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  • An Art Festival To Help You Find Your Passions. How To Enjoy "Design Festa"!
NewsPR
2017.07.29

An Art Festival To Help You Find Your Passions. How To Enjoy "Design Festa"!

The words art and design are often considered high-sounding. However, drawing illustrations and making t-shirts and straps are also artistic acts that are surprisingly close to us. What if there was a place that collected all kinds of original works? Wouldn't it be amazing? Well, today is your lucky day. That place exists, and it's called Design Festa!


Design Festa is an event that mixes a huge variety of original goods coming from different genres. It features apparel, goods, illustration, photographs, live painting sessions, workshops and much more. It's also one of the largest international art events in Asia, and it has been held twice a year since 1994 at Tokyo Big Sight.


As a rule, anyone can participate the exhibition as long as they feature original works. You can really find anything: items overflowing with great ideas, such as original accessories, real leather bags, stuffed animals and so on. Although the event itself might sound like a bigger, fancier flea market, the word design puts everything into a different perspective and makes it kind of hard to imagine what the event actually feels like.


"I don't understand design, can I still go to Design Festa?"

"Wait, what's Design Festa?"

"What should I do to enjoy the event?"


Today we will try to simulate the flow of someone attending Design Festa. The theme of the day will be "The quest for a kawaii and delicious taste! Enjoying Design Festa through 5 senses★".

After getting to Tokyo Big Sight, let's aim for tickets and pamphlets.

We get to Tokyo Big Sight and head to the entrance of Design Festa. You will need a ticket to get it, and you can get it both in advance and on the spot. You can get your ticket in advance on Ticket PIA and eplus.


After picking up the exhibition pamphlet, you're free to go wherever you want! Still... Before getting too excited, you should take a look at the picture below.

You will need some skills to make it through the crowd of this multicultural space without a compass. What we recommend to beginners is to start from a corner and proceed like you were knitting: zigzagging. If you get lost, just proceed in the direction where you came from to figure out where you are. However, fear now: we're indoors. Nothing awful is going to happen.

From kawaii to steampunk. Find what you love!

If a booth catches your eye, try to get a closer look at the item. One of the amazing things about Design Festa is the possibility to chat with the exhibitors. If you ask them "Excuse me, how did you make this?", you will probably walk away with a new perspective provided directly from the artist. Maybe you'll also manage to listen to a few production secrets?

月姫ティアラ♡StarMii★すたぁみぃさん(@starmiitiara)がシェアした投稿 - 2017 7月 12 12:03午後 PDT

sarah_nyappyさん(@sarah_nyappy)がシェアした投稿 - 2017 5月 31 5:40午後 PDT

ハムニダシンジさん(@snoop0snoopy)がシェアした投稿 - 2017 5月 31 4:29午後 PDT

♡Kana♡さん(@kana.smile_princess)がシェアした投稿 - 2017 7月 1 5:25午後 PDT

デザフェス1日目おわりっ
お越しくださいましたみなさま、ありがとうございました。
明日もゴリゴリ進めるよ pic.twitter.com/wZhbTa1xLA

— なるし (@narushiiiii) 2017年5月27日
▲By checking the official tag of Design Festa (#デザフェス) on Twitter or Instagram, you can take a look at what other visitors liked the most! Someone was fascinated by fairy tale-like accessories, someone lost their heads at the sight of a unique cosplay group. Everyone can enjoy the event in their own way!

If your feet or eyes are tired, take a break at the food court.

Sooner or later, you're going to get tired of walking around. When that happens, take a break at the restaurant/cafe area. They offer delicious lunches and insta-genic desserts.

【お知らせ】アイコンクッキーラボは「真夏のデザインフェスタ2017」に出店いたします。イベントでは当店オリジナルデザインのプリントクッキーを販売する予定です。
詳細はこちら → https://t.co/lEZxlAZ6pd pic.twitter.com/yNf3Vtt9sm

— アイコンクッキーラボ (@iconcookie) 2017年7月20日
Once your belly is full and you're completely refreshed, you can start browsing around the booths once again. You can try visiting places where you haven't been yet, visit booths you liked once again, and basically do whatever you like.

Introducing real exhibitors!

We wanted to see what kind of people participates in Design Festa as an exhibitor. We're going to introduce you to a few booths and exhibitors amongst the 5000 who displayed their works this time.

“

"Booth name" (Genre)

1. What kind of things are you creating?

2. What would you like visitors to notice in your works?

3. What's the best thing about Design Festa?

”

"niitu" (Apparel)

1. My brand offers unisex contemporary Japanese-style clothes. The structure of the different pieces of clothing is similar to that of a kimono, very linear. The geometry I choose is very simple and applies to all body shapes. It's a unique, modern interpretation of ancient things.

2. Brand-specific cuttings and patterns.

3. The atmosphere, which is typical of Design Festa. Also, the many designers featuring their works.

"Kōen Yūgu Kiroku (公園遊具記録)" (Photography)

1. I'm a photographer. For more than 10 years, I've been photographing amusement parks on the rooftops of department stores all over Japan. Currently, I'm mainly lighting up old amusement parks and taking pictures of them at night.

2. I'm happy when people appreciate my works, but I'd also like them to visit the parks that I'm portraying in my photographs.

3. It's a very open event, that features things from different genres and gathers a huge variety of people.

"LIMITS Digital Art Battle (LIMITSデジタルアートバトル)" (Performance)

1. We are planning events called "Digital Art Battles". We provide artists with a theme, and they have to create something in 20 minutes. It's a new form of entertainment that we hope is going to draw even more people to art, in order for the Japanese art industry to further develop. We also face many art taboos, and people can totally go crazy with art.

2. I would like visitors to witness the creation of a work of art right in front of their eyes.

3. It's very simple: it's an event that gathers creators and fans from every corner of Japan.

"NANI COLLECTION" (Performance)

1. We're a team formed by 2 performers. We wear a gray costume, and move in a way that invites the spectators to see more, and to open up in a smile. It's an addictive kind of performance that will stick with you.

2. Some parts are a pre-made choreography, but many times we just improvise according to the atmosphere of the place. Every performance is unique, and we'd like visitors to enjoy every single smile-inducing movement.

3. The event gathers a multitude of people in the name of creative curiosity, and we find it very exciting. Furthermore, it touches various innovative ideas across various genres and different way of expressing oneself. The influence that touching new forms of art can have on a person is incredible. As creators, we find it very fascinating to be in a place that incentives creative motivation.

"L4-fashion" (Fashion Show)

1. Ours is a fun fashion show with added entertainment. We thought of a fashion show that can be enjoyed by whoever, regardless of age and sex, also considering the "event" nature of Design Festa and the shape of the stage.

2. Our show doesn't only focus on clothes. We also want to draw attention to the performance itself, by adding a little bit of acting and dancing. I used to be a dancer at Disneyland, so I tried to add a theme park element to it.

3. The event lets people express themselves in so many different ways! It's also fun to create some completely new things together with other creators you meet at Design Festa. I'm also always looking forward to seeing what the food court offers, in Spring and in Autumn. That's because we do our meeting in the food court!

"Soraha" (Miscellaneous)

1. The common theme here is the color of the sky. I try to create practical things that can be commonly used. Transparent resin accessories, stationery using CG collage illustrations, original character goods and so on.

2. I'd like them to look at the overall booth atmosphere and to enjoy my world view. I've set up this booth and goods in order to relieve the stress of the visitors, even if just for the days of the event.

3. It connects artists and fans coming from all over the country. Every time I come here, I can meet my favorite artists and make many new encounters.

"okometake" (Miscellaneous)

1. I'm mainly creating salamander themed goods. I create goods from illustrations, glass craft works and so on.

2. I would like people to enjoy my salamander goods.

3. There are many exhibitors. It's an event that lets you meet plenty of creators and take a look at a huge variety of works.

"Red Chocolate Lab" (Miscellaneous)

1. I mainly draw pop original character illustrations. At Design Festa, I sell goods based on those illustrations.

2. I'd like visitors to get distinctive color sensations from the illustrations and to enjoy these characters, with their different personalities and charm.

3. The event gathers various genres of "design" and "art", and it's very stimulating for both exhibitors and visitors. It's also a very good opportunity to get closer to the concepts of "design" and "art". You can make new discoveries, and communicate with many different people. Every time I participate in this event is different from the one before. I always make new encounters.

"Sakura Cafe (サクラカフェ)" (Food)

1. We offer what we call "World Rusk", a special kind of rusk which is homemade by Sakura Cafe.

2. We'd like to offer a taste of different kinds of cuisine through our "World Rusks". We took unique dishes and spices from every corner of the world and made them into rusk biscuits. Our recipes are all exclusively made for Design Festa.

3. Everyone has an opportunity here. It's the perfect place to show everybody your work, what you want to do and what you want to express.

Those tireless dancing performers were somewhat amazing... It's incredible to think that so many different things can be found in a single event: peculiar booths flanked by kawaii goods and even photos portraying unusual places. You can meet genres you would never have thought to exist. This is what makes Design Festa different from single-genre events.

A treasure box where you can find your own new passions

There are people who embrace their passions to create very specific items, people displaying t-shirts 'cause maybe they just wanted to share them with someone, and people who only visit the event for the extremely photogenic food. What's special about Design Festa is that there are so many ways to enjoy it, and in the same way some people attend just to get their hands on a single item, there are also people who randomly go, hoping for new encounters and to experiment new things.


Because of the experimental nature of this events, we could say Design Festa is, in fact, a treasure box. It's not always clear where the design is, or where the art is. But one thing is certain: as the name suggests, it's a festa, a festival, a party.


Manatsu no Design Festa × GAKUTEN2017 will be held from Aug. 5th (Sat) to Aug. 6th (Sun) 2017. It's going to be an entertaining event, and it's going to mix the mid-summer excitement with a school festival-like atmosphere. And since it opens at the beginning of Summer vacations, it's going to feel very different compared to the Spring and Fall editions. There are going to be summer inspired accessories, avant-garde dancing and photogenic shaved ice. What a beautiful combination!

If you had already heard of Design Festa or if you only just learned about the event, you should definitely check it atmosphere out! Let's make this Summer's Design Festa our first one!!

Provided by:デザインフェスタオフィス / Planning & Production:pixiv
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