Brand, design, essay

Sony built a park in Ginza’s land. Named it, Sony Ginza Park. Next to the park is Tokyu Plaza Ginza, inspired by the Japanese glass craftsman Edo Kiriko. On the other side is the ornate Hermes building. Was Sony, who built a park in this expensive Ginza land, crazy? Is it’What is it?’

Contrary to concerns, Sony is seeing the brand effect through Ginza Sony Park. 5 million people visited this place in 2018 alone. Sony itself has already treated Ginza Sony Park the same as the PlayStation. If you look at the wooden floor and look around, you can see a staircase made of exposed concrete. If you go down the stairs, you will see a convenience store with music.

Enter a convenience store that says’The Konbini’ and take out a drink. The packaging is a bit strange. Does not matter. I thought it was a drink, but it is not a drink. T-shirt is in. Rub your eyes and look at the refrigerator again. There are towels in the triangle kimbap packaging, and socks are in the beverage container. It is a convenience store, but not a convenience store.

Go outside and look at the sign again. ‘The Konbini’. Obviously a convenience store is right. There is a sign that says it is a convenience store, but it does not say that it is a convenience store like’Family Mart’. Yes. This is the’The Konbini’ pop-up store created by Fragment Design by Hiroshi Fujiwara, who is said to be the father of Japanese street fashion.

Art praises but criticizes society. Especially pop art is the latter. Pop art criticized the commercialist society in which we live by frivolously depicting mass-produced products on silkscreen or canvas. In particular, Andy Warhol pinpointed the individuality of individuals buried in capitalism through Marylin Monroe, Mona Lisa, Campbell Soup, and Coca-Cola.

Now, people use it to express themselves by transforming pop art itself, which criticizes society frivolously but coldly. The Mona Lisa is a masterpiece drawn by Da Vinci, but what is the Mona Lisa mug? Rather, a mug with a Mona Lisa can be a tool for some to take art in life. For some, the Mona Lisa mug may have been purchased to commemorate a visit to the Louvre. Mona Lisa mug is a cup for someone. For some, it may be a memory of the Mona Lisa and the Louvre. Andy Warhol criticized the society buried in mass production by painting the Mona Lisa on silkscreen, but now people don’t care about it.

For some, the MacBook is a chunk of aluminum metal. But for some, it is an art piece. The curves cut out by a milling machine convey the properties of aluminum intact. For engineers, the MacBook may be a beautiful engineering with the best technology of its time. At the same time, there is a company called’Apple’ that made the MacBook. Looking at the MacBook, people think of Apple. In Apple’s products, people project the beauty they pursue in a very specific way. When you search for’apple’ on Google,‘apple.co’ appears first, not fruit. In this respect, the brand is actually making beauty infiltrate into everyday life. Contrary to expectations, art became practical and the boundaries were blurred.

Hiroshi Fujiwara leads fragment design. Called the father of Japanese street fashion, his work has many designs that ``transform’’ everyday life. He works with many brands, including Pikachu, Nike, Starbucks, and knows how brands and designs can bring a little fun to everyday life. Few people give a good answer to the question,‘How can design bridge the gap between beauty and reality?’ The Konbini, located in Sony Ginza Park, is one of the answers to these questions.

The Konbini. Convenience Store. This store, named as a convenience store, displays all items in the form of a convenience store. The Konbini shows a shift in the idea of’How can design overturn everyday life?’ At the same time, through all of the products sold by’The Konbini’, Fuji and Hiroshi also ask a somewhat awkward question,‘Is it necessary to take the natural thing for granted?’

The Konbini is not a radical art. Change the t-shirt into the packaging container, and wrap the towel in the shape of a triangle kimbap. I just put a price tag here. Interestingly, this little attempt turns into a question that makes you think more specifically about’art’. So, if you buy something at’The Konbini’, you’ll see’Did you buy art? Did you buy a T-shirt?’ It’s hard to tell. An attempt to turn your daily life upside down. The new experience I feel through this is a thought of’beauty’ that is neither too heavy nor too light.

‘The Conbiny’ shows how a brand describes everyday life, and shows what design elements such as clothes and convenience stores build everyday life in. The Konbini only conveys how important the’role of design, editing, and information design’ is in the store itself. This is the goal that’The Konbini’ pursues.

The more art and design come into us, the more concrete our view of art changes. Musinsa collaborates with Jinro Height to make a bag, and Lowro collaborates with Nasa. Jinro and Covernot do a collaboration. We show this and say,‘It really happened!’, but in that’reality’ there is a very concrete beauty.

The deeper the brand gets into the lifestyle, the more beauty comes into our minds. G-Dragon and Nike collaboration shoes that are very difficult to obtain and have a high resell price. ‘Air Force 1 Paranoise’ is designed so that the outer surface of Air Force shoes peels off over time. When the outer surface of the shoe is peeled off, the’beauty’ pursued by G-Dragon unfolds in front of the shoe owner. G-Dragon’s idea was designed in the’Air Force 1’shoe. The beauty of a brand makes people more attached to it than sculpture and painting. That attachment is reflected in the resell family.

In these days, when capsule collections have become regular and various collaborations that break the boundaries between brands,‘The Konbini’ is not new, but rather’the boundaries in which brands express the realm of beauty cannot be limited’. In that respect, the Konbini is not too much to say that it is pop art of the 2020s. Rather, the brand may have absorbed pop art.

Recently, a waffle prototype of’Fragment Design X Sakai X Nike’ was unveiled. The skiers scene, which is always full of exciting collaborations, was exciting. Last year’s Sakai and Naikigan collaboration’LD Waffle’ was very responsive, and the joining of fragment design could not but excite sneaker enthusiasts.

However, the hottest collaboration these days is’Nike X Travis Scott’ and A Dior. Especially Air Dior. Dior brought the’street’ image that Dior lacked the most through collaboration with Nike. Of course, Kim Jones, a designer of the Dior men’s line, has already succeeded in bringing street culture to Dior by introducing Converse shoes and the like, but failed to absorb the dynamics of’street fashion’ into Dior itself.

In the past, Eddie Slimman succeeded in bringing rock music to Dior. However, it did not bring the freedom of street fashion. Rather, Eddie Slimman did not link rock music with Dior’s elegance. However, Kim Jones added a new beauty of’street fashion, challenge’ to Dior through’Jordan’, one of the brands representing the’sports spirit’ that is harsh but dynamic and elegant at the same time.

Already when Kim Jones was a Louis Vuitton menswear designer, he collaborated with Supreme to bring the’dynamics’ of street fashion. Kim Jones’ attempt laid the foundation for a new trend to enter Louis Vuitton. This paved the way for Virgil Abloh to move Louis Vuitton into a conservative and flexible-thinking brand.

Through Air Dior, Dior was able to transfusion’flexibility to change’. In addition, through Jordan, Nike has become a window of communication with many brands and designers, including high-end fashion houses from off-white to Dior. Maybe Nike has become a healer that gives a new image to numerous brands through its representative sneakers. The brand value for this is because the shoe reseller is intact.

The beauty conveyed by the artist is independent. However, the beauty that the brand and the brand conveys bring or fill each other’s lack of beauty. Through collaboration between brands, some become tankers and some become healers. The brand’s pursuit of beauty. Maybe the brand took more of the dynamism of art. Because a brand conveys a very practical beauty that makes life advantageous through a product or service.

The beauty that the brand pursues becomes more concrete as designs and brands can build up aspects of everyday life. The beauty that the brand pursues is simple. There is no need for a splendid Mass. ‘The excellent heat conduction of WMF function4 gives the fun of making food’, Under Armor’s heat gear leggings’helps exercise more effectively by discharging sweat and heat even in a breathtaking environment’. The beauty that the brand pursues is entirely It is practical for people and a joy in life. The little joy in life accumulates and creates beauty in life. The way brands convey beauty is completely different from art.

Art no longer stays in galleries and galleries. Art now moves from gallery to brand. The beauty that was like Rapunzel trapped in a deep castle now only goes into our lives with the message’Toward the Infinite Universe~’ which Toy Story’s buzz always screamed. Perhaps the brand is the most tangible fairy tale where people feel beauty….