Office for Free Design inc. is a Tokyo-based multinational design studio established in 2003. Office for Free Design inc. is run by Hiroyasu Sato and Cory Crowther. They undertake a wide variety of projects from graphic, editorial, web, product design to advertisement. Moreover, they have worked extensively with many clients in art scene, such as museums and galleries.
Office for Free Design will be coming out with a number of designs for graniph over the next few months, but for the moment here’s a their look at 100m+ buildings in West Shinjuku…..
(1) Please tell us a little about something you are currently working on/obsessed with:
H: Right now I’m working on Ads for a medicine manufacturing company and print works of 6 exhibitions that will be held in a few months.
C: Over the past year I’ve been quite obsessed with making really POP orientated work and at the same time trying to get back to actually using my hands instead of a mouse and tablet. I’ve also began making my own typefaces and should be releasing a new stencil typeface in the coming months.
(2) What are the main obstacles you face to working creatively?
H: Nothing. I love design and I accept anything related to design.
C: I think the greatest obstacle when creating designs or anything for that matter is when you try to push one initial concept too far and not knowing when to just trash it all, start fresh and begin from a new direction.
(3) What do you do to come up with new ideas or when you are having trouble being creative?
H: Work harder !
C: Firstly, for me electronic music is a huge influence to my work so I need to be rocking out to some tracks while I work, secondly most of my concepts come from real experiences and I hardly have great ideas while sitting in front of a computer so its essential I get out of any workspace, read, walk and drink ridiculous amounts of coffee.
(4) What are some books/websites/bands/etc that you recommend?
H: I love electronic music. I can’t work well without music.
C: Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of new stuff by Lucid Mechanism from San Francisco, The Automatic Message from Vancouver, Made in Glitch and DJ sets by Shane Berry.
(5) What is the future of the T-shirt? (Does it have one?) Why?
H: I think people should be more free. T-shirt’s are suitable for free and open minded people.
C: I think we’ll see new innovative fabrics in the coming years but generally I don’t think T-shirts will ever disappear, I also think that they’re really the only clothing item we wear that represent our true personalities, so unless we all become communist robots in the near future we’ll keep wearing them as beacons of what we’re really into.