A vast amount of creative in the impressive past
-I know that you have done a huge amount of work and client work, but is there anything from your early years as an independent artist that stands out in your mind?
One is working with "THE LOWBROWS" and the music scene. We started our own electro party called "LINDA," and we have performed with "THE LOWBROWS" at various events. LOWBROWS" is a special entity with whom I spent my impressionable twenties, and I have a strong emotional attachment to them, having worked with them on a wide range of projects from CDs, records, and stickers to music videos. It was also around this time that I began to develop relationships with labels overseas, and I strongly feel now that these experiences were not just about designing, but also about designing the experience of playing on the floor.
-You were also in charge of artwork for important figures in the techno scene overseas, such as BOYS NOIZE, TIGA, and DJ HELL, and at the same time, you designed the jacket for Stevie Wonder's Japan-only authorized CD.
That's right. As for the techno and electro music scene, people I met through parties spread the word about my artwork, which led to work. Especially with DJ I had been a fan of his work for a long time, so I e-mailed him at random addresses that seemed to be connected to him, and I happened to find him, and when he came to Japan, he came to my party. I showed him my portfolio at that time, and the conversation progressed, and I ended up doing his artwork. I was especially happy to receive feedback that he liked my design concept.
THE LOWBROWS/Danse Macabre (2009)
Chaki, who has produced "YENTOWN" and many other artists.
The electronic music duo is composed of Zulu and Emi, whose great-grandfather is Soseki Natsume. YOSHIROTTEN is in charge of the artwork for their first full-length album after moving to a major label.
Love.Harmony & Eternity ~ Greatest 50 Of Stevie Wonder (2010)
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Stevie Wonder's career, the album is an authorized Japan-only project under the themes of LOVE ( Love, Family Love, Friendship ), HARMONY (social "harmony", duets), ETERNITY
(eternal message). This is one of the impressive early WORKS that YOSHIROTTEN acquired shortly after becoming independent.
BOYS NOIZE/OUT OF THE BLACK (2012)
Selected as one of the best dance albums of 2012 by the prestigious American music magazine "SPIN," Germany's leading electronic music artist BOYS
NOIZE's studio album. I was in charge of its artwork, and subsequently provided art direction for several other works.
TIGA/Bugatti (2014)
He was in charge of art direction for "Bugatti," the hit song that made TIGA, a Canadian music producer who mainly produces electronic music and house music, known to the world.
"DJ HELL/14 GIGOLO CD (2014)"
DJ and producer from Munich, Germany, who also runs the International Deejay Gigolos music label.
YOSHIROTTEN provided his own graphic artwork for a CD produced by DJ HELL, who also runs the International Deejay Gigolos music label. As mentioned in the text, this project was born from a visit by DJ HELL himself to one of YOSHIROTTEN's own parties.
-You also began to work on the interior design of music bars, nightclubs, and select stores in the Tokyo area, while also doing artwork for various famous artists.
That's right. I had been playing in the Tokyo night scene all my life, so being able to design record bars and clubs was a very emotional story for me. As for the space, RYUZO asked me to create "BLOODY ANGLE" in Shibuya for the first time. After that, I created "DOMICILE TOKYO," "MADAM WOO," "SUIGETSU," and many others. Recently, we opened a snack bar called "TOKYO ANNA" snack bar near Shinsen station. Each of these jobs was a good opportunity for me to approach branding from the perspective of art direction, not limited to space direction and interior design. Especially for "Suigetsu," I still make one flyer every day with "YAR" in analog.
BLOODY ANGLE (2016)
A record bar owned by RYUZO, an important figure in the Japanese hip-hop scene since its early days, YOSHIROTTEN designed the interior and logo, inspired by a corner of Chinatown in New York.
DOMICILE (2017)"
A concept store focusing on various cultural aspects such as fashion, music, and art. We were in charge of everything from the store's exterior and interior design to the logo graphics. We used deer antlers and black stones imported from Kozushima in the Izu Islands, red translucent bran, floating bonsai trees in the air, and other futuristic details and pop-up spaces with devices to create a space that mixes different cultures.
MADAM WOO (2018)"
BLOODY
Like "ANGLE," this is a gentleman's club run by Mr. RYUZO. It is a place where famous rappers and DJs from overseas sometimes visit when they come to Japan, and is usually crowded with young culture lovers and tourists who enjoy music, art, etc. YOSHIROTTEN is also in charge of the space design. YOSHIROTTEN is also in charge of the scenography of this place.
Suigetsu (2019)"
Suigetsu is a cultural nightspot in Shibuya, symbolized by its orange-colored space. The company is consistently in charge of directing the interior design as well as the design of the flyers produced for each event.
-At the same time, this was also a period of remarkable activity in the field of working with fashion brands and art direction for magazines.
In the field of fashion, both in Japan and abroad, I have done countless art direction projects for my friends' brands, designers with whom I have close relationships, select stores, and in other fields that differ from the field of music. For magazines, I have provided artwork for Silver, WWD, Ollie I sometimes provided artwork for magazines such as "Silver," "WWD," and "Ollie Magazine," and sometimes I was involved in photo direction. It was probably around this time that I was collaborating with a variety of creators and doing more collaborative work.
"LQQK "GATEWAY" (2016)"
NY-based print studio LQQK
STUDIO, a print studio in New York, designed the flyer and created the visuals for a pop-up store and music event held at Contact in Shibuya, Tokyo in the summer of 2016. LQQK STUDIO has long been friends with brands and designers, and many international creators such as Aaron Bondaroff, Eric Elms, and Peter Sutherland came from New York to attend the event, which was very well attended.
'AMBISH ®︎ HEAD SHOP 1ST ANNIVERSARY ITEM (2017)'
AMBISH, with whom he has had a long friendship, including art direction of LOOK BOOK in the past
(®︎), with whom we have had a long relationship, including art direction of LOOK BOOK in the past, for the first anniversary of their first flagship store in Japan. The graphic design, reminiscent of a fictional book jacket, was well received as an exquisite match between the worldviews of the two companies.
'NIKE x SACAI COLLABORATION COLLECTION (2019)'
This is the first sports apparel collection by [NIKE] and [sacai], the long-awaited second tag-team in 2019. The collage is based on visuals featuring professional tennis player Naomi Osaka and professional skateboarder Skye Brown, with VJ direction.
WWD (2016)."
For the print edition of WWD published in 2016, he was in charge of the art direction for the tie-up page and cover with <CANADA
The art direction for the tie-up page and cover with was done by the team at the time. The shoot was created with leading Japanese creators, taking advantage of the location of the facility in Shibuya at the time and the projection mapping of the exterior walls.
"Ollie MAGAZINE "KICKS PARADISE" (2016)"
Ollie MAGAZINE, a street culture magazine, has a long-running series of articles dedicated to sneakers called "KICKS
PARADISE". He was in charge of the visual direction of the series, and later organized an event themed "Sneaker Museum" as a three-dimensional content.
Silver Magazine No. 12 (2021)
A global fashion and culture media from Tokyo. This issue, with the theme of Tokyo in a new era, features YOSHIROTTEN as a representative artist of Tokyo, and he is in charge of the cover design of the issue. The artwork is a collaboration with Daido Moriyama.
