ABOUT
DESIGNTIDE TOKYO is an event that aims to encourage product designers and creators to push the boundaries of their craft and explore new forms centered around individuality.
By bringing together a diverse range of works and facilitating shared experiences, it offers a platform for contemplating the deeper significance of design beyond its conventional definitions.
MEMBER
- Director:
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- Taku Sato
- Gallery Director. Born in LA, USA in 1982. Graduated from Keio University's Faculty of Environmental Information in 2004. Since 2007, has been involved in handling contemporary design and contemporary art at CLEAR GALLERY. Engaged in planning as a director since 2012 to 2018. After leaving CLEAR in 2018, Sato was involved in the launch of PARCEL in 2019 and opened the gallery in June. Has since served as the director of the same gallery and as an advisor at EASTEAST_Tokyo since 2023.
- Hirofumi Akimoto
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Director of E&Y co.,ltd.
Bron in 1981. Graduated Kyushu Institute of Design in 2004 and moved to the UK. After returning to Japan, he joined E&Y CO.,LTD.
Since then, he has been involved in a variety of tasks, mainly planning E&Y collections, development with domestic and international designers, and designing bespoke furniture on a project basis in collaboration with architects and designers.
- Max Fraser
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Max is the editorial director of Dezeen, joining the team in March 2023.
During the previous two decades, Max has worked as a design commentator across digital media, books, magazines, exhibitions, video, and events to broaden the conversation around contemporary design and architecture.
He is the author of multiple design books including Design UK and Designers On Design, which he co-wrote with Sir Terence Conran. More recent titles include the London Design Guide series and monograph titles about designers Piet Hein Eek, Luca Nichetto and Benjamin Hubert.
As a journalist, Max has worked as a design correspondent for CNN Style and written for publications including Financial Times, Wallpaper, Icon, Surface, London’s Evening Standard, and Newsweek International.
He has worked as a content consultant for companies and organisations across the world, and worked as the deputy director the London Design Festival from 2012-2015.
He has collaborated with Dezeen several times over the years, co-publishing Dezeen Book of Ideas in 2011, instigating the Brexit Design Manifesto with Dezeen founder Marcus Fairs in 2016, and working as a judge on the Dezeen Awards several times.
- Monica Khemsurov
- Monica Khemsurov is a NYC- and LA-based writer, curator, and creative consultant and the co-founder of Sight Unseen, an online magazine that covers what's new and next in design and the visual arts. She is the co-author of the critically acclaimed book How to Live With Objects, which champions a new approach to interiors — simply surrounding yourself with objects you love. She is also a contributing design editor for T Magazine and the founder of Petra, a new showroom for artistic hardware by visionary designers.
- Jill Singer
- Jill Singer is a New York City-based writer, curator, and creative consultant and the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Sight Unseen, an online magazine that covers what's new and next in design and the visual arts. She is the co-author of the critically acclaimed book How to Live With Objects, which champions a new approach to interiors — simply surrounding yourself with objects you love. Her writing has appeared in W Magazine, PIN-UP, Elle Décor, New York Magazine, and T, The New York Times Style Magazine, among others.
- Yuri Suzuki
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Yuri Suzuki is a sound artist, designer and electronic musician. His practice explores the realms of sound through designed pieces that examine the relationship between people and their environments - questioning how both music and sound evolve to create personal experiences.
Suzuki was born in Tokyo in 1980. After studying Industrial Design he worked with Maywa Denki, the Japanese electronic art unit. During this period, Yuri began exploring the relationship between music and technology. In 2005, He moved to London to study Product Design at the Royal College of Art, where he further developed his interest in the crossover between art, design and music, using both analogue and digital technologies to explore this.
Central to Suzuki's practice is collaboration- he has worked with various musicians including will.i.am and Jeff Mills, as well as commercial clients such as Google, with whom he developed a unique AR Music Kit.
- Venue Design:
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- Rui Itasaka
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Born in Hyogo, Japan
2016 Graduate from Tokyo University of the Arts
2018 Graduate from post graduate course of Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts,
Department of Architecture
2018 Founded RUI Architects
Under 35 Architects exhibition 2021 Gold Medal Prize
- Venue Design Support:
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- Shuntaro Yoshino
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Born in Niigata, Japan
2016 Graduate from Tokyo University of the Arts
Exchange to Royal Academy Schools
2019 Graduate from post graduate course of Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts,
Department of Sculpture
2019 Open “WALLA”, a communal space
2024 Graduate from post doctoral course of Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts
- Art Director:
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- Kazune Watanabe
- After graduating from Kuwasawa Design School in 2005, and working at Kodou Tsuyokatsu Design Laboratory and Soup Design Co., Ltd. (now renamed Bootleg Co., Ltd.), Watanabe ventured into independent work in April 2018 under the name "There There." In March 2022, "There There Co., Ltd." was founded. In 2023, Watanabe joined as a Purple Member of the Asia Designer Communication Platform (ADP).
- Creative Producer:
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- Kensuke Kidani
- volvox inc. CEO / producer After gaining experience in domestic and international advertising agencies, Kidani founded volvox with focus on integrated production, specializing in advertising from strategic brand planning to communication design and content development. Currently, his business also includes managing the careers of creators, as well as handling project production.
- Founder:
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- Tsuyoshi Matsuzawa
- Design editor and president of E&Y co., ltd. Matsuzawa has been producing works focusing on furniture and products with internationally renowned designers. The collection of E&Y now counts over 50 products. In the recent years E&Y has announced a collaborative edition with ZANOTTA in 2006, and launched their collection with 6designers in Milan 2008. Their most recent collection "edition HORIZONTAL" was presented in 2010. The products of E&Y are now part of major museum collections such as MoMA NY, Design Museum London, Musee des Arts Decoratifs Paris, Sweden National Museum. Matsuzawa also is involved in various domestic / international projects, various exhibition planning and editing, event directing and advisory.Professor at Osaka University of Arts Junior College.
- Yuta Takeda
- Logs Inc. CEO. After graduating from Keio University's Faculty of Economics, Takeda joined Accenture Strategy Consulting Group, where he was engaged in tasks such as planning new businesses in the medical and public sectors, business process improvement, and policy recommendations. In 2014, Takeda joined a management team of a fashion accessories wholesaler, the same business as his family, and founded Log in 2016. Since then, the business has expanded into four areas: clothing, food, housing, and education. Logs now operates DDD HOTEL, PARCEL, nôl (an experimental kitchen space), and GAKU (creative education for teenagers), among others.