Team

Shunsuke Ishikawa

Chief Design Officer

I lead activities such as vision building, philosophy communication, organizational culture building, and redefining design to achieve KESIKI’s purpose of “a kind economy”. In addition, through business succession and the combination of design, I practice design management, creative talent development, and create educational businesses.

PASSION & INTEREST

Design education as an exploratory process of living

I want to create a society where it is natural for individuals to explore and create what they want, feel deep empathy towards others, and dream of a better future. To achieve this, it is important for everyone to live exploratory and creative lives. I want to explore and establish how design education can support this way of living.

Purpose-driven design management that connects individual intentions with companies

I want to redefine the existence of companies from the dry, capitalistic approach to one centered around purpose and meaning through the design of company culture and relational design for employees, aiming to increase the number of "loved companies" in society.

Human-centered policy design

In Denmark, when asked "Who do you rely on when you're in trouble?" everyone apparently answers "the country". This answer wouldn't come out if the services provided by the government didn't truly make the people happy. I want to explore the relationship between policy and design in Japan and investigate the realization of policy design by citizens. By doing so, I hope Japan becomes a powerful and happy country.

BACKGROUND

I graduated from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts in London. I started career as a product designer at Panasonic Design Company, followed by a role as Creative Lead at PDD Innovations UK, then became involved in establishing IDEO Tokyo. After working as Head of Design/Strategic Design Director at BCG Digital Ventures in 2018, I founded KESIKI with Jun Uchikura and Takao Kunori.

Currently, I am a specially appointed professor and program director of the Creative Leadership Program at Tama Art University. I am engaged in promoting design in a wide range of fields, from advising corporations to serving as a national expert committee member. I have served as a judge for D&AD, GOOD DESIGN AWARD, DFA, Yamagata Excellence Design, and Ibaraki Design Selection. I was also selected as one of Forbes JAPAN’s 39 designers with significant influence worldwide. I have authored the book “HELLO, DESIGN: Japanese People and Design,” which reveals the essential “design thinking,” and also co-authored “Our Future Work Style.”

In January 2021, I succeeded the business of WOOD YOU LIKE COMPANY, a furniture manufacturing and sales company in Tokyo, and became its representative director.