Yamaha: Kando
Self-directed, Art Direction, Motion Graphics, UI Design
A brief from Yamaha, lead by Neville Brody - challenging university students to interpret the Japanese term 'Kando' as a tangible piece of design work.
The word ‘Kando' derives from Japanese culture and can be understood as a 'heartfelt moment of bliss' - appealing to some (or all) of the human senses. Kando is an experience that differs from person to person, and it is believed that everybody has their own personal ‘Kando moments'. For example, whilst one person may find Kando taking part in extreme sports, others may find it fishing on a tranquil lake.
During my time at the University of Derby, I was challenged to create a piece of design work that expressed my personal interpretation of Kando.
I took inspiration from various sources, including old aboriginal cave art that utilised dots and simple shapes to convey deep meaning.
After much deliberation and sketch work, I came to the conclusion that 'Kando' isn't something you can define, nor is it something that can be easily explained. Instead, I interpreted it as a more sensory and spiritual experience that exists within each of us as individuals and is 'activated' when we are stimulated by things we enjoy.
That said, I also interpreted ‘Kando’ as something that is triggered by many different human senses. For example, I might have a ‘Kando moment' whilst listening to 'In My Life' by The Beatles, or I might also experience a similar moment whilst eating good sushi, or beating a video game on Prestige difficulty after 999,999 attempts.
With all that considered, I came to the conclusion that my own personal interpretation of Kando could be understood as 'a feeling that gives you goosebumps'.
From my personal interpretation, I created 5 symbols (below), each showing one of the 5 human senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. These were made using dots to symbolise the goosebumps you may feel during a ‘Kando moment’. One main symbol units them all together - a heart with a single dot inside - showing Kando coming from the heart.
Bringing the kando marks to life
I created an animation (below) showing how goosebumps take on the form of each human sense and to bring my interpretation to life. It is a visual/sensory representation of each sense-specific ‘Kando moment’.
I also designed an app interface with the notion to capture, categorise, store and share Kando moments. The app would give users the ability to search a database full of user generated content, rate or even add their own kando moments.
These could then be 'pinned' to their personal space in a similar fashion to social networking site Pinterest - only the Kando app is designed to be more personal and diverse, allowing users to add video/audio clips, notes, sketches and more relating to their personal Kando experiences. As with all social media sites, there would be the option to keep these private or to share with friends.
