Tomomi©︎Nishikawa
Graphic designer? Super-illustrator? Surely it would be presumptuous to call myself an “artist.” But lately I’ve been hitting my stride. Nowadays anything goes, right? That’s what Horiemon said. Born in Hachinohe, Aomori (played basketball)→ dropout of Japan’s Women’s College of Physical Education (momentarily played lacrosse)→ Vantan Design Institute → working at 10inc. since August 2011. I was pretty fond of the Heisei Era.

Message from the Artist

Ummm. What I write as © is read “chomo.” And the title “dou”? “dou?” means “how about?” Well, you see I’d decided early on only that I wanted to include the letters “do” in the title. At first I thought of using the word “forget” also: maybe “forget daughter” or something like that. But “daughter” is “da” and not “do.” My boss suggested “forget doctor” – which I rather liked, since I’m the daughter of a doctor. But then, as I was thinking to myself “How about this title?” or “How about that title?” it suddenly came to me: “Wouldn’t ‘dou?’ make a good title?” There’s a tune we often hum that goes something like “dou-dou,” too. Anyway, that’s what I decided on. I drew an elephant, a tiger, dogs and a lady. Well, not exactly “drew,” but rather made them using Illustrator, pasted them on cutting sheets, and colored them. So that’s why I say it’s not exactly “drawing.” They take so much trouble — I asked myself what it’s all for and why I do it, and when I spoke about this to Atsuki Kikuchi, he replied, “Yup. That’s what it’s about. Generally speaking, it all has no purpose.” “How about” that? I still have one more work to make but haven’t decided what to make. Sorry. Will this really do for my message?

Tomomi©︎Nishikawa

Message from One of the Judges

What at a glance appear to be roughly drawn graffiti are, on close examination, carefully chosen shapes. Like a word association game, the shapes are linked by connections, tenuous as best, of meaning. Then add to that the slight but distinctive traits of the materials, and the result is works that have a quality similar to that of handpainted signboards. The processes – designing the shapes, configuring them, and making a work out of them – are the same as those of graphic designing.
Forms constructed from Bézier curves retaining a sense of coarseness, plus an editorial sense not consolidating into one meaning, can be said to be the mainstream of graphic design of the past ten years or so; yet even so, the works of Tomomi©Nishikawa (what a strange name) have an appeal all their own. In each process, she performs her work awkwardly yet carefully, and it’s in their build-up that I think they acquire what makes them so unique. Maybe, in some instances, it’s more the possession of strength than a sudden burst of talent.

Atsuki Kikuchi（graphic designer）