Since 2012, graphic designer MIKI Ken has been teaching a first-year course in the Department of Design at Osaka University of Arts. The class consists of fifteen programs built around a single theme: the apple. Students dismantle, analyze, and expand their ideas from this everyday object. MIKI explains:

“In my class, we begin with understanding. We break the apple down structurally, examine its colors, and measure the length of its peel. After going through those steps, we then re-edit what we’ve learned. For example, students might draw an apple using only dots, or turn it into a flipbook animation. There’s also an assignment to come up with one hundred words associated with apples. It sounds simple, but it’s actually very difficult. You can manage maybe thirty words, but once you get to fifty, even I struggle (laughs). I doubt anyone can name a hundred from the start.”

This unique approach to design education first became an exhibition in 2015 at Ginza Graphic Gallery, and later developed into an internationally published book from Lars Müller Publishers in Switzerland.

Drawn to MIKI’s work, Shanghai Art-Designing Co.,Ltd. offered to host an exhibition and publish the book in China. In support of this initiative, Shinichiro Masui took charge of management, coordination, and production supervision. He ensured the high level of quality MIKI requires, making delicate adjustments to the exhibits and designing exhibit cases, which enabled the realization of the exhibition in China.

The project first opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, followed by a traveling exhibition to Xi’an. Part of the exhibition was then shown for five years at Shanghai Xiangming High School. Through this exhibition format, Japanese design education crossed borders and became a source of learning for students in China.

From the design of exhibit cases used on-site to coordinating exhibition-related merchandise and adapting the book into Chinese, Masui provided comprehensive support across both the physical and conceptual dimensions of the project.

MIKI Ken

Founded Ken Miki & Associates in 1982. He develops narrative designs through “talking design,” which advances design as if speaking, and “listening design,” which explores the origins of objects and events. Under the theme of “noticing awareness,” he embeds emotional communication within quiet expression. In recent years, he has launched the “APPLE” project, which designs learning. In 2015, he held the exhibition ‘APPLE+’ at ggg. A poster based on this project won the 18th Kamekura Yusaku Award.

Since then, the exhibition has toured galleries and art museums throughout Japan. In October 2017, the exhibition ‘APPLE+’ opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai in Shanghai, China. This exhibition will then tour art museums throughout China. His book APPLE was published in English in 2014, Chinese and Japanese in 2017, and Korean in 2018. In April 2018, he opened the “Apple Design Institute” within the Art Information Center Library at Osaka University of Arts. His major works include the World Graphic Design Congress Kit, IBM Japan ThinkPad promotion, Belle Maison, Osaka University of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Keikyu Department Store, and Kintetsu Holdings symbol marks, a series of branding projects for Hiroko Koshino, and a series of branding projects for Kyoto pastry shop Malebranche.

His major awards include the 18th Kamekura Yusaku Award, the Japan Typography Yearbook Grand Prix, the Silver Award at the World Poster Triennale Toyama, the JAGDA Newcomer Award, the NY ADC Excellence Award, and the D&AD Yellow Pencil Award, among many others both at home and abroad. He is a professor at Osaka University of Arts and principal of Osaka College of Art, attached to Osaka University of Arts.