"Sony design must be standardized. Let's bring Sony's designers together in one place." (Norio Ohga)
When Norio Ohga, former Chairman and CEO joined Sony in 1959, he stressed the importance of design to the management team of the time. In 1961, the Design Office (now called the Creative Center) was established. The Creative Center, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, and whose office in Sony headquarters is a strictly controlled floor onto which only designers and a small number of employees are allowed to enter, has expanded its activities beyond product design to include entertainment, finance and other diverse business areas. We asked Daisuke Ishii, who was appointed as the head of the Creative Center in October last year, about the activities of the Creative Center as it continues to take on various challenges.

Designing a "selfie" style that has carried on to today

— What kind of products have you designed since joining the company?

Immediately after joining the company, I was put in charge of designing the Handycam® video camera. At the time, video cameras made by other companies that allowed the user to shoot footage while looking at the LCD monitor were selling very well, and Sony had to do something about it, so it was necessary to review the product. Therefore, I proposed a rotation mechanism that allows the angle of the monitor to be freely changed, enabling "selfies" to be taken, and proceeded with the development with the engineers. Today, the VLOGCAM series, which specializes in video shooting, uses the same mechanism, and I am happy that the style of shooting while looking at the LCD screen has been revived. At the Creative Center, the designers rotate the products they are responsible for every three to four years. Without being confined to a single category, I have worked on product design for the MD Walkman® first stick-shaped remote control, "MDR-V 150" headphones, AIBO "ERS -7", and emerging areas such as Cyber-shot®, Xperia™, and MESH (IoT blocks). Most recently, I was responsible for the creative direction for VISION-S, which pursues the next generation of mobility, and Sony's first Airpeak drone.

Expanding the field of design by concurrently serving as an advertising department

— What has been the most memorable project so far?

I was involved in advertising for the "Cyber-shot" T series of digital still cameras, which was released in 2008. I had some doubts about the direction of TV commercials at the time, so I voiced my opinion to the head of the Creative Center, who had been transferred from the advertising department. There was a suggestion that, "In that case, you should also be in charge of advertising", and it was decided that I would also work within the advertising department and direct Cyber-shot's advertisements and productions. At the time, it was unusual for a senior manager leading design to concurrently serve in the advertising department. As By being able to be involved in both advertising and the actual design, I felt I was expanding my field. It was a tough but rewarding project.

— Many Sony products have the same designs overseas?
How do you determine the design for customers with diverse sensibilities?

Will it impress customers when they pick up the product? All I can say is that we need to make decisions from the user's point of view. Ohga, who was the founder of the Creative Center, often said, "Let's make products that touch the heartstrings." If it doesn't "touch the heartstrings" of the customer, it won't be accepted by the customer, and the best products are easy to use and have a beautiful design. You can't gain empathy from the customer if you don't have something that can touch people's hearts. Essentially, if the customer who sees and uses the product for the first time does not have something that resonates with them, they will not become a repeat user or fan of the product. We would like to deliver excitement not only by the color and shape of the product, but also through the experience delivered by the product.

Designers have to look at themselves objectively

— Is there anything you pay attention to in order to be user-oriented?

Rather than getting too rigid in knowledge and making generalities, I think it's important to understand what exactly the marketing, planning staff and engineers are saying, and to think from an objective point of view. Designers study drawing, which is the process of bringing a 3D object into a 2D world using only paper, a pencil and an eraser. During this process, another version of yourself will always be looking objectively at the drawing and confirming whether the size and positional relationship are correct. When designing products, services or communication, we discuss the design from an objective point of view to see if it is truly correct as our value norm. The job of design is to reconfirm and seek the answser to Ohga's question, "What is the product that touches the heartstrings?" I believe that this process has led to the realization of Sony's Purpose, " to fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology."

The trigger for branding was new business projects

- From product to user interface (UI) and user experience (UX), what was the reason for making branding consistent across categories?

I think the real impetus was the new business projects, such as MESH. Although the scale of each project is small, everything from product, UI, UX and branding are developed from the beginning, knowledge and know-how that have been accumulated within the Creative Center over time are used to support each project. Originally, I was particular about how to display song titles on the MD Walkman's stick remote control from the user's point of view, and I have always considered the fusion of UI, UX and products as one of my specialties. I think that the value of the user experience would be created by bringing together the branding, UI and UX, rather than just the product itself, as a part of a unified visual aesthetic. Airpeak, the direction for which I have been overseeing in recent years, was a project that worked across branding, including product, application, and naming development.

Also, a few years ago, when the management of the mobile business changed, we proposed the formulation of a corporate vision. We participated in a training program for the top management, and through several workshops, arrived at the corporate vision, "Experiences beyond imagination for the dedicated and passionate." At first, it was a vision created to unify our communication design, but it has come to be reflected in the philosophy of our mobile business. This project inspired us to enter the realm of design by building a vision through communication design and words. The formulation of the corporate slogan "Sense the Wonder" by Sony Semiconductor Solutions is an example of how this concept was put to actual use.

— Was it a proposal from the Creative Center to "create a vision first" when starting a new brand or reinvigorating it?

The vision for the mobile business was realized by the designer in charge making a proposal to the president of the mobile business at the time. In formulating the purpose of Sony Honda Mobility Inc., which was recently announced, Creative Center designers interviewed the employees of the new company and various stakeholders, and ultimately came up with the vision "Move people, through the pursuit of innovation with diverse inspirations" reflecting the intentions of top management.

Taking on the challenge of envisioning the future of mobility

— How was the Creative Center involved in the mobility project?

Around 2018, during a period of great change in the automobile industry, I received a question from top management asking, "What can Sony do to contribute to the evolution of mobility?" So, as the Creative Center, we turned our proposals on mobility into concrete visuals. We thought about what we wanted to achieve with Sony's mobility and started by discussing the question with our designers and putting all of our ideas together in a storybook. A global team with a wide range of expertise, including the European design team and designers who had worked on smartphones, cameras, robotics, and branding and communication, thought about what to do with the concept. What we came up with was the idea that if Sony were to contribute to mobility, the answer would lie in sensing, and we agreed on the direction of creating mobility protected by sensing. After that, we designed "VISION-S" from the perspective of what would happen if various businesses surrounding Sony, including entertainment, were connected to mobility.

Communicating the appeal of Sony's diverse businesses

— I have the impression that the Creative Center was entrusted with envisioning the future of Sony. Is that true?

I believe that a designer's job is to envision the future and things that do not yet exist. A designer's greatest strength is the ability to visualize the future through images and words. I believe that the role of a designer is to visualize the ideas of top management and business stakeholders.

— I think there have been various changes from the product design-centric era when you joined the company to the present. What is required of designers now?

When I first joined the company, the challenge was how to design products that meet the needs of the market. Today, users' purchasing behavior is shifting from focusing only on products to focusing on experiences, and at the same time, the Sony Group's business domains are expanding. I used to think about how to design technology as a product in line with marketing, but now things are a little different. In a sense, I think we have to think about the future while ignoring how things have been until now. Perhaps we are entering an era in which society as a whole is more important than marketing growth. That's why I think it's important to create a vision when starting a new project looking five or ten years ahead.

Towards an era where lifestyles are also designed

Our designers were heavily involved in the development of Original Blended Material, which resulted in environmentally friendly packaging. Currently, we are also increasing our design work in the financial field, including the design of the system used by Sony Life's Lifeplanner sales specialists for remote consulting with clients. In addition, we are also conducting external communication such as collaborating with R&D utilizing the Sony Park Mini space in Ginza. While pioneering new design areas, we would like to propose designs that allow us to get closer to the lifestyles of future users.

An design festival that stimulates the creativity of designers

— I heard that you recently participated in an overseas design festival. How was the reaction?

In September, we participated in the London Design Festival 2022 held in London, England. The theme of the "INTO SIGHT" exhibition was "Fusion of Physical and Meta-Reality Worlds," and instead of a so-called "metaverse" world where people wear VR goggles to immerse themselves, we used Crystal LED displays and sensors to create a reverse experience of entering a meta-reality space. Music was generated in real time in response to human movements, and visitors commented that the experience was "healing" and very soothing. The music and environment change according to the movements of the visitors, making each experience completely unique, and creating an experience that can only be appreciated in person. Exhibiting at overseas design festivals is also a way to get closer to the creative community and create a place for designers to expand their potential. In the past, we have exhibited at the Milan Design Week to see what can be done with Sony technology from a designer's point of view, and to allow each of us to fully demonstrate our creativity. In celebrating our 60th anniversary, we also collaborated with SF writers to draw stories of "Tokyo in 2050" using a method called Sci-Fi prototyping.

The Creative Center's aims for the future

— Finally, please tell us about the future activities of the Creative Center.

"Incubation" and "branding" to support new businesses and technologies have become the core of the Creative Center's activities, so I'd like to use that as a starting point to collaborate with various people inside and outside the company. At the recent exhibition "CEATEC 2022", Sony CEO Yoshida-san asked, "What would happen if Sony's environmental efforts were turned into a story by the Creative Center?", and Original Blended Materials and other initiatives were exhibited under the themes of "Earth," "Society," and "People." We also see it as our responsibility to build a message for this environment. Because we are involved in various fields, each designer spins a story for each project from the perspective of incubation and branding. We use the term "Creative Hub" to describe these activities, and we would like to collaborate with people from both inside and outside Sony to help shape the future of the Sony Group.