Designing Design

"Creativity is to discover a question that has never been asked. If one brings up an idiosyncratic question, the answer he gives will necessarily be unique as well." – Kenya Hara, Designing Design Designing Design is a classic, seminal work of design thinking that resonates with both professional designers and design aficionados alike. Kenya Hara, representing a new generation of Japanese designers, pays tribute to his mentors while exploring the profound concept of "emptiness" in both visual and philosophical Japanese traditions. Through numerous examples from his own portfolio, Hara demonstrates how this principle can be powerfully applied to design. "To understand something is not to be able to define it or describe it. Instead, taking something that we think we already know and making it unknown thrills us afresh with its reality and deepens our understanding of it," Hara says of his design philosophy. Designing Design gives the reader an understanding of said philosophy as well as opens their mind to new ways of thinking. Kenya Hara (born 1958) is an influential Japanese graphic designer and professor at Musashino Art University. As a board member and design advisor for MUJI since 2001, he has significantly shaped the minimalist brand's visual identity, and previously designed the programs for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. Designed by Kenya HaraPublished by Lars MüllerHardcover,472 pages, 389 full color images6.5" × 9.5"