and a pinecone inside

I love the idea of smell + photos + memories, because during my previous research on 5 senses, I found out that smell can trigger a person's memory and that something so small can affect a person's thinking and remembering of a certain period of their life. It also has a pine cone, that also helps people remember a certain place at the sight of it, it is like a resemblance of a place. So I really love the idea of this kit, it has visuals which is one of the main senses which inspires people and at the same time trigger memories. This project is a participatory project and has the usage of sight + smell + touch. It could be a inspiration to kick of one of my project for semester two.

Process Chart

The process chart that summarize the whole flow and journey for the past semester from week 1 to week 16, assessment week.

Final Outcome Presentations

Outcome 1 : A laboratory test on the death of curiosity

A 2 sided instruction sheet that will be placed beside the bottles and experiment kit which people can participate and try out. They will allow participants to know how the curiosity experiment works and also to establish this outcome.

I also framed up the improvised infographic posters so that they will look more prominent and part of the first outcome. A silver frame to go with the chemistry theme and so that the first outcome will have the same art direction.

Outcome 2 : Travel Journal for the curious minded

The final cover design for the travel journal, I kept it simple  and the way it is design makes it look more like a journal instead of a normal booklet. Black leather because I want the contents to stand out and not the cover to steal the attention. On the top right corner on the flap of the journal, there is a small label to establish this outcome.

All in all, there are 3 travel journals that will be presented during assessment. 1 : Done in Korea, 2 : Done in Tokyo and 3 : empty. There is a mixture to show how it looks like completed and uncompleted so that the intentions of this outcome will be clear and obvious. 

Outcome 3 : Pocket Diary Kit

My last outcome would be the pocket diary kit. It is a bag that contains a disposable camera, a pocket poster that talks about the design issue, hypothesis and solution. Also, a pen and diary to document the 5 senses experience. 

Process : Pocket Poster

After taking and editing the photographs needed for the pocket poster, I straight away started on the planning and execution of the layouts. Each section talks about different parts of the outcome and the layouts were kept simple and straight forward. 

The different try outs of the overlays for the main cover of the open up poster for outcome three.

The establishing shot for this outcome, with a white frame around and a logo at the top. Kept simple so that the focus is on the items for the pocket diary kit. Also, the photograph has already been framed so it is not necessary to add too much graphics or text into this picture.

I also played with the idea of overlaying white text on the specially planned and picked photographs so that they blend it together but at the same time balance out.

The final layout for one side of the open up poster, which will be folded into eight rectangles. Each section speaks about different parts that contributes to the outcome and each of them are important so it is important to pay attention to all the small details that built up the completed poster.

Pocket Poster + Pocket Diary

The redesign of the pocket diary and finally completed according to how it was planned. With a black flap at the front to show what this booklet was about and having a inner cover that has vector prints which is also on the pen and camera to make it look like they are from the same kit.

The main cover of the open up pocket poster which has a picture that suggest going on a curious adventure with the pocket diary kit.

When the next flap is opened up, the four boxes talks about the description and use of the disposable camera and pocket diary. While the bottom boxes highlights the importance of the five senses, the hypothesis and the uploading onto a social platform.

To give a better understanding of the design issue and the purpose of this outcome, the other flaps talks briefly about the design issue and the combination of the camera + five senses + curiosity.

The flip side of the poster, which is an establishing shot that shows the items that are contained in the bag, with the logo on the top.

The main purpose of this open flap poster is to show images of how this outcome works and also let the visuals speak for itself. Not forgetting some short description to support the intentions of the outcome and how to go about using it.

Travel Journal Korean + Japan

Earlier this week, I received good news from the dean that the travel journal that I completed in Korea was finally shipped back to singapore. Which is good news and just in time for assessment because I think that the contents are interesting and it speaks for the outcome. Plus it is better to have the tangible journal than just read from the A3 poster. This journal is the first version which I completed in Korea and done according to the sights and sounds of Korea. It was tried out by me and I just wanted to make use of the trip which at the same time can benefit my studio.

The korean trip project's concept was revolved mainly about Traces of a city. So I combined it with my hypothesis which is the 5 senses, and during the trip the journal was completed by collecting traces of korea with the usage of the five senses. 

To begin, the first page contains the traveller's profile page where the participant can take a picture and slot it into the illustrated box and also write personal details such as name, age, travel period and location which gives the journal a personal touch.

This page ask the participant to observe the surrounding and translate it by hand drawing it out.

There was a pocket that contained a spoon and tissue paper which I used and left the traces of what I've eaten. It contains smell and touch to it. 

This particular activity works in terms of inspirations, because some things in korea is different from singapore, hence we can draw inspirations to our designs out of something we are not familiar with or see everyday.

The collection of remains of posters that were pasted on random walls and lamp posts that were basically found on streets of Seoul. Which created a collage out of scraps of leftover paper.

A collection of things that sticks, stickers found on food that I have consumed or found on train tickets.

Tea bags were collected because they are the type of tea that only Korea has, plus they each have a different texture for the outer tea bag and each smells and taste differently.

A pouch which contains graphic design related materials such as flyers, leaflets etc. Some were collected because of the nice designs while some were collected because of it's texture. I think that they can inspire a designer as they are in style of the korean designs. 

The page of the left has traces of the food I consumed in korea which I purposely imprinted into the journal and had the name and taste documented down.

Overall, the journal was completed and side tracked a little from my studio intentions which was to pay attention to the little details of our environment using our five senses. However in the end, I realized that it was more like collecting things that will inspire designs. Therefore I changed the activities for the second version of the travel journal which was then used in Tokyo.

Some images of the travel journal no.2 which was done in Tokyo, they activities were changed and improvised after some problems with the activities were identified when I was trying to complete the travel journal in korea which was also the first version. Some activities were kept the same just that they were improvised, while some are totally new.

For assessment, a empty travel journal will also be present to show how it looks like with no contents.