Romance

Concept

ROMANCE is an exhibition of 85 JAGDA members' 30-second motion graphics pieces utilizing the same sound source. This exhibition presents a kind of visual poetry on the theme of romance, or lovemaking, one born of the special evolution of communication experienced in Japan in 2010.

The young people of Japan today make love, or express romance via cell phones and other handheld computing devices. They don't speak directly on the telephone; they are developing a unique type of communication that relies on electronic formats like email and texting. In public places, for example, public transport spaces like trains or buses, it's prohibited to speak out loud on the phone. But precisely because it's time spent on public transportation, it's also the ideal time to communicate. So on trains and buses, all the young people are engrossed in sending and receiving messages through their handheld devices.

The older generation seems to be confused by this phenomenon, but essentially, communicating by entrusting delicate meanings to short words, symbols and codes is the traditional style of lovemaking in Japan. We could probably say that romancing through handheld devices is actually a further flowering of this traditional form, enhanced by today's technology. In fact, it's very likely that here is where we will intuit the rhythmic life of Japan's new communication design.

It is 2010, and Japan, especially the cell phone industry, is experiencing the isolated evolution known as the Galapagos Syndrome. Japan is situated on the Eastern tip of Asia. Here, a new sense of romance sprang up in conjunction with the new media. We hope you will appreciate this and the visual dynamism of the show.

Designers

Kan Akita / Ikuo Amano / Masuteru Aoba / Yuko Araki / Katsumi Asaba /
Takaaki Bando / Daigo Daikoku / Tatsuo Ebina / Norio Fujishiro /
Takashi Fujita / Naoko Fukuoka / Osamu Fukushima / Tadahiro Gunji /
Kenya Hara / Satoshi Hasegawa / Kazunari Hattori / Noriaki Hayashi /
Eiki Hidaka / Naomi Hirabayashi / Kotaro Hirano / Masaaki Hiromura /
Yoko Inoue / Yoshiaki Irobe / Toshine Ishihama / Toyotsugu Ito /
Koji Iwagami / Koji Iyama / Tomoya Kaishi / Masahiro Kakinokihara /
Takahisa Kamijyo / Mitsuo Katsui / Atsuki Kikuchi / Katsuhiro Kinoshita /
Shogo Kishino / Yoshihiro Kobayashi / Yosuke Kobayashi / Yuji Koiso /
Chiharu Kondo / Takafumi Kusagaya / Shin Matsunaga / Kei Matsushita /
Ken Miki / Yu Miura / Yumiyo Miyata / Kenji Miyauchi / Ryo Miyawaki /
Mitsuhiro Miyazaki / Koji Mizutani / Shoji Morishige / Yasuhito Nagahara /
Hiroaki Nagai / Kazufumi Nagai / Kazumasa Nagai / Tomohiko Nagakura /
Keisuke Nagatomo / Masayoshi Nakajo / Kiyoshi Ohmori / Yoshinori Okada /
Ken Okamuro / Akio Okumura / Hitomi Sago / Kashiwa Sato / Taku Satoh /
Yasuhiro Sawada / Shogo Seki / Katsuhiko Shibuya / Norito Shinmura /
Shinnoske Sugisaki / Yohei Sugiyama / Mamoru Suzuki/
Yoshimaru Takahashi / Kaoru Takai / Shintaro Takemura / Taichi Tamaki /
Tsutomu Tanigawa / Hiroki Taniguchi / Masayuki Terashima /
Yusaku Tomoeda / Tomohito Ushiro / Usi / Wabisabi / Hideto Yagi /
Toshio Yamagata / Shigeru Yamaoka / Shunyo Yamauchi

Description

Title: Tokyo Midtown Design Hub 26th Exhibition: Romance
Date: Fri. 4 February- Sun. 6 March, 2011
Venue: Tokyo Midtown Design Hub

Organized by Tokyo Midtown Design Hub
Executed by Japan Graphic Designers Association Inc. (JAGDA)
Produced by Masaaki Hiromura, Kenya Hara, Kei Matsushita
Music cooperation: Tatsuya Yamada（MAS/Tyme.）
Movie cooperation: Kenji Aoki

Inquiry

JAGDA secretariat　Email.pr@jagda.org