Nearly two decades ago, I saw this packaging in a Nordic supermarket. I was a Japanese designer living in Oslo, temporary relocated from NYC

AI is artificial flavoring. Design is craft food.
Artificial flavor is engineered to satisfy. Consistent, scalable, immediately recognizable.

I knew it wasn't my door.
I was a teenager. Coming home late. Dark street, darker hallway. Pure autopilot.

My relationship with music started as a hunt. You'd discover an artist through a magazine, a friend's tip, or a concert and then commit by buying the album

When two multidisciplinary designers set out to collaborate, we expected great design. What emerged was something neither of us anticipated.

We often think design should instruct, but I've found the most profound designs don't shout—they invite.

Design is both verb and noun. Like furoshiki, it's not just the finished package, but the ongoing act of wrapping itself.

A photograph is a framed container of reality.
It asks us to pause, look closer, and find meaning in what actually unfolded in front of a lens.

The Greenland flag worked silently for 40 years. Designed in 1985 by Thue Christiansen, a simple disk offset on a bicolor field representing sun rising over ice, it did its job without fanfare.

From Hieroglyphs to Emojis: We've Come Full Circle
Ancient Egyptians used 𓂀 for life, 𓊽 for power, 𓆓 for transformation. Today we use 💚 for life, 💪 for power, 🦋 for transformation.

I recently attended a design conference titled "Læringer fra Japan: Den omsorgsfulle arkitekturen" ("Learnings from Japan: Caring Architecture"), and one idea has stayed with me

I took a Japanese tea ceremony class here in Oslo this week. It is something I never actually did back in Japan.

Have you ever looked at a prehistoric arrowhead?
Not as a museum artifact, but as a design decision.
Somewhere, thousands of years ago, a human stood shaping stone with intention. Edges refined. Weight balanced. Form serving purpose.

Four buses got stuck in a roundabout in Oslo recently.
Nobody was talking about roundabout design the day before.

The teacup has no handle.
When it’s too hot to hold, it’s too hot to drink. When it fits comfortably in your palms, the tea is ready. Your hands are the thermometer.

Visual design has a role to play in building a planet-centric future, not through greenwashing, but by creating systems that make care visible and culturally valued.

Tom Sandberg’s photography at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter museum sparked an unexpected reflection on technology and art.

I used to think I needed to pick a lane. Focus. Specialize. Be the person who does one thing exceptionally well.

We’re designing ourselves into a superflat world.
There’s an inherent dance between the digital and the tactile, one I find myself constantly navigating.

Visual design is everywhere.
Not just on screens or in brands, but woven through how we live.