Designing Design

Representing a new generation of designers in Japan, Kenya Hara (born 1958) pays tribute to his mentors, using long overlooked Japanese icons and images in much of his work. In Designing Design, he impresses upon the reader the importance of “emptiness” in both the visual and philosophical traditions of Japan, and its application to design, made visible by means of numerous examples from his own work: Hara for instance designed the opening and closing ceremony programs for the Nagano Winter Olympic games 1998. In 2001, he enrolled as a board member for the Japanese label MUJI and has considerably moulded the identity of this successful corporation as communication and design advisor ever since. Kenya Hara, among the leading design personalities in Japan, has also called attention to himself with exhibitions such as Re-Design: the Daily products of the 21st Century of 2000.

• White
• Ex-formation
• Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams
• Grid systems in graphic design: A visual communication manual for graphic designers, typographers and three dimensional designers (NIGGLI EDITIONS) (German and English Edition)
• In Praise of Shadows
• Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers
• Design as Art
• Kenya Hara: Designing Japan: A Future Built on Aesthetics
• 100 Whites