At my core as a person, I am an artist and I have spent the past years at my university developing an understanding of the connections between people, technology, and design. Design is such a major piece of everyone’s life and culture, and I had come to be interested in just how much it differs and affects people in various parts of the world. I originally fell in love with Japanese design culture through the use of mascots, whether it was for a business, location, or purpose. Their designs would take into account what it is they advertise or support and how an audience is able to associate and reflect. I had spent quite a bit of time looking over so many different kinds of mascots, even to the point I had used them for a school project to reflect social media presence and connections followers create with a figure, or mascot. It made me realize something, mascots exhibit a particular narrative and cultural device through design, they emphasize togetherness, tourism, and enjoyment through both physical and virtual media within Japanese society. I wanted to learn more about Japanese design culture beyond just this, it was intriguing to see how another culture uses design to communicate with its audience.
Design is all around. It’s in advertisements telling someone to buy a product or encouraging community welfare. It’s in how a train station is built to be efficient or buildings place their signs. Design factors into economy, entertainment, socialization, and history, where it creates a subtextual communication between the creator and its intended audience. I have been influenced by Japanese designers and their ability to create such powerful designs, and I wish to apply that same ability to my work and connect with my main future goals of working with design in the fields of advertising and audience interactivity. Intensive language study, in-depth culture immersion, and peer socialization is what aids in the ability to fully understand the design in front of me. I want to ask the question of why the design feels so influential and what cultural context brings to design. At the same time, I want to create long lasting connections while I’m here with others who have the same passion for design and art as I do. Creativity is something that is so much stronger when it is done together with someone.
I’m incredibly excited to begin cataloging the design I see around me. I have a sketchbook set aside to draw out what is before me and record what it feels influential to me when I look at or interact with it. But, I’m even more excited to be putting myself out into a new place, have new experiences and understandings of another culture, and maybe even share a bit of mine with others. I know there will be times where I feel embarrassed, timid, or scared, but I’m ready to take those on and see them as an opportunity to grow as a person. Language learning is going to be incredibly intriguing during my experience as I’ve come to understand how important the connection between language and culture is, and experiencing the language first-hand is going to provide a wonderful impact to my educational understanding of it.
Living in a new place can be an exciting experience, but living in another country as well is going to open my mind to new ways of life. In the United States, I grew up on the west coast in the state of California and my home university was on the east coast in the state of Pennsylvania. It was almost two completely different cultures, but both have become solid parts of me and developed me as a person. I wonder how I will change during my time in Japan.
I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be part of an educational exchange, and cannot wait for all that is to come.
[Attached is a photograph of my home university.]