Design Strategy
Sabae Traditional Craft Project
The Echizen Japan Traditional Craft Crowdfunding Project was a collaborative project between the Creative Industry lab at Keio Media Design, Kotoba Inc., and Fukui Prefecture in Japan. The project aimed to help revitalize the Fukui regional economy through supporting innovations around traditional craft, a traditionally bustling industry in the Fukui region. The crowdfunding project worked with the well-known Echizen five crafts (urushi, pottery, washi, Japanese sword, and tansu) and the local studios expand their market overseas through product promotions of interest to overseas' consumers on crowdfunding platforms. The project also explores product innovation, including implementing new prototyping techniques into the craft manufacturing process and the development of innovative products for the contemporary times as well.
For the first part of the project, I conducted field visits to the traditional craft studios in Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture, an area with a long history of traditional crafts. Over the course of six months, I worked with artisans to experiment with new product ideas that appeal to new overseas consumers, helped improve existing products in development, and directed the content, photography, videography and story-telling of five crowdfunding campaigns.
Category traditional craft,
cultural sustainability,
design strategy,
product R&D,
Challenge Create 5 campaigns on
Kickstarter and help
improve traditional craft
product adaptations that
target oversea consumers
Role visual design,
art direction,
content design,
coordination,
photography,
videography,
product design &
development
Credits
Photographer - Noah Menard
Campaign Design: Urushi Mobile Tumbler
The URUSHI MOBILE TUMBLER was an already successful product by Tsuchinao Shikki on the Japanese crowdfunding platform, Makuake. For the Kickstarter campaign I directed the photography and visual styling of new promotional visual that showcase the mobile tumblers being used 'on-the-go' by the city's urbanites. In the campaign content design, I highlighted the unique landscape and geography of the Echizen region that laid the foundation for the long history of the urushi craft.
The campaign and product video can be found here
Collaborators Sabae city, Tsuchinao Shikki, Fukui Prefecture, Haru Bai (video editing)
Product Research and Development: Japanese Pottery, Tansu and Washi Crafts
I also collaborated with artisans in proposing new product concepts targeted at the oversea's market. The Echizen Tea Cup Set was a product in development between Kotoba Inc. and Housaigama and I worked with the two to test and re-iterate on the prototypes made by the potter. In the trials and errors, I advised on the cup and accessory dimension in consideration of transport (packaging, damage-proofing), and use (tea volume and the set use scenario for individual to multiple users). The product underwent several months of prototyping to achieve a result that fits the desired design and adheres to the well-known thin quality of the region's pottery, a challenging task for the clay used traditionally.
For the tansu craft, I wanted to consider a modern product that allows for the incorporation of the unique metal hardware found on the Echizen Tansu. In the region, the tansus are recognized for their heart-shaped boar-eye motif, and can be found in decorative additions to the old craft. In my proposals, I suggested the adaptation of the craft to a wine holder product and accessory box product. Both are products that fit in the luxury market that renders the ornate work natural, and in functionality can benefit from the meticulous compartment crafting that is characteristic of the tansu.
I was challenged by the Ishikawa Paper company to develop a product featuring their specially-engineered anti-odor washi that can maximize the function whilst providing users with an enjoyable experience. I experimented with custom cut patterns that would allow the paper to fold outwards, maximizing the deodorising quality without sacrificing any material. When a light source fixed, the cuts create leaks of light, generating a scenery in the interplay between light and shadow. In the lamp shade prototype I made, the pattern features a goldfish (kingyo) in a pond, and ripples of water. I wanted to create a take on the kingyo motif that is common in traditional Japanese art to evoke the Japanese poetic and aesthetic sensibility.
The campaigns and product videos can be found below.
Echizen Pottery here
Echizen Tansu here
Echizen Washi here
Collaborators
Ishikawa Paper Manufacturing, Furnitureholic, Housaigama, Arthur Chen (Origami Light) and Fukui Prefecture