Nagi Noda’s death on September 7 2008 robbed the world of an unbridled imagination that fed on surrealist pop and hilarious, super-kawaii fantasy. Lest we forget. Not that we could even if we wanted to: everything she touched became infused with her idiosyncratic, candy-coloured exuberance, leaving a vivid impression on all who were exposed to her work.

A film director, graphic designer, toy maker, art director and fashion designer, Nagi was born in Tokyo and spent 5 years in New York before returning to Japan in ‘87. She worked as a multi-disciplinary new media artist for various projects and exhibitions; created ad campaigns for clients including the La Foret department store in Harajuku, Nike and Coca Cola; started a fashion label with artist Mark Ryden, made countless music videos for the likes of Cut/Copy, Scissor Sisters and Japanese pop star Yuki, and made the amazing hair hats pictured below.

Her passing at age 35 was apparently due to complications from surgery she had after a car accident the year before. Sheila Stepanek, CEO of her agency Partizan, reported that the she died “in her Mark Ryden dress, Chanel boots and perfect make-up with Viktor & Rolf lace black eye lashes.”

A graphic designer, curator, art director and brand strategist, Kenya Hara is known for his uniquely Japanese design philosophy based on notions of emptiness, heightened tactility, escapist colour and archaic form. Forever advocating aesthetics of simplicity and minimalism, he designs almost exclusively in white, insisting that “white is a colour from which colour has escaped, but its diversity is boundless.”

Seeing white as pure, humble, transient and quiet, Kenya relates it to the idea of entropy – the second law of thermodynamics which says all energy is eventually equalised: “white has risen from chaos and the original form of life and information. White is the extremity of negative entropy, driven to cleanly escape from every sort of chaos.”

One property of white is that it allows for the focus to be on form and tactility, rather than colour. A leader in the field of new touch and sensory perception, Kenya believes that the nonappearance of white allows for tactility to intensify. His exclusively white covers designs for A Book magazine (above) since 2006 are testament to this.

White also signifies absence, another cornerstone of Kenya’s philosophy. While in the west we might perceive emptiness as a sense of something lacking, in Zen philosophy it is a positive representation of possibility. Emptiness is like silence, the inner quiet attained through meditation, which sparks creativity and imagination. “A vessel that’s empty has the possibility, precisely because it is empty, to hold things inside. In the same way, abundance lies in possibility – the possibility that exists before anything occurs,” he says.

Since 2002 Kanya has been art director of the Japanese retail company Muji, a brand with a “no brand” policy. With an emphasis on design simplicity, reducing the production process, affordability, recycling and waste avoidance, they have hundreds of flagship stores and stockists throughout Japan and elsewhere. His first campaign for Muji took the team to the Bolivian salt lakes and Mongolian prairies, where photographer Tamotsu Fujii captured these memorable billboard images of emptiness and possibility …

Risa Nakazawa works as an artist coordinator and marketing manager for GAS Japan. As a company, GAS does so many things that we feel slightly dizzy writing them down. Through the GASBOOKS publishing arm, CALM & PUNK GALLERY and 20,000,000 fragments (20MF) fashion label, GAS provides a platform for artists all over the world to showcase their work to a wider audience. Recently, GAS also started workshops that connect kids with artists to hopefully “make world little bit happier with the creative mind-set”. Risa took time out to chat briefly with us about the latest GAS projects…

What are the focuses for GAS this year?

One of our biggest projects this year is with UNIQLO, the largest fashion apparel company in Japan. We’ve been licensing graphics and projects to them for few years now, but this year the relationship has grown even stronger. (Watch this space!) 20MF is another big project for GAS, as we started the distribution of our collection in Australia this year through Via Alley. Finally, our own t-shirt brand, GASBOOK tee, is growing in popularity all over the world. We already send tees to Asia and Oceania, but this year we’re hitting Europe too. We are also planning to launch a website so that consumers can directly purchase tees, because we are only selling through retailers at the moment.

Calm & Punk Gallery

Can you tell us a bit about the vision for 20MF this season?

The concept of 20MF this season is “fabricated with touch of antique”. Tamami Akiyama, the designer of 20MF, has taken up the challenge to create new silhouettes with respect to traditional tailoring techniques. She wants each garment to live a long life; to be passed on over generations.

Has Tamami been working with anyone to create this aesthetic?

For the past two seasons 20MF has worked closely with Australian artist Jonathan Zawada. Jonathan’s work is always beyond our expectations; it’s highly original and very delicate.

Jonathan Zawada for 20MF

You also run CALM & PUNK GALLERY, what have you got coming up?

We are very excited to be releasing our new book series, CALM & PUNK BOOKS. This series was recently established by representative director of GAS / CALM & PUNK GALLERY, Shinjiro Nishino. The first release features Japanese pixel designer ten_do_ten. The book will be released July 21 and CALM & PUNK GALLERY will also host an art show to celebrate the launch.

Can you tell us a little more about ten_do_ten?

Of course! ten_do_ten uses pixels as his form of graphic expression. He started as a solo artist in 2001 and has worked on numerous projects including record sleeve designs, book covers, web design and mobile phone interfaces. His work is so original, it imprints itself on your memory!

ten_do_ten book for GAS

Created by Taku Satoh Design Office, this campaign for Issey Mikaye’s latest Pleats Please collection is giving us hungry eyes …

For more yummy Miyake, check out the Gene Sherman Contemporary Japanese Fashion Collection on show until August 7 at the Powerhouse Museum.

Between ‘96 and ‘98 Miyake invited four artists to collaborate with him for his Pleats Please Guest Artist Series – Yasumasa Morimura, Nobuyoshi Araki, Tim Hawkinson and Cai Guo-Qiang. This dress is the result of Morimura’s efforts …

Dress by Yasumasa Morimura for Pleats Please Issey Miyake, 1996. Gift to the Powerhouse Museum from Dr Gene Sherman, 2009

Hand sculpted and flawlessly designed, Hakusan’s porcelain is iconic in both its form and history. The company’s legacy began over eight generations ago in a small factory based in Hanami, Nagasaki.

The traditional porcelain manufacturer made its name in 1956 by employing designer Mori Masahiro (1927-2005) in 1956. The innovative partnership merged craftsmanship with design, pioneering a new approach to the creative process. Mori was a trained industrial designer and specialised ceramicist. After graduating from the Tama University of Arts in Tokyo, he joined Hakusan and went on to revolutionise porcelain homewear in Japan and abroad. His G-type Soy Sauce Bottle won a Good Design prize in 1960 and his creations for the company continued to influence ceramicists for generations to come.

Mori’s vision of simple, lifestyle products came to define the Hakusan brand as practical and intuitive. Even though he left the company in 1978, Hakusan continued to produce his work. Possibly one of the company’s most beautiful creations were humble mugs now known as ‘Fancy Cups’. These were designed for the blind, and feature groove patterns that mirror the grasp of a human hand. Hakusan’s more recent foray into the creation of collectible porcelain animals such as cats, birds and other seriously cute critters ensure that its legacy will remain both innovative and relevant to yet another generation.

Hakusan has a store on Omotesando Dori, Tokyo and is available in Australia through Via Alley.