Interview with Toru Sato and Noriyuki Shirasu

Simple and beautiful: this could be the motto of the designers in the “offices” category. The submitted products in this category convince through their simple forms and clear design approaches. The language of form is often derived from the product utility, resulting in functional solutions for the international market. An outstanding example of this is the “conof.” shredder by the Japanese designers Toru Sato and Noriyuki Shirasu. The jury of this year’s “red dot award: product design” unanimously assessed their design concept to be among the “red dot: best of the best”. 

Giving a shredder the shape of a dustbin is an idea that actually seems to suggest itself, yet it’s also an unusual one. What was your inspiration for giving it this form?
Toru Sato and Noriyuki Shirasu: This item is one of the office equipment series named “conof.” which is based on the idea of creating products for making offices comfortable. It is the outcome not only of designing the shredder itself, but also the space and atmosphere where it will be used. We have come up with this shape as the result of thinking about how its form could naturally and comfortably fit into a room and be part of its interior. What inspired us was the idea of letting the product exist naturally within a given space, rather than thinking out a new shape.

In what aspect, in your opinion, does Japanese design differ from that of other cultures – or to put it differently: Are there still any significant differences in design against a background of globalisation at all?
Toru Sato and Noriyuki Shirasu: We think that Japanese people and culture are very good at digesting a flood of information in their own styles. They are also very good at translating those informations into their own culture in a unique, delicate and thoughtful ways. This kind of aspect can be seen naturally in many Japanese designs, and the growing awareness towards design can be seen among the Japanese people recently. On the other hand, superficial factors such as figures and colours – which of course are also important – can easily be passed off as “design”, sometimes without any tradition or philosophy. We are hoping that the design in this country will hold much more essential meanings, become a part of our daily lives, and take root in the Japanese culture. We also hope that our product will contribute to the still-growing Japanese design industry.