It is really amazing how quickly time flies. I have been in Japan this summer for quite some time now and can’t remember how time just …sped by… My internship at threewhite has been absolutely marvelous. I’ve been learning methods of graphic design production and how to communicate visually in Japanese. My weeks at the internship have included: helping out the art director Ms. Tanaka with design work for both print and web, creating mock-ups for print projects, doing research, and meeting with clients. Please take a look at threewhite’s Work in Progress Blog to see what we are up to. I’m much better at keeping up with that blog than I am with my own.
At the beginning of my time in Japan I was really wondering how things would work out. My biggest worry has been with confidence in Japanese because I have been away from my “home” country for a long time. At the beginning of my internship, I was nervous in speaking, and worried I would say something wrong unintentionally, especially when meeting people for the first time and exchanging business cards. I’ve gotten better since then- at least a little. In the office I speak Japanese everyday, and even though I make many mistakes, I’m getting more used to it. I started keeping a notebook with photos and notes for new vocabulary, and I take it everywhere. This has been my best decision, because now I have a bank of information whenever I need it. I write down phrases used in meetings, and words used in describing production of projects. I constantly ask “how do you say this?” or “what does that kanji mean?” and write down notes.
In the visual aspect of my internship, I’ve been working on various things like Japanese and English typography (similar, and yet different so I really have to pay attention to all the nuances), photo editing, drawing images for use in layouts, and helping out where I can. I enjoy the work, and the learning experience. Working with clients and printing companies has helped me to see design on a larger scale. At school, most of the time, I’m my own client (or my professor is), and I’m my own printer. When working with different people, you become conscious of every step you take because your work is also someone else’s work. Being able to communicate thoughts, ideas, and problems in person, and also by email, and by phone when there is no visual in front of you is challenging but also a good experience. Editing also takes much longer and is more thorough than any school project. Where a class project may take weeks, a project at work could take months and is a collaborative work; photographs, texts, image styling, illustrations, print production, graphic design and art directing are done by many different people. That’s the most exciting part of this internship for me- meeting and working with people specializing in different fields, and also learning about culture from the various clients!
Recently threewhite had a special guest come to the office- Ms. Franki Goodwin, an art director working in London. Franki has been traveling to many places like Australia and Japan this year to experience new cultures and hear stories form many people. She visited threewhite to see how people in Japan work in the design field. Tanaka-san, Franki and I exchanged stories from university times and jobs experiences. Since we all studied in different places, (Japan, America, and in the United Kingdom) we compared different teaching and learning techniques of design. It seems (from our discussion) that American and Europen schools teach design in a conceptual manner, (form following function, or form evolving from content), where Japanese schools focus more on technique and specify both form and content at the beginning of a project. An important question arose from the discussion though : how do you find the balance of structure and freedom? I’ll have to look for the answer myself little by little. I found the meeting inspiring- traveling to meet people working in design fields in different places with different circumstances sounds like a lovely idea. I would love to take a similar journey someday. What a great way to see the world! Franki is also better at blogging than I am, and shares her stories on her site. I hope she enjoys the rest of her stay in Japan!
I think this briefly sums up what I have been up to this summer. Threewhite will be on a short summer holiday this next week, and I’m hoping to use the time to explore in and around the city of Tokyo (and learn more about my own culture!). I also want to use this time to fix my computer (hopefully it won’t take too long) and start to update this site. I’m working on a cleaner and simpler look than the one that is currently up. Well, this will certainly keep me busy!
