PROFILE
. Born in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating from Musashino Art University, Department of Spatial Design, joined the Advertising Department of Shiseido Co. . Since 2005, he has been working as a freelance art director and graphic designer.
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Confidence that they will design it from a flat perspective.
Mr. Kaneko assigned creators with whom he was familiar for the launch of "The Recreation Store," but this was the first time for Mr. Hirabayashi to work alone. . Why did you offer the job to Mr. Hirabayashi?
Kaneko: Outdoor Products" is a simple bag brand with a history of nearly 50 years, and when we thought about how to reconstruct it in the modern age and present it in a new way, the first thing we wanted to do was to ask Mr. Hirabayashi. Atsushi Hayasaki of TEMBEA, for whom we asked to design bags and goods, designs his products as if they were tools. The design that exists as a function is accidentally cute. I think that sense is the philosophy of the outdoors.
Do you mean that what is created as a function is cool or cute as a result?
Kaneko: . yes. We wanted to ask people who could share that feeling. We also wanted to have our logo and other art direction re-directed through someone else's filter, and we wanted to ask Mr. Hirabayashi to do it. When I looked at the work that Mr. Hirabayashi had done, I felt that his designs were not for the sake of looking cool, but for the sake of function, so I was confident that he would be able to look at "Outdoor Products" from a flat perspective. In that sense, I felt that Mr. Hirabayashi was the only person for the job. Outdoor Products" is a kind of undesigned, innocent product, and I thought he would be interested in that. The first meeting was the most nerve-wracking I've had in a long time (laughs). . I was nervous inside, but I was somewhat confident.
. What was the most important factor for you, Mr. Hirabayashi, in accepting this job?
Hirabayashi: . Basically, I never turn down a job. . It is not the type of work, but the fact that there are times when I am mentally too uptight to do it. This time, however, it was simply because it was a field that I liked. I don't draw or make collages myself. I don't have anything that I want to express myself. I have a theme, and I create something for that theme. Rather than creating something that has never been seen before, I like the work of organizing elements and creating a world view, and I overwhelmingly prefer men's products. This may be my preconceived notion, but there are almost no requests for female art directors for men's work.
Kaneko: . Indeed, there may not be a female art director for a men's brand.
Hirabayashi: In my case, though, I have art directed brands that combine women's and men's products. Outdoor Products" is unisex, but the staff is a team of men, so I thought it might be a way of saying that they are waiting for women who like this kind of product and are mainly men. . I actually like that kind of thing.
Kaneko: At "reshop," we sometimes force our female designers to make men's clothes. Women can bring out a sense of balance that men cannot bring out. In that sense, I had high expectations for what would happen when I asked Ms. Hirabayashi to make a design.
