"The essence of design lies in the process of discovering a problem shared by many people and trying to solve it." - Kenya Hara

Kenya Hara, Artistic Director at MUJI, is interested in designing "circumstances" or "conditions" rather than "things." MUJI is a Japanese manufacturer and brand whose products are about a simplicity achieved through a complexity of thought and design. And Hara directs the aesthetic integration of all the company's commodities is give form to "living."

Hara's approach is to create products, communications, and objects of culture in which functionality might meet simplicity with elegance and improve the human condition through the expression of beauty. He believes that his designs provide the consumer with a vessel in which they are able to deposit their own messages or meanings.

Throughout his career of designing the ceremony programs for the Nagano Winter Olympics, becoming the director for the Nippon Design Center, writing books such as Designing Design and teaching the prestigious Musashino Art University, Hara has ultimately transformed the way the Japanese have approached design, by making it recognizable to the everyman.

AIGA members will get a chance to meet Kenya Hara in person at the Imprint Culture Lab conference. A private AIGA/LA presentation by Hara will focus on the concept of "Emptiness," which relates to his approach to communication and product design, followed by a one-on-one interview led by Clive Piercy.

A special 10% discount for the Imprint Culture Lab conference held on October 1, 2008 is available for AIGA members. Just register with the promo code: AIGA at the Google checkout part of the registration process.