A circle of friends connected by goo touch! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.
On October 19, graphic designer Tamio Iwaya, who works under the name “GraphersRock,” will appear. We talked with him about why he became a graphic designer, his scrapbook of inspirations, his favorite movies, and more.
INDEX
Graphic design as the contact point between two thoughts
Celeina (MC): First, let me introduce your profile. Mr. Iwaya is based on cyberpunk and techno culture, and under the name “GraphersRock,” he does graphic work in a wide variety of media, including CD jackets, apparel, merchandise, and advertising media.His main work includes designing CD jackets for Dempagumi.inc and tofubeats, collaborating with PUMA and Adidas on sports apparel and sneakers, designing uniforms for the J League team Gamba Osaka, and designing motorcycles for Harley-Davidson.
Takano (MC): I was very impressed to hear that you are also involved with Maltine Records, which I have listened to for a long time. I think it would be easier to understand if you could search for “GraphersRock” and listen to “FIST BUMP” while looking at their works.
Celeina：When I look at the GraphersRock website, I am impressed by the way you incorporate your own colors into every collaboration. What was it that got you interested in graphic design?
Iwaya: I didn’t have a strong “I’m going to be a graphic designer”. I had been playing with origami, crafts, drawing, and making things since I was a child, and I had always thought that in the future I would work to make things, no matter what they were. Then, in 1985, there was the “Tsukuba Expo (International Science and Technology Fair),” which instilled in me at the age of about 5 or 6 a sense of anticipation of the future, the wonder of technology, and a kind of omnipotence of technology, and I became interested in computers and technology.
When I was in college or so, during the DTP boom of the 1990s, I was finally able to use a computer to create graphics, and this led me to graphic design, as I wanted to use my beloved computer 24/7, and I wanted a job where I could create something.
Takano: The fact that “Tsukuba Expo” was your original experience is connected to the futuristic worldview that your work has.
Celeina：You mentioned that you liked computers and technology. Is there anything that influenced your style?
Iwaya: This also goes back to the “Tsukuba Expo,” but the 1990s was the time when a lot of techno and rave culture was imported to Japan. I spent my teenage years right around that time, so that culture became my original experience in creating something.
