Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Masashi Kawamura
Chief Creative Officer / Co-Founder of Whatever Co.
Chief Creative Officer / Co-Founder of WTFC
Chief Creative Officer / Co-Founder of Open Medical Lab
Guest Professor of Kanazawa College of Art
Advisory Board of Design Design Museum
Executive Member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS)
New Inc Mentor
NY ADC Board Member
Co-Founder of PARTY
After working in global creative agencies such as 180 Amsterdam, BBH Tokyo/Singapore/London, and Wieden & Kennedy New York, he founded PARTY in 2011, and later opened its New York and Taipei operations. In 2019, he joined forces with the team Dot by Dot, and started a new creative studio called Whatever Inc. His background in coding and film directing allows him to create work that weaves together storytelling and technology, which has been recognized in numerous international award shows. He continues to explore creativity in variety of fields beyond advertising, including music videos, product design, and digital installations, and has been chosen as one of the Creativity magazine’s "Creative 50," and Fast Company’s “100 most creative people in business”.
博報堂、180、BBH、Wieden & Kennedyといった世界のクリエイティブエージェンシーでの活動を経て、2011年PARTYを設立。PARTY New York及びPARTY Taipeiを立ち上げ、その代表を務める。2019年 dot by dotと合併し、新たにWHATEVERをスタート。数々のブランドのグローバルキャンペーンを始め、テレビ番組開発、ミュージックビデオの演出など活動は多岐に渡る。その仕事はカンヌをはじめ世界で100以上の賞を受賞し、Creativity「世界のクリエイター50人」、Fast Company「ビジネス界で最もクリエイティブな100人」、AERA「日本を突破する100人」にも選出されている。
Contact: hello@whatever.co
1979 BORN IN TOKYO
1985 - 1992 LIVED IN SAN FRANCISCO
1998 - 2002 KEIO UNIVERSITY SFC
2002 - 2005 HAKUHODO
2005 - 2007 BBH
2007 - 2008 180
2008 - 2010 BBH
2010 - 2011 Wieden & Kennedy
2011 - 2014 PARTY
2014 - 2019 PARTY NY
2019 – Whatever Co.
ABOUT
BIOGRAPHY
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
iF Design Award
World Media Festival 2016 Silver
2016 International Emmy Kids Awards: Digital, Nomination
Black Film Festival Children Category, Grand Prize
Montreal Neuveu Film Festival, Official Selection
Ottawa Animation Film Festival, Official Selection
Adobe Cutting Edge Award
MTV Video Music Award Japan Best Video of the Year Nomination x3
Creative Review Annual Best in Book
Good Design Award Best 100
Spikes Asia Grand Prix, Gold x4, Silver x5, Bronze x7
Tokyo TDC 2010 & 2012 TDC Award, Nomination x3
Space Shower TV MVA Special Prize x2
Andy Awards Silver, Bronze
Epica Award Gold
Creative Circle Awards Grand Prix
Tokyo Interactive Advertising Award Best of Show
Ad Stars Grand Prix x3, Gold x5, Silver x6
Cannes Design Lions Gold x2 SIlver x2 & Bronze
Cannes Cyber Lion Gold x2 Silver x6 & Bronze x2
Cannes Mobile Lions Gold x2
Cannes Film Lion Shortlist
Cannes Print Lion Shortlist
Cannes Titanium Lion Shortlist x2
One Show Design Best of Show & Gold, Silver x2
One Show Interactive Silver x4 Bronze x2 Merit
One Show Entertainment Silver
One Show Film Merit
NY ADC Gold x4, Silver x3, Bronze x2
Clio Grand Prize, Gold, Silver x2 & Bronze
Adfest Innova Lotus x2
Adfest Interactive Lotus Grand Prize & Gold x3 & Silver x6
Adfest Design Lotus Grand Prize, Gold, Silver, Bronze x3
Adfest Film Lotus Silver
Adfest Promo Lotus Silver & Bronze x2
Webbys Award x5, People's Voice Award, Nomination x14 & Honoree x12
Annecy International Animated Film Festival Best Music Video
Space Shower 2011 Best Music Video Nomination
Ars Electronica Honorary Mention
FWA Site of the Month x2
FWA Site of the Day x7
London International Awards NEW Category Silver
NY ADC 90 CFE Competition Winner
UK VMA Best Budget Video
ABOUT
AWARDS
Vimeo Award Shortlist
D&AD Graphite Pencil, Wooden Pencil x8
Tomorrow Award x2
Animanima Film Festival Winner
YouTube Video Award 2009
Ann Arbor Film Festival selection
Uner Hort Musikfilm festival Hamburg Best Music Video
Creative Heads Competition
Print in Motion Music Video Winner
Tokyo Media Arts Festival Grand Prize
Portable Film Festival Grand Prize
Born Shorts Film Festival Grand Prize
Asia Pacific Effie Award Gold
Kokoku Hihyo Top 10 Music Video 2007
Tokyo ADC & Hiromu Hara Award
Japan Prize
Galaxy Award
NY Festival Bronze
Mainichi Advertising Design Award
ACC Silver
Hakuhodo President Award
JAGDA Golden Egg Award
Senden Kaigi Award
Good Design Award
Prix Danube Award
Prix Jeunesse Award
Asia South East-Short Film Festival Gold
(Stopped entering since 2017)
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
D&AD 2022 Creative Transformation Jury
TBS Radio After 6 Junction
Musashino Art University Creative Leadership Special Lecture
Creativity Future Forum 2023 Speaker
Design Matters Tokyo 2022 Speaker
Aichi Ad Award Jury
SONY U24 Co-Challenge Mentor, Japan
SONY Trialog Speaker, Japan
Tsukuba University Contents Application Theory Speaker, Japan
Japan Media Arts Festival, Festival Platform Award Jury, Japan
TEDx P&G Singapore Speaker, Singapore
Create with Google Speaker, Japan
Digital Design Day Speaker, Italy
Annecy Award New Motion Next of Japan Animation nominator, France
Creative Journey Speaker, Japan
Digital Dumbo Speaker, USA
Kokuyo Design Award Jury, Japan
Ciclope Latino Jury, Mexico
SONY CSL presentation, Tokyo
TTI Vanguard Conference Speaker, USA
Webby Award Jury, USA
TEDxTokyo Speaker, Japan
NY ADC Young Guns10 Jury, USA
One Screen Jury, USA
One Show Mobile Jury, USA
Google Creative Sandbox, France
Cannes Cyber Lion Jury, France
Design Indaba Speaker, Africa
MIT Design Fiction Lecture, USA
Andy Awards Jury, USA
One Click Award 2011 Jury, Japan
Windows Digital Media Consorcium, Microsoft, Japan
Creative Direction Seminar, Sendenkaigi, Japan
Tokyo TDC Award 2011 RGB category Jury, Japan
TED Ads worth spreading, USA
Ad:Tech Tokyo Speaker, Japan
CREATIVITY Creative Roundhouse, USA
Yale University Lecture, USA
ADC Young Guns Exhibition in Tokyo, Japan
Dommune Media Art Night, Japan
Ginza Ignition, Japan
Creative Kitchen, Japan
Spikes Asia New Independant Agency Showcase, Singapore
CCGE Lecture, Japan
ABOUT
JURY / SPEAKER
YOUNG GUNS 8 CHOICE CUTS MODERATOR, USA
#FFF MEDIA ARTS NIGHT, Japan
TDC STOLEN BRAND SEMINAR, Indonesia
SVA SPECIAL LECTURE, USA
CREATIVE HEADS COMPETITION, France
AICP 2010 STUDENT AWARD JURY, USA
NY ADC 2010 HYBRID JURY, USA
TCDC CREATIVITY UNFOLD 2010, Thailand
MIAMI AD SCHOOL AMSTERDAM SPECIAL LECTURE, Netherlands
TDC DAY 2010, Japan
PUBLIC/IMAGE 3D NAOKI ITO x MASASHI KAWAMURA, Japan
APMT5 CREATIVE CONFERENCE, Japan
KEIO UNIVERSITY SFC BRANDING THEORY, Japan
MAINICHI NEWSPAPER, Japan
Triennale Di Milano Exhibitor
ACC Design Jury 2020 2021 2022 2023, Japan
One Show Product & IP category Jury, USA
Digital Ehon Award Jury, Japan
Kokuyo Design Award 2019 2020 2021 Jury, Japan
YouTube Work Award 2021 Jury, Japan
Indies Award 2020 Jury, UK
NY TDC Virtual Salon Speaker, USA
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
PROJECTS
INDEX
(click title to jump to slide)
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
SPOTLIGHTS
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Pilot FIlm
Whatever
+ Dwarf + TECARAT
2022
Role:
Idea
Writer, Film Director
Whatever produced the pilot film for "HIDARI," the directorial debut of our CCO Masashi Kawamura, who also wrote the original script, together with Dwarf Studios and TECARAT, the world's top stop-motion animation teams.
"HIDARI" is a "stop-motion samurai film" that tells the story of a legendary craftsman from the Edo era who left behind numerous works and anecdotes. Although his existence remains uncertain, we have boldly reimagined his story, weaving historical records from the Edo era into our tale. All of the characters are hand-carved from wood and brought to life through frame-by-frame animation techniques, just as Hidari's wooden sculptures were said to come alive through his genius craftsmanship in the anecdotes. Experience a thrilling blend of dynamic action inspired by Japanimation and the rich, analog world view of stop-motion animation that you've never seen before.
HIDARI
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Branding, Film, Web
Morisawa Fonts
2022
Role:
Creative Director
We planned and created the music video for "Okitegami" by the artist Vaundy in collaboration with Morisawa Fonts, a cloud-based font service developed by Morisawa, one of the leading font companies in Japan. We also created a website showcasing the music video and the collaboration between Vaundy and Morisawa Fonts.
This is a "Font Specimen Music Video" that uses 77 fonts, including Gothic and Mincho fonts provided by Morisawa Fonts, to breathe life into the lyrics of a song.
This song "Okitegami" was specially written by Vaundy for this collaboration, and the music video spotlights the keywords within the song lyrics. Using fonts that match the meaning, weight, fragility, and strength of the lyrics, this music video is dynamic and expressive in showcasing the meaning and emotions behind the lyrics.
Vaundy × Morisawa Fonts
“Okitegami”
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
SOUR “Hibi no Neiro”
This music video was shot for Sour's 'Hibi no Neiro' (Tone of everyday) from their first mini album 'Water Flavor EP'. The cast were selected from the actual Sour fan base, from many countries around the world. Each person and scene was filmed purely via webcam.
Music Video
SOUR
2009
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Unlimited Stadium
The Nike Unlimited Stadium was created as part of Nike’s Unlimited campaign. The digitally-enabled running track was located in Bonifacio Global City, one of Metro Manila’s iconic running hubs, and was open to the public for 2 weeks. Unlimited Stadium is a space in the shape of a 100-ft sole print of the Nike Lunar Epic Low Flyknit, Nike Running’s latest footwear innovation. The 200m running track was lined with LED screens to inspire and challenge locals and visitors to go beyond their limits. Runners were invited to race against their own digital avatars that grew in size based on the speed and distance ran. The campaign was a huge success, earning Clio Grand Prix and many more creative awards after its launch.
Race against yourself on a 200 meter �interactive running track.
Experiential
NIKE
2016
Role:
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
World Wide Maze
As part of Chrome Experiments for Mobile, we created the “World Wide Maze." It is a multi-screen experience using WebSocket, WebGL, and Chrome's new Tab Sync feature. Users can access any website, transform it into a 3D maze, and tilt their smartphones to control a ball to reach the goal in the game.
Digital
2013
Turn any website into a 3D maze
and play it with your smartphone.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
MAKE TV
MAKE TV was created as a part of the Sony “make.believe” brand campaign. It was the first of the “live interactive TV show” that allowed the audience to participate in making a music video for musical duo Karmin on TV. When users downloaded the app “Dot Switch” to your smartphone, tablet, or PC, they were able to collectively turn on the machines inside the TV show. The TV footage was then made into a music video with a thank-you list featuring all of the participants’ names. As a result, more than 890,000 people watched the show live and over 7 million pushes were recorded during the show.
Digital
TV Show
SONY
2012
A Live Interactive TV show for the audience to participate via various Sony devices.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Rainbow in your hand
“RAINBOW IN YOUR HAND” is a flipbook composed of 36 black pages, on which seven squares with seven colors of rainbow are printed next to each other. The simple book will create a small magic in your hands. When you flip the book, a rainbow created by the afterimage of the row of colored squares will appear. With this, you can have a small rainbow in your hands whenever and wherever you’d like!
Book
Utrecht
2007
Role:
Idea
Designer
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
SOUR “Mirror”
The song 'Utsushi Kagami' (Mirror) sings about the fact that everything and everyone around you is a mirror that reflects yourself. You can find who you are in the reflection of others. These lyrics sounded to be a great opportunity to create a fully interactive music video, collecting all the different datas on your social networking sites and using it as a platform of entertainment. Every viewing experience will be personalized based on your social network status, by connecting to your Facebook, Twitter, and the webcam.
We have raised all the production budget through Kickstarter, and allowed the followers of SOUR_official to automatically become a part of the color pixel in the actual film.
Music Video
SOUR
2010
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Gaga Doll
Role:
Creative Director
To promote the Japan launch of Lady Gaga’s album “ARTPOP” in a quirky Japanesque way, we created GAGADOLL— the world's first life-size human-shaped listening station that looks exactly like Lady Gaga.
Collaborating with Orient Industry—the world’s leading sex-doll manufacturer—we made four Gagadolls and embedded bone conduction speaker systems inside of them, enabling fans to listen to her new songs and an exclusive message when hugging the dolls.
The dolls, which were placed in record stores and showcased at various events across Tokyo, became a huge sensation.
Everywhere, long lines were formed as supporters queued up to embrace the Gagadoll.
Hug and listen. The world’s first life-size
Lady Gaga-shaped music player.
Experiential
Film
Universal Music
2014
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Golden Touch
In 2015, we were given the opportunity to produce the “Golden Touch” music video for Japan’s Queen of Pop—Namie Amuro. The brief was to come up with an artistic concept which was viral enough to reach new audiences around the world.�Our solution: Create a new music video viewing experience by applying virtual optical illusion techniques that blended with the song’s title and lyrics.
The music video, which stimulated the experience of touch screens without actually using them, invited viewers to virtually touch the video by directing them to place their finger on a specific point on their computer screen. By this act of touching the screen, the viewer appears to control the story unfolding in the video.
Golden Touch became a worldwide sensation in just weeks, accruing more than 10M views online. To celebrate this achievement and to express our gratitude to the fans of Namie Amuro, we created a special “Golden Touch—10 Million Views” version of the music video which also revolved around the viewer’s fingertip.
Music Video
安室奈美恵
2015
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
androp "Bell"
“Bell” sings about the difficulty of communication, and the lyrics such as ‘words’ ‘future’ ‘run’ inspired us to create a visual experience about the journey of delivering a message.
This idea developed into the “Bell” music video game. Your message will transform into an animal, which you can control through the landscape synchronized to the music. Depending on the number of letters, your message becomes a different animal. Whenever you hit an enemy, a letter will be changed and corrupt the message. After the game, you can tweet the broken message with a replay link to reveal the original message.
Music Video
Warner Music
2011
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
ToyToyota
"Backseat Driver"
“Backseat Driver” is the first digital toy from ToyToyota. It is an iPhone app for kids to enjoy driving from the backseat of a car. By using the iPhone's GPS function, players are able to drive a virtual car that moves in sync with the car they are physically riding in. They can collect actual shops and landmarks as items along the journey, which we generated using the Foursquare API. The players can also gain points, customize their cars, and share their drive with friends via Twitter.
App
Toyota
2011
A digital toy for kids, enabling them to
enjoy driving from the backseat.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
DISCO DOG
Disco Dog is the world’s first smartphone-controlled LED dog vest. It displays a variety of animated patterns and custom scrolling text in thousands of colors.
You can choose an animation or type in a message using the Disco Dog app on your smartphone. It’s a fun way to celebrate your pet and also keeps her visible and safe when it’s dark out. If your dog runs too far away and the connection is lost, the vest will show an automatic “LOST DOG” message, asking bystanders to help the lost pup find her way back.
Disco Dog was a sensation; receiving extensive global media coverage on Good Morning America, Discovery Channel, World Business Satellite, among many others.
This project was successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter in 2015—a limited number of pieces were sold out and the second edition of Disco Dog is currently in production.
Product
–
2015
Role:
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Diary of Ochibi
The world of "Ochibi" (a famous comic book drawn by artist Moyoco Anno) was brought to life as a 7 minute short film by director Masashi Kawamura and his team for the Japan Animator Expo. We used stop motion animation technique full of Japanese seasonal motif.
FIlm
Japan Animator Expo
2015
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Scarlet
We created the logo and the poster, and helped out with the planning and production of the opening sequence of “Scarlet”, the next NHK Morning Drama serial.
TV Shows
Brand Design
NHK
2019
Opening credit in clay animation
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
DIGITAL
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
White Squad
“White Squad” was part of MTV’s “Look Different” PSA campaign, created bring the younger generation’s attention to the existence of White Privilege in the USA. We launched the project as a multi-media, multi-technology campaign to reach the broadest audience possible and maximize the opportunities for delivering our message. A 90-second spot aired on MTV and partner channels and was also released online. A fully realized website accompanied the TV commercial, providing greater depth and detail. Twitter and Facebook accounts helped round out the fictional world of White Squad, and a working, automated toll-free phone number completed the illusion. Launching White Squad on multiple platforms not only solidified our fiction but also meant that a wide variety of demographics could experience at least some part of the campaign. The campaign felt so real that people were getting stunned, resulting in thousands of comments and discussions. White Squad was also named by the Guardian as one of the 10 best ads of 2015.
Tackling White Privilege with Satire
Film
Digital
MTV
2015
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
SPERM VISUALIZER
“SPERM VISUALIZER” is a film and website created for Space Shower TV’s “Music Saves Tomorrow” campaign. We visualized the concept by having real sperm cells (“the seeds of tomorrow”) dance to the music. We actually filmed the sperm belonging to all of the male staff members using a biological microscope, then extracted their shapes and motion data to create the animation. On the website, users may choose their favorite tracks from VIMEO and the sperm will dance along to them.
Digital
Music Video
SONY
2012
Motion-captured sperms will dance to the music.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Music for a Dying Star
The ALMA Music Box exhibition’s success prompted the production of the crowd-funded compilation CD “Music for a Dying Star”.
11 international artists, including Taeji Sawai, Takagi Masakatsu, Throwing a Spoon, and Christian Fennesz composed music using the 70 unique musical loops that derived from the music box.
We helped curate the artists, make all the designs for the album, and created a website where people can zoom through space and listen to the album samples.
Listen to the Music of a Dying Star
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Website
Product
NAOJ
2015
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Wednesday
is Water Day
To promote Suntory Tennnensui’s line of mineral water, Whatever worked with the brand to come up with an idea that unofficially declares Wednesday, which translates to “Water Day” in Japanese, a day of rest and rehydration.�https://www.suntory.co.jp/water/tennensui/mizuyoubi/
“Suiyōbi wa Mizuyōbi (Wednesday is Water Day)” is a brand activation project that reminds people to drink more water for a healthier lifestyle. Whatever made a 90-sec spot, which features a Google Calendar pixel animation, and a special website updated every Wednesday with useful tips on how to use the product at spas and in cooking
Campaign
Digital
Suntory
2019
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
What They See
What They See is an experimental photo series, that explores different perspectives to viewing art. Each photo is a set of the art piece and what it's seeing, asking the viewers "You visit museums to see works of art. Have you ever wondered what they see instead?" . The site was created only in 2 days, but has gained massive public attention, and few museums around the world has taken the method to use it as a workshop at their institution.
Photography
Personal Project
2015
Through the Eyes of Art
Role:
Idea
Designer
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Kagulu Price Scanner
Kagulu is a newly launched used-car-brand in Taiwan, whose key strength is in its fast used car price evaluation system. Since the brand is not well known yet, we set out to the streets of Taipei to demonstrate these brand features in front of the people in a fun & innovative way. We built the “Price Scanner” which is a truck with built in sensors, cameras, and display that scans any car in a few seconds and gives you its sales price instantly. The Price scanner drove around Taipei, attracting massive amount of attention from drivers, passerby, and Taiwanese media.
Digital
FIlm
Kagulu
2015
Truck that scans your car on the street,
and instantly shows its price
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Savor.Wavs
Savor.Wavs is an immersive digital, audio-visual experience that reinterprets Chipotle’s real ingredients, and was conceived as a collaborate effort together by PARTY NY, Media Monks, CAA, Chipotle, and none other than Wu-Tang Clan’s head honcho RZA himself. Each of Chipotle's 51 ingredients was musically interpreted by RZA and associated with a unique sound performed by 60 orchestra members. Users can select from the menu to create their own “order”, the result of which is a fully composed song as a 360 degree audio visual experience (with sheer infinite possible combinations!). RZA's sound stems were passed onto The Head and The Heart, AWOLNATION, GRiZ, PANG! and the Wu-Tang Clan, who created remixes of their favorite Chipotle order.
Digital
Chipotle
2017
A musical and visual experience inspired
by Chipotle's real ingredients.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Ultrabook
POP-UP THEATER
Ultrabook™ POP-UP THEATER is a campaign designed to introduce Ultrabook™, a new category of computers inspired by Intel.
In order to communicate the product’s thin design and its responsiveness, we synchronized 60 Ultrabooks with a special program, and created a “POP-UP THEATER” that suddenly appears around the city and transforms an everyday situation.
Digital
Film
Intel
2012
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
PUSH for Ultrabook
PUSH for Ultrabook™ is a real-time social game powered entirely by Ultrabook, and promoting a range of Ultrabooks.
Users from all around the world could participate by logging into Facebook or Twitter. Their names were transformed into 3D blocks, lined up by a robot arm, and used to try dropping the Ultrabook off a stage. The game also featured entertaining elements such as heart-shaped bonus blocks when players shared the site, as well as the real-time projection of the user icons, Likes, tweets, and social feed. The challenger whose blocks gave that final push, won the Ultrabook.
During the three weeks this game was live, 49,456 people participated, with 27 Ultrabooks given to the lucky winners.
Digital
Intel
2013
Modern-day online coin dozer game for everyone in the world to play.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Social Network Racer
Global campaign for Toyota’s sports car, FT-86 II.
We expressed the concept of FT-86 II, “enhance the excitement of driving,” by creating a Facebook game application. Any page on Facebook can be transformed into a 3D race course. The shape of the course is created based on the user’s name, and the wall posts, photos, and other information become the architecture in the racing environment.
Digital
Toyota
2011
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
AXE Wake Up Service
This is AXE's digital campaign that makes it easy for anyone to reserve a wake-up call to their own mobile phone by simply setting up an appointment on the website. When you call to confirm your phone number, which is done as a form of identification to prevent mischief at the time of booking, suddenly the phone on the site rings and a female staff member walks up to you and takes the receiver. The surprise performance that synchronized perfectly with the video and played the voice from the mobile phone became a big topic of conversation.
Digital
Unilever
2008
Role:
Idea
Art Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
AXE
Wake Up and Stay Alert
Axe Rise is a shower gel designed to revitalise guys in the morning. After all, just because it’s morning, doesn’t mean there isn’t opportunity everywhere. The Axe Rise Morning Alertness Test is a rich media banner that tests the morning alertness of guys in real-time. It places them in a realistic point-of-view dating scenario during a morning commute. The misdirect-packed three-level game evaluates the guy’s morning alertness reminding them that they need to Wake Up and Stay Alert if they want to get the girl.
Digital
Unilever
2010
Role:
Art Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
DROW
DROW is an iPhone APP + live projection system that lets you draw a single-line drawing on your iPhone, then throw it at the screen from anywhere in the world to join the visual show. Your drawings will jump into the screen and start to animate and dance with the music. This app continues to be enjoyed at various music events around the world including Sonar Tokyo.
App
SONAR Tokyo
2011
Throw your drawings onto a music reactive mural.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Cheer Player
Digital
TV Show
NHK
2019
We partnered with NHK to create “Cheer Player”, a tool that can be used online without having to download the app.
With Cheer Player, users of all ages can cheer on teams and individuals, and observe their support broadcasted live on screen or at the event venue. Users were able to either choose a stamp, type, or use speech to text to send their cheers via their own mobile device.
This digital tool was first introduced at the NHK Student Robocon.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
EXPERIENTIAL
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
ALMA Music Box
The ALMA Music Box was created in collaboration with the National Observatory of Japan to raise awareness for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescopes in Chile. With radio signal data captured by the telescope from the dying star R Sculptoris, we produced 70 music discs that can be played on a customized music box. The resulting somber melody is our requiem to the distant dying star 950 light-years away.
This project has been exhibited at various locations such as 21_21 Design Sight in Japan, Kanazawa’s 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, and Ukraine’s Museum-Arsenal. A special performance featuring the music box was held in collaboration with the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra in front of 2000 guests at the Okaazaki Loop Festival and a CD album entitled “Music for a Dying Star” was also commercially produced together with 11 musicians.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Experiential
Art Installation
NAOJ
2014
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Timeless Muses
Louis Vuitton “Timeless Muses” is an exhibition held at the Tokyo Station Hotel from August 31 to September 23, 2013.
It highlighted the stories of six iconic “muses” who have an extensive connection with the luxury brand, and who continue to inspire women over the years: Empress Eugénie de Montijo, Charlotte Perriand, Françoise Sagan, Catherine Deneuve, Kate Moss, and Sofia Coppola. For the opening party and exhibition themed “timeless masquerade ball,” we developed customized projectors and special Louis Vuitton masks using polarized lenses. With these original creations, we actualized a magical space where visitors enjoyed discovering vibrant images and animations when looking through the masks at what appeared to be simply white spaces.
Experiential
Louis Vuitton
2013
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
I LOVE MAX MARA
Whatever developed a holistic approach and oversaw the creative execution of “I LOVE MAX MARA”—a uniquely dynamic showcase of Max Mara’s FW18 collection and history held at the Hankyu Umeda department store in Osaka, Japan.
The centerpiece of this show was a giant (five-meter tall) interactive “Teddy Bear Coat” model, used to display 3D video mapping content inspired by the iconic coat. In addition to the main event, we created interactive content for the maxmaragram digital installation as well as took part in organizing a runway show that revolved around the giant Teddy Bear Coat.
Visitors were invited to experience the Italian label’s rich design heritage and exquisite craftsmanship in this two-week open exhibition from October 26 to November 10, 2018.
Experiential�Film
Max Mara Japan
2018
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Small World
In celebration of Google Translate's 10th anniversary, we opened an interactive pop-up restaurant in New York City. For 4 days, the restaurant served, for free, an amazing lineup of multicultural dishes prepared by international chefs. The catch: everything on the menu was written in a foreign language and that the hosts spoke in different languages. This meant that the guests had to download the Google Translate App to make their orders. Reservations were filled within an hour after opening, resulting in several hundreds of guests enjoying a multi-cultural, multi-culinary experience, along with a unique demonstration of the power of Google Translate.
Everyone Speaks Food
Experiential
Google Translate
2016
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
BarkShop Live
We partnered with pet retailer Bark & Co to launch a unique and innovative shopping experience… for dogs. Bark & Co’s “Dog’s eye view” company philosophy inspired us to conceptualize a store where dogs can shop, and the idea was brought to life as “BarkShop Live”, a week-long pop-up store located in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood.
At the store, special vests equipped with RFID readers were fitted on the visiting dogs before they were allowed to roam and play with various products available at the venue. All of the merchandise were embedded with RFID tags that allowed the system to recognize what toys the dogs showed the most interest in.
The feedback was then captured in real-time on an app and fed to a live projection at the store. As the dogs left the playground, owners were able to place orders on items of choice via the app and have them delivered.
Experiential
Bark & Co
2016
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
True Fan Jukebox
We partnered with Spotify to reinvent the jukebox. The True Fan Jukebox doesn’t take money— it only needs your love of music. The device uses custom image recognition system that identifies the band T-shirt you are wearing and plays the music from that band via Spotify.
The digital installation was showcased at the Spotify House throughout SXSW 2016 and was enjoyed by hundreds music fans as a result.
Experiential
Spotify
2016
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Symphony for
a Dying Star
We produced a live concert for the album "Music for a dying star" as part of the Kyoto Okazaki Loops Festival.
This 2 hour long concert was performed by 11 musicians + the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, mixing classic/jazz/ambient/pop/electronica with the sounds from our ALMA Music Box. A total of 1,800 people enjoyed this immersive musical experience, which combined advanced science with classical music performance.
PARTY was in charge of creating the visual designs, including the stage and motion graphics.
Listen to the Music of a Dying Star
Role:
Creative Director
Event
Okazaki Loops
2016
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
DINO PLAY - 恐竜博2019
Experiential
NHK
2019
In July 2019, “Dinosaur Fair 2019” was held at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno, Tokyo. As part of the event, we were involved with the creative direction for “DINO PLAY,” an activity that allowed visitors to play and interact with a full skeletal replica of a Troodon, the first publicly-exhibited dinosaur. In response to the movements of people standing in front of the screen, the Troodon carried out various actions, and the visitors could also take a commemorative photo with it.
During the event, a lot of people tried out this content, and it has been successfully displayed at 12 other locations all over Japan since then.
Role:
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Art of 8K
Lead by Creative Director Masashi Kawamura, “8K TECHNE” is a spinoff television show of “TECHNE: The Visual Workshop”, featuring high-resolution 8K video content made by five aspiring filmmakers. Tokyo University of the Arts collaborated with us in this project by hosting “Art of 8K”, a week-long exhibition showcasing the videos along with the actual storyboard sketches and props used for the films. More than 6,500 visitors came to the event, which aimed to promote and educate the public on 8K technology.
Event
NHK
2018
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Event
NHK
2020
Role:
Creative Director
We aim to showcase creations from around the world that came out because of this unprecedented era. The works include “Mongai Fushutu Moratorium,” a play by “Nomeets,” rehearsed and performed entirely online with all the actors from remote, and some of the videos linked to NHK’s “TECHNE 2020 with Corona” TV program, including “Virtual Tour de France,” an attempt to make being isolated to a fun experience by virtually reconstructing the historical bicycle race running over 100 years. Whatever contributed with “ROBOT VIEWING” telepresence solution and a hands-on installation based on “RakugakiAR” that allows you to draw an image of “Amabie,” a mythical creature believed to ward off plagues.
The novel coronavirus impacted our lives at scale humanity has rarely seen before. The entire world has begun “staying home,” our daily lives constrained, and almost all face-to-face events were postponed or canceled. Yet, to get over it and have fun even in this hardship, creatives continue to explore various forms of expression, leveraging their creativity.
Please join us in celebrating human creativity that doesn’t give in. We hope that this exhibition will allow visitors to think about how they can enrich the world today with their own creative power.
Exhibition “Creations during the pandemic”
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Event
DeTour
2020
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
FLOCK
We collaborated with the Hong Kong design event "deTour 2020" to plan and produce the art installation "FLOCK."COVID-19 has completely changed our lives. The pandemic makes it hard for people to connect and meet like they used to, which is ironic as we are supposedly living in a "connected world."We wanted to create an experience that can somehow bring people back together to celebrate the joy of being together again, in the form of an art piece. With this in mind, we came up with an idea to create a digital art installation where people from around the world can join a gigantic flock of flying people by taking a photo of themselves. We built a photo booth where people can stand and take a full body photo. The person in the image will then flap its arms and fly up to join into the flock of others flying on a giant digital screen. Since some people may not be able to attend deTour physically because of the COVID situation, an online version of the art installation was also created.People can access the website, take or upload photos with their smartphone, and see themselves joining thousands of other "flying people" in a virtual world just like the onsite installation.
Also, we created custom-made FLOCK notebooks collaborating with Moleskine for this event.
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Store Design
Branding
New Stand
2020
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
New Stand Tokyo
We opened New Stand Tokyo, a “general store of the future,” on the ground floor of the co-working building WHEREVER which we co-operate with WTFC. Whatever was in charge of all the creative directions including store branding, space design, product curation and websites.
At New Stand Tokyo, while maintaining the branding and concept of the New Stand in New York, we decided to reinterpret “New Stand” as an abbreviation of “New Standard” and positioned ourselves as a general store of the future, that curates products that we believe can become the “next norm.” For example, products that tackle various social issues, sustainable products that are produced in an ethical way, and products that can transcend culture and bring more smiles to the world.
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
FILM
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
JP Launch Campaign
Slack, which was launching in Japan, asked us to develop a campaign to introduce the platform to the Japanese audience. So our approach was to create GIF-style videos that showcased work spaces before and after using the service.
Simple and fun to watch, the 15-second commercial used live action and colorful graphics to reflect the software’s attributes and potential as a powerful business communication tool. The ad was broadcasted on TV, internet, public transportation, and train stations around the Tokyo metropolis.
As a result of a successful launch, the total number of active users for Slack in Japan rose to 2nd place on the platform’s global user base count.
Campaign
Film
Slack Technologies, Inc
2018
Role:
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Domo! World
8K stop motion animation, showing the life of Domo-kun in pre-historic times. I created the storyboard for all the actions on scene, so every scene and action comes together when you see it in full view. The video was also split up into 16 separate HD videos to be used for TVCs. The film was showcased at events such as Ars Electronica, Comic-con, etc.
Film
NHK
2019
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
EVOLUTION
OF IMAGERY
To demonstrate the beauty of SONY’s latest 8K definition display “Crystal LED Integrated Structure” at CES 2017, we created “Evolution of Imagery” – a special film, where 8-bit characters take center stage and dance, to eventually evolve into a stunning 8K resolution.
Each character was designed with a unique quality of Crystal LED Integrated Structure in mind, such as “Flowerman” representing the impressively abundant range of green colors the display can recreate. All of these characters were modeled in 8K quality combined with motion-captured data of actual dancers, and displayed life-size on a 9m wide screen.
A special performance taking place at every hour featured a real dancer on stage, who was invited to dance together with “Mirrorball Man” in front of the display, magically blurring the boundaries of reality and virtual reality.
FIlm
Digital
SONY
2017
8K video installation, where characters evolve
from 8bit to 8K.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Dream Relay Movie
Estima Hybrid wanted to raise its presence as a family car that helps nurture the creativity of kids, by not only driving them to places, but to somehow drive their imaginations.As a CREATE THE FUTURE PROJECT, Estima Hybrid traveled around Japan and connected stories made by the kids, to create a “Dream Relay Movie” out of their scenarios.
On the website, 4,475 original characters were created online to be used at the story-making workshops. 1,853 kids participated, and 12 scenarios were selected to become a part of the movie. Their crazy imaginations ended up becoming an hour-long film. The finished film was premiered in Tokyo inviting the kids and parents that participated in the workshops. This event was covered by numerous newspapers, magazines, TV shows, and blogs, successfully demonstrating that Estima Hybrid is a car that supports the kids’ imaginations and their possibilities.
Digital
FIlm
Toyota
2014
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Let’s Jinro
The very first TVC I made in my career… The idea was to create a super loose commercial that runs in between busy over cluttered Japanese TVCs. A single shot of friends coming together, drinking Jinro, getting drunk, and having fun :)
TVC
Jinro
2003
Role:
Idea
CM Planner
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
AXE
Love is a Battle
TV spots for the 2007 Japan launch campaign of AXE fragrance body spray. The concept "Love is a battle (kakehiki)", and created these 2 spots. AXE became the No1 selling body spray in Japan, and it's launch was selected as top 10 news of 2007. The campaign won Asia Pacific Effie Award gold.
TVC
Unilever
2007
Role:
Art Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
TVC
Appier
2021
Role:
Creative Director
To convey the Appier brand in a way that is easy to understand and appealing to anyone, we turned the sad story of "The Little Match Girl," which everyone knows, into a business success story with the power of Appier. The convincing visual that draws the viewers into the world of the old tale was shot remotely in Eastern Europe. We focused on representing the idea of "AI prediction," the core technology of Appier. The resulting commercial intuitively and impactfully explains how AI empowers businesses.
Appier
“The Little Match Girl”
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Where possibilities begin
We created a global campaign centered on TV commercials for the U.S., Japan, and Korea for Udemy, one of the world’s largest online education platforms.
By focusing on how the platform can open up the user’s future, rather than simply introducing the service, we successfully conveyed the power within each user and the opportunities that open up with Udemy. In addition, to make the video resonate well in both the western world and Asia, we assigned a different set of main casts for each market. We also created multiple types of copywriting for each country/region.
TVC
Udemy
2021
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
MUSIC VIDEO
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
SOUR “Half Moon”
First music video I made for the band SOUR. All the animations are created with the shadows of my own hands.
Music Video
SOUR
2007
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
SOUR "Life is Music"
This is a music video for the Japanese band SOUR's new track “Life is Music.” The song sings about the circle of life and how music is its rhythm-maker. Based on this concept, we came up with an idea to turn a spinning CD into a phenakistoscope, an old-style animation device that uses images on a spinning disc. We created the entire animated music video with 189 CDs. These unique CDs were then sold on a special website as numbered limited edition art discs so fans could own a piece of the music video. The discs were also given to the supporters on crowdfunding sites GreenFunding and Kickstarter.
Music Video
SOUR
2013
A phenakistoscope music video, animating on
189 spinning CDs.
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
androp "Bright Siren"
This is an interactive music video for "Bright Siren" by the Japanese band androp. The title and the lyrics "not to let it become just memories" inspired us to come up with the idea of creating animations with cameras and their flash strobes. We made a wall of 250 cameras and controlled each strobe through a computer program. All the lights in the film are real and no CG was used. On the website, people were able to view the photos taken by the cameras during filming and to create their own "strobe messages" which can be embedded in the video to share with friends.
Music Video
Warner Music Japan
2011
250 camera strobes animate to create this interactive music experience.
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
androp "World.Words.Lights."
Music video featuring music-inspired toys that light up and dance.
This is the music video for androp’s dance track “World.Words.Lights.” It features exclusive musical toys designed and produced based on inspirations from keywords such as “lights” and “dance music.” Extending beyond the music video, the toys also attracted people’s attention at exhibitions and on e-commerce.
Music Video
Warner Music
2012
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
androp "Boohoo"
This is the music video for “Boohoo” by androp. In order to express the characteristics of this song, which is more emotional and uplifting compared to previous releases, we used the band’s live performance video as the main part of this music video for the first time ever.
By using RGB (red, green and blue), we showed the three different aspects of the band and expressed trinitarianism. The band members transform from RGB to full-color, depicting the various aspects and possibilities in each person. When the three colors overlap the video returns to white to represent reality.
Music Video
Warner Music
2012
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
androp "Voice"
“Different people from all over the world can get together as one through music”; this song was made based on image of people yelling together. In order to visualize the world of this song, we created this music video that many people marched all together so people can feel the power of crowd. Literary the androp fans supported and lifted the band members and marched together. This video also expresses what androp has been going through.
Music Video
Warner Music
2013
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
androp “Shout”
For the Japanese band androp’s “Shout” music video, we used shadows and projected shadow animations to tell a story. We used a handheld projector as a “spotlight” which shone onto seemingly abstract objects, and cast silhouettes of the main characters. These silhouettes were also augmented with animations added by the projector, creating an interesting fusion of reality and fantasy. ‘Bird-man’ is captured and placed in a zoo, but he sacrifices himself to find a way to break free and be with the one he loves.
Music Video
Warner Music
2014
A story created by a mix of real shadows
and projected shadow animations.
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Hana (Flower)
We created a limited-time live stream music video for ""Hana"" ('flowers' in Japanese) by androp. This previously unreleased fan-favorite is included in the Tokyo-based band's best-of album ""best[and/drop].""
With white lilies as canvas, we used projection mapping to display footage and graphics of the four band members performing the song. The process of the flowers transforming as time passes is available for viewing via 24-hour live streaming from a studio in Tokyo. The projections automatically shift along with the wilting of the flowers. This is a music video that changes with time.
Music Video
Androp
2016
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
UNICORN × Space Brothers "Feel So Moon"
“Feel So Moon” is a song by Japanese rock band UNICORN, specially for “Space Brothers,” a TV animation series based on a popular Japanese comic. The brief was to make a music video that can promote both the song and the comic.
To achieve that, we created a mixed media music video by incorporating the CD package, the comic, and the special quarterly magazine of “Space Brothers” into the video. We meticulously embedded multiple graphic elements into each of the products beforehand, and used them as props to film the video. For example, we designed the actual CD in advance to create the running dog zoetrope, and inserted flip book animation on the corner of the magazine, etc. We even asked the author to insert the band members into the actual comic books.
On the campaign website, an in-depth commentary complements the video, describing which media and pages were used for each of the scenes. The background moved in sync with the music, and the fans could to click and buy products directly through an amazon.co.jp link.
Music Video
Ki/oon Music
2012
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Flare
A music video for Superfly’s “Flare”. Building off of the title of the song, we created an animated music video using real candle flames. 1500 candles were used in the filming.
The video has so far accrued 5 million views on YouTube.
Music Video
Superfly
2019
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Mr.Children "Marshmallow day"
This is a music video for the song “Marshmallow day” by the Japanese band Mr.Children.
This love song is about a man hoping that his love won’t disappear like the “taste of chewing gum.” In order to visualize his emotions, we decided to create an animation only out of various types of gum. We lined up colorful gum balls and chewing gum pieces to make a stop-motion animation, and blew bubble gum in sync with the music. More than 10000 gum balls and over 630 meters of gum were used in the making of this video.
Music Video
TOY'S FACTORY & OORONG-SHA
2016
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
ROCKMAN 20XX
戦え！ TEAM SHACHI
We have planned and produced a music video smartphone game, “ROCKMAN 20 XX 〜Fight! TEAM SHACHI〜” released in September. This game is a collaborative project of a super “kawaii” Japanese girl band, TEAM SHACHI and the action game series, ROCKMAN (English title: MEGAMAN) which has been popular in the last three decades.
The world of this super tough smartphone game unfolds with TEAM SHACHI’s newly released “Rocket Queen feat. MCU” as its music. The game is designed based on MEGA MAN 2 with the theme of “MEGA MAN after 30 years”. You can see good old boss characters Metalman and Airman from MEGA MAN 2, not to mention MEGA MAN himself, all appear as their aged version. You won’t get to hear the entire music unless you have cleared all stages, manipulating the 4 members of TEAM SHACHI. (When stuck, check out the Video)
Website
Music Video
CAPCOM WORLD JAPAN
2019
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Cut Copy
"We Are Explorers"
“We Are Explorers” is a 3D-printed stop-motion music video, created in collaboration with Cut Copy and BitTorrent. It follows the story of 60mm-tall man and woman running through the streets of Los Angeles collecting discarded objects to build a raft to escape the city. In order to tell this story, we 3D printed the characters as tiny figurines and filmed them in real world settings. When we released the film we also released every 3D file as an open-source BitTorrent Bundle, ready for the public to 3D print and freely reimagine the story.
Music Video
Cut Copy
2013
3D-printed stop-motion film with
200+ open-source figurines.
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
TV SHOW
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
TECHNE: �The Visual Workshop
Launched in 2012, “TECHNE: The Visual Workshop” is a creative educational TV show for NHK ETV, Japan’s national public broadcaster. The program targets aspiring filmmakers and creatives, introducing a new visual craft (such as stop-motion) in each episode to compel its viewers to produce a film using the featured technique. As Executive Creative Director of Techne, CCO Masashi Kawamura played a key role in leading the show to win the Japan Media Arts Festival, ADC, and many other awards.
The show has also given birth to spinoffs like “8K Techne” and “Uta Techne”, and held multiple exhibitions across Japan.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
TV Shows
NHK
2014
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
TECHNE ID AWARD
TECHNE ID AWARD was a special episode of the TV program “TECHNE: The Visual Workshop.” The episode took award-show style and featured “TECHNE ID,” 15-second films that were submitted by creators.
TECHNE ID AWARD introduced 15 different visual techniques and received 902 submissions overall. (In a regular TECHNE episode, three techniques are introduced.) Attracting a number of entries from children, students, office workers and families, this award involved a wide range of demographics. After the winning films were selected, the TECHNE production team visited the winners to interview them and to film the making-of. For this episode, we also created 15 different trophies, a unique design for each visual technique. Additionally, we used the trophies to make the special opening film for TECHNE ID AWARD.
TV Show
NHK
2015
A special episode of
“TECHNE: The Visual Workshop”
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Day of Reunion
We provided technical consultation and art direction to the TV program “Fukkatsu no hi”, a show that “reunites” the living with the dead. Broadcasted on NHK, Fukkatsu no hi featured comedian Tetsuo Degawa meeting a digital but realistic version of his deceased mother since her passing 8 years ago. Viewers watched an emotional interaction between the two subjects as they talk about the past and present. We also filmed and scored the behind-the-scenes documentary, which was released on the NHK 1.5 portal.
The day of reunite with your beloved one
TV Show
NHK
2019
Role:
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
DESIGN MUSEUM
We planned and produced a TV program called "Designing a Design Museum". It aired as a part of the "Let's Create Design Museum in Japan" initiative in which Masashi Kawamura participates as an advisor. What kind of design museum do we want to build? In this program, expanding on the ongoing discussions with various creators around this theme, we are further pondering some more questions like "What is design?" and "What shape this ideal design museum should take?" We invited some prominent creators in the design field: Naoki Sato (product designer), Tsuyoshi Tane (architect), Yugo Nakamura (interface designer), Kunihiko Morinaga (fashion designer), Ikuko Yokoyama (curator of design & architect, "M+" museum, Hong Kong).
* Info Aired: Jan. 5th (Sun) 00:20-01:10 (Jan. 4th, Midnight) on "E-Tele" (NHK Educational TV)�
Guests: Naoki Sato (product designer), Tsuyoshi Tane (architect), Yugo Nakamura (interface designer), Kunihiko Morinaga (fashion designer), Ikuko Yokoyama (curator of design & architect, "M+" museum, Hong Kong)
Concepts for the first Design Museum in Japan
TV Show
NHK
2020
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
KAO TV
We collaborated with NHK to create an experimental TV show for young children, to get them excited about the possibilities of next generation TV shows.
"Kao TV" is the world's first participatory children's TV program where the child can create the main character of the show. Through the use of Hybridcast technology, the "faces" ("kao" in Japanese) created by viewers were displayed on TV, and they started to sing along with the program.By installing the Kao TV App (Hybridcast Companion App) in their smartphones, users could select parts of the face such as eyes, nose, and mouth to create their own unique "faces." When your face is completed, it will fly into the TV show and start to talk & sing.
Digital
TV Show
NHK
2015
Create the "face" of the TV show.
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Tatami Galaxy
End Credit
The end credit sequence for the TV animation series “Tatami Galaxy”. I wanted to create an animation using “tatami floor plans” which was inspired by the title and the storyline which involves a parallel universe. I worked with the animator/director Takuya Hosogane, who have developed a similar animation before.
TV Show
Music Video
Fuji Television
2010
Role:
Idea
Film Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
PRODUCT
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Product
Whatever Inc
2021
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
"Tsumishi" is a unique paper toy block, jointly created with Kokuyo and Kouei Shikou. It is made entirely out of stacked paper, allowing the paper layers to interlock and form shapes that are impossible to create with normal toy blocks.
Tsumishi block toy took its inspiration from the novel joining method of interlocking layers of paper together used in the “FROM TREE TO FOREST” project, the Excellence Award winner at the Kokuyo Design Award 2020. By stacking and interlocking blocks of various shapes made of laminated paper, it is possible to create strange shapes that you could not create with conventional building blocks.
We have gone through numerous iterations during the development process to get the final block structure that allows for building shapes previously impossible while providing a satisfying interlocking feel. Because the structure is so complex, it cannot be manufactured by machine, and all the paper blocks are crafted by hand. Our goal was to create something that sparks everyone's imagination, pleasureable and easy to handle, while creating everything using environmentally friendly material.
Tsumishi
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Product
Whatever Inc
2020
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
In collaboration with UHA Mikakuto and Kokuyo, we created "minute mint," a mint tablet designed to dissolve in a certain amount of time when licked in the mouth. It went on sale on Jan. 20 (Wed), 2020, at THINK OF THINGS (Sendagaya, Tokyo) and New Stand Tokyo (Nogizaka, Tokyo).
The minute mint, a "delicious way to measure time," is a mint tablet designed to dissolve in the time indicated on the package*. It is a new kind of "time snack" that is perfect when you're about to take a short break during remote work or need a bit of refreshment.
minute mint
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Piggyback Driver
Introducing the next generation of piggybacking. This helmet lets kids control their parents while on piggyback, by turning the handle bars on a state-of-the-art racing helmet.
Parents receive directions of which way to go through LED turn signals flashing and vibrating inside the helmet.
Piggyback Driver is equipped with buttons for honking, and even bursts of sound and light. It can also detect the parents’ speed and react with pulses of LED light. The prototype version has been used in advertisements and shown in events like Makers Fair. We are currently looking for manufacturing partners to help us bring Piggyback Driver to market.
Product
Prototype
-
2016
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
“T” Shirts
I designed ‘t-shirts’ to express the silhouette of 5 famous typefaces: helvetica, caslon, baskerville, courier and cooper black.
In the world of typography, terms such as typeface, character, body, etc are used to describe the form of a letter. The reason why they use expressions closely related to a human body, is perhaps because each different letter has a distinct quality and personality, in a similar way that us humans are all unique. In the designing process of these shirts, I aimed to capture the character of each typeface and tried to give them a unique look and presence once worn. By collaborating with Itaru Yonenaga, I feel we were able to produce a collection of shirts that is not only conceptual, but wearable as real clothes. I hope you will find your favorite shirt/typeface.
Product
Personal Project
2010
Role:
Idea
Designer
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Anofuku
We helped develop and launch an e-commerce site for “Studio Ghibli no Anofuku”—a new clothing brand by Studio Ghibli and fashion designers Kensuke Kanda and Kunihiko Morinaga.
The brand applies famous Studio Ghibli characters to garments, turning them into unique pieces for all ages. The first collection offers a hand-knitting service that lets you repurpose your old sweaters with Ghibli character embroideries.
Apart from designing and building the website, we also shot a promotional video using 200 custom-embroidered sweaters to create a stop motion animation of the beloved Totoro character.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Film
Products
Anofuku
2018
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
79% Work Clock
We created the 79% Work Clock as a part of MTV’s “Look Different” campaign, to call attention to the gender wage gap in America.
Studies show that women who work full-time are paid only 79% of what men make annually, so the 79% Work Clock lets you know when 79% of the work day has passed. When a woman hears its chime, she might as well go home.
We’ve given hundreds of these clocks to people in workplaces across the country (incuding the White House!), to serve as a daily reminder that at a certain point, the gender wage gap means women aren’t being paid for their work.
We designed and created the actual clock together with the team at Good Thing, and made a promotional video and website that features the 79% Calculator, which simply calculates when the 79% of your work day ends.
Campaign
Product
MTV
2016
Role:
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Puppet Guts
Wikipedia states that “A puppet that remains still has a dull, lifeless appearance and is said to be dead.”, but we decided to take things into our hands by creating plush organs that function as stuffing for hand puppets.
Watch Puppet Guts come to life in this stop-motion animation made by renowned ‘Domo’ and ‘Rilakkuma’ animation studio ‘ DWARF ‘! Thanks to all our supporters, Puppet Guts was successfully funded on Kickstarter after launching in 2018.
Product
-
2019
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Focus: Life Gear
Trident asked us to create a project that demonstrates a lesser-known fact about gum: chewing gum helps you focus. We developed a clothing line called “Focus: Life Gear," a collection of 8 garments that are made out of radio frequency shielding fabric, which disconnects the wearers' devices immediately when placed inside the pockets. The Focus: Life Gear collection extends from the idea that gum helps you focus, and offers new lifestyle items that help you do so. The pieces were created In collaboration with visionary Japanese designer Kunihiko Morinaga, and were exhibited in Toronto. We also released a lifestyle video, a making-of video, and a website for showcasing the collection online.
Film
Product
Mondelez
2014
A fashion line that disconnects you from social media and keep focus in real life.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
What Watch
We started by working with the client to identify a unique brand concept which became ""RETHINKING TRADITIONAL TIMEKEEPING"".
From there, we ideated different horological devices that embodies that concept. The first collectiion was a series of watches that you can “stop the time”. We developed the initial design & concept for both the physical product & its smartphone app."
Product
What? Watch
2015
Rethinking Traditional Timekeeping.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
Calendar Watch
The series is called a “Calendar Watch” which uses e-paper technology to beautifully import your calendar from multiple calendar apps onto your smartwatch in an elegant way. The product has recently succeeded in receiving funding on Kickstarter, and is now in pre-production phase."
Product
What? Watch
2016
A smartwatch that let’s you
keep track of your schedule with style.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
TeleThings
As easy as it is to stay connected wherever you are, most social interactions are confined within digital screens. With technology giving rise to telepresence robots, drones, and other gadgets that can be controlled remotely, exploring tangible ways to enhance the human interaction through these platforms was a natural step for us to take.
The result of our R&D is TeleThings—a series of attachable gizmos for telepresence robots that enable tangible and remote social interactions. We created the system in-house, inventing three kinds of attachments and a control app: TeleBubble emits bubbles, TelePong fires ping pong balls, and TeleBucks shoots out money. TeleThings can be used to liven up parties and social events, giving those who aren't physically present the opportunity to participate and have fun by navigating the robots to interact with people at the venue.
Product
Prototype
PARTY New York
2018
Attachable gizmos for telepresence robots.
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
VIRMO
There are various technical aspects of virtual reality that can induce sickness, such as mismatched motion, field of vision, motion parallax, and viewing angle. Additionally, the amount of time spent in virtual reality increases the presence of symptoms. VR companies are working hard to resolve this issue, but until then, we have developed the antidote VIRMO. Take the appropriate dosage 1/2 hours before putting on your VR headset or when you experience symptoms, to help prevent or relieve nausea and vomiting associated with virtual reality motion sickness.
Product
Personal Project
2015
The world’s first solution
for Virtual Reality Motion Sickness
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
BRAND DESIGN
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
HELLO! NEW LOGO
Our CCO Masashi Kawamura was appointed Brand Creative Director of mercari — Japan’s biggest and fastest growing community-powered mobile marketplace.
As part of the Japan mercari’s creative development team, we helped launch a new corporate logo and brand guideline along with a promotional video of the new CI.
A landing page introducing the company’s rebranding efforts was also launched for the project.
Brand Design
Mercari
2018
Role:
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
KOKUYO Design Award
Holistic visual design for the KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2020 “Beyond Borders”. We created posters, flyers, website, catalog, trophy, and award show using the same theme.
Brand Design
KOKUYO
2018
Role:
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
TOMODACHI
We created the logo for “TOMODACHI”, a project founded by the Embassy of the United States in Tokyo, to support Japan in recovery from the 3.11 Earthquake. The offer to create the visual identity for the project was directly extended from Ambassador John Victor Roos.
Brand Design
The U.S. Embassy
2011
Role:
Idea
Creative Director
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura
PERPANEP
We were in charge of the naming, logo, and graphic design for PERPANEP, a new stationery brand designed with the optimal combination of paper and pen in mind. The new paper was created through thorough research into what kind of pen combination would provide the writing comfort that would allow the user to maximize his or her creativity. As a first step, we sold three combinations: "TSURU TSURU" x "Fine Writer" for dashing writing that glides, "SARA SARA" x "Sarasa Clip" for smooth and comfortable writing, and "ZARA ZARA" x "Preppy" for calm writing with a sense of sound.
The name PERPANEP is made up of anagrams of PAPER and PEN to embody the above concepts. The logo also symbolically represents the three paper qualities, and consists of a graphic system that identifies the paper quality of the product at a glance.
Brand Design
KOKUYO
2022
Role:
Creative Director
W x H = 3.98 x 2.21
(x, y) = (8.81, 0.76)
Portfolio
Masashi Kawamura