We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Tsutomu Tojo about their original and creative Website design work. Tsutomu Tojo is an award-winning communication designer, that makes our world a better place with their original website works.
Tsutomu Tojo ("TT") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Another Japan Yamagata Website. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
TT : In all my design work, I get inspiration from the Japanese “Zen Spirit”. Zen style design is characterized by simple, elegant and powerful message.
TT : I focused on firmly communicating the goodness of Yamagata to travelers visiting Japan from overseas. Many of the users who viewed this site would like to visit Yamagata during their trip to Japan.
TT : In a few years, I'll suggest clients to renew their website. Good design is universal, but it's still a bad idea to ignore trends.
TT : I decided the concept in about a week while communicating with the clients.
TT : I designed it at the request of a company. It is a design that realizes the client's desire to convey the charm of a traditional Japanese hotel with a history of 300 years to people all over the world.
TT : Since my award-winning work is a website, no special manufacturing process is required, but all copyrights are transferred to the client. Of course, the client's permission is fully obtained upon entry.
TT : I wanted you to know the charm of Yamagata city, and created this design to maximize it. Since this is a website for tourists, I decided to use this design because I think it is more appealing to use large photographs rather than posting many detailed explanations.
TT : No designers were influenced by the design of this website. Instead of the existing design, the design focuses on the psychology and behavior of the user.
TT : No designers were influenced by the design of this website. Instead of the existing design, the design focuses on the psychology and behavior of the user.
TT : When appealing to the world, the local area alone is trying to appeal, so we have considered the surrounding area as one piece of content.
TT : When we hear Japan, many people imagine Tokyo or Kyoto. That's not a mistake, but the true Japaneseness can be seen in a small town without a name. Another Japan that is different from Japan that everyone knows. That is "Another Japan".
TT : I used Adobe products such as Photoshop and Illustrator and the code editor "Coda".
TT : It is not just about advertising by one company, but about the appeal of the entire area. This is a technique called "Shakkei(borrowing scenery)" used in Japanese gardens, and I incorporated it into my website.
TT : In most cases, I do all the projects alone. So is this project.
TT : For websites, everything is a gift of technology. Hurray for technology!!!!
TT : I studied behavioral psychology of overseas travelers visiting Japan and economic activities based on it. To that end, we conducted interviews with more than a dozen travelers and analyzed the information obtained from them.
TT : Targeting travelers from various countries such as the United States, Europe, and Asia, it was very difficult to design each preference into the greatest common denominator.
TT : I was recommended by the secretariat and decided to apply.
TT : In the past, I often created targeted designs, but this time I learned how to extract the greatest common divisor of designs that people around the world like and challenged myself. I feel it worked.
TT : Japanese culture is a culture that values the attention to detail. It is a very important element for design. Born and raised in Japan, I have acquired a sense of nature and attention to detail. I think that is my personality as a designer. I am grateful to my hometown of Japan and its culture.
