Kotone Iwamatsu, who is originally from Japan, graduated from BA Graphic Design at Camberwell this year.
In her final submission for the UAL Graduate showcase 2021, Kotone explores using eco-friendly reusable wrap for her project Tsutsumu. We spoke with her about how Japanese culture has inspired her work and helped to shape her creative practice.
My process-led practice is based on personal engagement with landscapes and has sustainability at its heart. I am fascinated by the detail of organic, natural things and my work celebrates and carries an essence of what I experience in the natural world. I often bring in my cultures and traditions through my work.
The title of my project work is called 包む Tsutsumu. Plastic is ubiquitous in our everyday lives. More than 40 percent of plastic is used only once before it is thrown away, where it lingers in the environment for a long time.
My work: つつむ Tsutsumu, is an eco-friendly reusable wrap inspired by furoshiki, a Japanese wrapping cloth that is traditionally used to wrap gifts or transport food and goods. In fact, it is one of the symbols of traditional Japanese culture and puts an accent on taking care of things and avoiding waste.
The design of the packaging represents piles of plastic waste, and I am hoping my work could provide an opportunity for us to reconsider the possibilities of a sound material-cycle society (circular economy) and to disseminate the culture of furoshiki to the entire world.
Furoshiki are traditional Japanese wrapping cloths traditionally used to wrap and/or to transport goods. It is said to have been first used in the Muromachi period (1338-1573), when people spread it out in place of a bathmat or wrapped one’s clothes with it. Furoshiki usage declined in the post-war period, in large part due tp the proliferation of paper and plastic bags available to shoppers. In recent years, however it has seen a renewed interest as environmental protection has become a greater concern, since it’s highly resistant, reusable and multipurpose. In fact, it’s one of the symbols of traditional Japanese culture, and puts an accent on taking care of things and avoiding waste.
For the packaging design, I have used screen printing to create the repeated pattern of plastic pollution to emphasise environmental issues. For the furoshiki I have dyed the fabric using indigo. Indigo dye is an organic compound with a distinctive blue colour. I have created the flower pattern by using the method of itajime-zome, which is the method of making patterns via pressing cloth between carved board.
I like working practically using the materials to experiment by hand, so I decided to continue working practically even when I was at home in Japan. I have gathered some materials at home and tried to experiment with the materials around me such as casting using plasters and natural dye experiments using some natural resources.
The pandemic has given me an opportunity to explore Japanese cultures and traditional techniques, for example, for my final piece I have used the traditional Japanese indigo-dye method to dye the fabric to create the pattern.
Throughout the course, my aim was to improve my design skills and the challenge was to reflect this in the content. I have been actively involved in organising various events and exhibitions within the course and in other departments. Particularly at big events such as the fashion show Zeichen in my second year, that taught me the importance of promotion to spread the information of the event and attracting audiences, and that promotion is the key to the success of an event and how much information can be communicated clearly. These experiences have led me to become interested in how graphic design can influence brand image, especially in PR and communication design and I hope to work in PR.