Apple and Nike in Japan

A few words on Japanese magazine covers

I have by no means seen or fiddled with the majority of Japanese magazines, but I do have made some observations. Take a look at the two covers below, what do you see?

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Greetings from Japan – Please Waste Paper

I’m in Japan, it’s Monday, and I have yet to get my act together and take a dive in Japanese design. It takes time, it seems, to do that. Honestly, it’s quite overwhelming to follow take it all in. Just the fact that the kanji characters that the Japanese written language consists of is an almost graphical element by itself, since most of us can’t read them, is something that I need to ponder and consider the implications of.

However, these things strike me right on, in no particular order, about Japanese design in the public room.

• Colors are plentiful.
• If uncertain, add a speaking dog or something to your commercial spot.
• Hello Kitty.
• English is cool, so don’t worry if you can’t spell correctly.
• Neon always works.
• Magazines should have lots of noise.

This isn’t the country for minimalists. I’ll take a closer look at various phenomenons during the coming week, especially advertising and print magazines, I think.

Oh, the picture to the right is from Universal Studios Japan. It’s a trashcan. The type is ironic to say the least, since cutting down on waste, such as unnecessary plastic packaging, paper napkins overflow, and so on, isn’t something that is remotely in the Japanese social mind, it seems. So please Waste Paper, eh?

Wisdump in Japan: What do you want to see?

I’m leaving for Japan on Thursday, Osaka to be precise, and naturally I’ll do my best to flavor my blogging gigs – such as Wisdump – as much with Japanese design culture as possible.

In other words, I intend to do commentary posts on advertising, store design, branding, things like that – either some inspiration for you lot, or as a basis for commentary of sorts.

However, is there anything in particular you want to see from Japan? Any special kind of advertising, a cultural phenomenon that you think would be interesting? I don’t know, I’ve never been to Japan, and I won’t have unlimited time or anything, but if you know that there are things I should be on the lookout for, do let me know.