My Work and 7 Tools ①

Hello.

I was wondering what I should write on my blog... and when I talked to a very close friend,

"Why don't you try writing about how you make things?"

they said.

I'm not very confident that people will be interested, but I'll try writing it in several parts.

The items in the photo are my business tools.

MacBook, a notebook where I jot down ideas, a pen, a camera, guidebooks for Illustrator and Photoshop, the masking tapes I've made so far (including rejected ones), and coffee.

I can't do without any of these.

This black notebook is a Muji notebook, but I have scrapped a large amount of labels with designs I like, catalog cutouts, and product photos.

By the way, I haven't stuck any masking tape on it.

In my case, it seems I am influenced more by things other than masking tape.

Between scrapbooking, I write down countless designs and phrases that come to mind, including doodles that make me wonder "what is this?" and messy sketches drawn while hesitating, all as they are.

Some of the messy sketches surprisingly became products.

I have stuck a name masking tape on the black cover of this notebook (the only mosaic tile I made for myself), the black shows through and the name doesn't stand out at all, but if you look closely you can tell it's mine, and I really like that feeling.

I am constantly thinking about ideas.

To be honest, even while sleeping.

Sometimes I come up with ideas in my dreams.

At those times, I force myself to wake up and write them down in my notebook.

I'm surprised myself, but I've acquired that skill.

When ideas come together, I create data, and sometimes it only takes about two weeks to complete until I can actually hold the product.

But there are also many rejected data that I still can't be satisfied with no matter how many times I redo them.

Some suddenly shine and get completed while left to rest.

There is the pain of giving birth, but it's a kind of indescribable feeling like fun, pleasant, interesting, and so on.

I'm still in the middle of wondering if it was really good to make masking tape making my job.

...To be continued another day.