It will work out somehow. We will make it work somehow. It will work out somehow. We will make it work somehow. It will work out somehow. We will make it work somehow.
When I look at Mr. Hara, I think that there is no way I can ever slack off.
Matsuno Kaoru
Deputy Director, Hara Design Institute Vice President, NDC China, Inc Designer/Art Director
Born in Tokyo in 1974. Matsuno Kaoru graduated from State University of New York and joined Nippon Design Center Incorporated. After experiencing in the Information Design Systems, she started working at Hara Design Institute in 2002. In spite of her wish to focus on editorial designs, she often takes charge of exhibitions such as ”TAKEO PAPER SHOW 2004–FILING”,”SENSEWARE”,”HOUSE VISION”,”NEO PREISTORIA –100 Verbi（New version・Prehistory–100 verbs）”. As a chief of the Unique Handicraft Unit, she is working on the new projects with 20 other creators of Hara Design Institute including creators of the Beijing Branch.
Hello. I am designer Matsuno Kaoru. As deputy director of the Hara Design Institute, I am responsible for project progress management and also design work. I consider my job to be a kind of overall work support.
My boss Hara Kenya is a truly straightforward person. He is more dedicated to his work than anybody else, and invests more energy in work than anybody else. When I see him, I feel that there is no way that I can ever slack off. It is not only me; that atmosphere has spread throughout Hara Design Institute. As a mirror for ourselves, Mr. Hara is a source of our motivation. Mr. Hara and the members of the institute have that kind of a relationship. This is something I heard from someone else, but when asked who he would take with him if he had to go to Mars, he answered, “Matsuno”. I suppose he thinks of me as someone who might be useful in a brutal survival situation.
I frequently travel overseas for exhibitions and meetings. When a person visits many different places, he will discover something that is truly unique to each place. Recently I visited Cordenons in Italy to collect materials on a paper factory. In earlier trips to Italy I had noticed that Italian paper was of good quality, with a high grade feel and overflowing with a unique appeal. According to the manager of that paper company, which has been run by the same family for generations, Italian industry is created from techniques, artisanal spirit, and fantasy. In Japan, the word “fantasy” conjures images of dreams and something unattainable, but it made perfect sense to me that it was something that could be applied to actual products. Not only the management, but many of the operators in the workplace had also been working there for generations, carrying on the faith and skills of paper-making. I understood that behind this beautiful paper was a kind of unshakeable presence that I could feel at the factory.
My work never goes exactly as it is planned. However in my daily work, I tell myself that in general it always works out. We always find a way to make it work. I suppose I am at heart a positive person.
