The video of Milan Design Week 2021 in September 2021 was a huge success. The installation “Much Peace, Love and Joy” at Alcova at the remains of a military hospital revealed splendid colors spread in the light of Milan.

The number of visitors reached 55,000 in despite of the travel restrictions all around the world. Be amazed by “Much Peace, Love and Joy” resembling approx. 1,200 floating color fragments and “Mesh Virus-Control Flag Partition”, the combination of new technologies to suppress virus with mesh materials.

Much Peace, Love and Joy at Alcova, Milan Design Week 2021
Dates: 04 – 12 September, 2021
Venue: Alcova
Location: Via Simone Saint Bon n.1, Milan, Italy
Produce: Mika Takizawa (Dentsu Live) / Art Direction & Design: Spread / PR：Miho Kawamura (Daily Press) /Manufacturing: Atelier Inadome, NBC Meshtec, Sutoka, Live Art Books, Print + Plant / Construction: LPD Design, H.Yamamoto / Cooperation: NBC Meshtec, Takeo, Waki Process, Yuko Noguchi, Haruna Yamazaki

The 2022 S/S Makeup Collection of the beauty brand “Celvoke” is starting on January 7^th with the collection theme “New brightness with emotion ~Unfamiliar light and emotional brilliance~”. We are in charge of art direction for key visuals, expressing multi-perspective brilliance such as glitter and metallic.

Celvoke 2022 S/S Makeup Collection
Planning & Development & Sales Agency: Mash Beauty Lab / Brand Direction: Yoko Tagami / Art Direction & Design: Spread / Photography: Akinori Ito (Aosora) / Makeup Art: Mikako Kikuchi (Tron) / Hair Styling: Koichi Nishimura (Vow-Vow) / Styling: Kei Shirahata / Video: Keita Hoizumi / Motion Graphics: Wow / Projection: Tomoya Kishimoto / Music: Hiroki Saitoh

Since the January 2022 issue, we are in charge of the art direction and design of “Journal of Architecture and Building Science”, the most historical architectural media in Japan established in 1886. The cover is a vision with the design concept of “understanding society through architecture” while content pages cover more visuals to summarize the huge amount of information in which specialized contents are presented in a comprehensible manner. It’s a specialized magazine with issues, features, serializations, news, and research results all about architecture for readers from all specialties.

“Journal of Architecture and Building Science” January 2022 issue
Publishing: Architectural Institute of Japan Club Bulletin Editorial Committee / Editor in Chief: Akihiko Iwasa (HOSEI University Graduate School of Engineering and Design Major in Architecture Professor) / Art Direction & Design & Cover Artwork: Spread / Design: Naoko Kobayashi (umlaut) / Editorial Cooperation & DTP: Fushimi & Editors / Cover Photo: Ooki Jingu / Portrait Drawing: Henry Augusta / Printing：Showa joho Process / Publisher: Hiroshi Imai
Price: 1,430 yen (tax included)
Web Store: Architectural Institute of Japan “Archi Books”
ISSN 003-8555 U.D.C.624/72:061 22(52)

You could say humans are living at a change of the times.
What comes to our mind is the perspective of “Gift”.
What do individuals contribute to our world?
Color is joy. And, we do creations to “question the situation” through colors.

Spread, Haruna Yamada & Hirokazu Kobayashi
January 2022

Mesh Virus-Control Flag Partition has won the top award “Red Dot: Grand Prix” at Red Dot Design Award 2021: Brands & Communication Design. The award-winning works are on display at The Museum für Kommunikation (Berlin) until January 2022.

The “Red Dot Design Award” has a history of 66 years, it is called one of the “three major design awards in world” along with iF DESIGN AWARD and International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). Great designs are selected for “Red Dot”, and the most excellent one is selected for “Red Dot: Best of the Best”. In 2021, there were 9,178 entries from 49 countries. Nine works won the top award, “Red Dot: Grand Prix”.

Mesh Virus-Control Flag Partition
Produce: Mika Takizawa (Dentsu Live Inc.)
Design: Spread
PR: Daily Press
Manufacturing: NBC Meshtec Inc., Sutoka Co., Ltd.
Photo: Ooki Jingu
Contact: flagparti.info@gmail.com

The exhibition “Spread by Spread: What Color is Tomorrow?” ended in a huge success on November 7^th. A total of 8,376 visitors participated in 12 days. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who have come and offered us support.
During the exhibition, visitors watched the work for hours, many of them were so impressed and even shed tear, asked enthusiastic questions, and being stimulated in various senses. Once again, we were being reminded that the power of color can move human emotions. We are pleased to know that this exhibition has become a platform for visitors to experience the joy from the colors inside us.

Here is our online gallery revealing the exhibition taken with a 360° camera.
Be amazed!

WebVR production: Uttzs

Articles about this exhibition are posted on the website of Casa Brutus. Exhibits captions are summarized in a comprehensive manner so please take a look.

Spread by Spread: What Color is Tomorrow?
Dates: Wednesday 27 October–Sunday 7 November, 2021
Organizer: Spread
Planning Cooperation: Spiral
Venue Cooperation: Wacoal Art Center
Construction Cooperation: Waki Process Inc.
PR: Daily Press
Photo: Ooki Jingu, Kazuhiro Kodaira
Special Thanks: Takeo Co., Ltd. / Toyokasei Co., Ltd. / Mgnet Co., Ltd. / Live Art Books Inc. / Print + Plant
Sponsors: NBC Meshtec inc., crowdfunding sponsors*Part of the funds for the production and organization of this solo exhibition were attained through the crowdfunding platform Green Funding.
Support: Nagaoka Institute of Design

MIDTOWN CHRISTMAS 2021 is created at TOKYO MIDTOWN. The work “Color Jungle” themed “color is joy” simply spreads over Inside Galleria, about 80,000 m3.

In celebration of the Christmas season near the end of 2021, the three atrium areas of TOKYO MIDTOWN are decorated to resemble forest, water, and light. From the changing bird-eyes views from the 3rd floor to the 1st basement floor, viewers are like flying birds. What we want to convey is “color is joy”; and joy is hope. Experience the dynamic sceneries and get lost in the colorful jungle.
Spread installation “MIDTOWN CHRISTMAS 2021 Color Jungle”

Dates: Thursday 18 November–Saturday 25 December, 2021
Hours: 11:00-24:00
Venue: Tokyo Midtown Galleria
Location: 9-7-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-0052
General Admission: FreeOrganizing & Planning: Tokyo Midtown Management Co., Ltd.
Art Direction & Design: Spread
Construction: NOMURA DUO Co.,Ltd.
Photo: Ooki Jingu

“Coronavirus and Creative”, the daily feature of the web magazine AXIS, has come to its finale with the 100th issue. In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, we embarked on this research-based publication project with one initial question: How can the creative industry make an impact in the world as it faces the pandemic?

Observing creative activities undertaken day after day around the globe has helped us gain insights into the current status and reflect on them, while also providing inspiration as we plan our next actions. During our research, we were given opportunities to discover the diverse activities undertaken by people in different places, making us realize the extent of the resilience of the human race. Now, in August 2020, we have not yet come close to the end of this crisis, and so our research will go on for as long as the world continues to fight against the disease. To this end, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to our readers for their devotion, and hope to invite new readers to read the back issues and the post-project roundup article, all of which are available on our website.

Web Magazine AXIS Daily Feature  — “Coronavirus and Creative”
Published between May 15 – August 27 2020
Research conducted by: SPREAD

An interview about coronavirus activities was published in the September issue of Nikkei Design.

Date: August 24 2020
Publish: Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.
Interviewer: Shigeki Ooyama

Dezeen, based in the UK, is the world’s most influential web-based design magazine. It has been hosting the Dezeen Awards since 2018, celebrating the best architecture, interior design and design achievements from around the world. The judges are architects, curators, artists and others of various professions and specialties. There were more than 4,300 entries from 84 countries for this awards.. We are very happy to announce our inclusion in the longlist.

Dezeen Awards 2020
SPREAD
Designer of the year longlist

For this ‘new normal’ period influenced by COVID-19, we created a banner partition with a screen function under the theme of “Mebae” (sprout). It has been on display at INTERSECT BY LEXUS – TOKYO in Minami Aoyama, Tokyo, since Thursday, July 29 2020. A mesh fabric, used in medical fields and for automobile interiors, is the material used for the screen. The material is coated with “Cufitec®”, a new virus and bacteria control technology that prevents secondary infection from viruses. Our aim is to bring new life to a space using the power of color, and to make a comfortable environment for people to engage in new communication.

“SPROUT” for INTERSECT BY LEXUS-TOKYO
Press release
Date: From July 29th, 2020 (Wednesday)
Venue: INTERSECT BY LEXUS ‒ TOKYO
Location: 4-21-26 Minamiaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062
Planning: Mika Takizawa (Dentsu Live Inc.)
Mesh manufacturing: NBC Meshtec Inc.
Frame manufacturing: STOKA Co., Ltd.
Press: daily press
Photo: Ooki Jingu
Planning and Design: SPREAD

Celvoke, a total beauty brand, released the 2020 A/W Makeup Collection nationwide on August 1. With “Energy in conjunction” as its collection theme, it uses images of two models to express the united beauty of individuals, despite differences such as age, gender and nationality. Please enjoy discovering a world interlaced by light and shadow, bright and dark, and positive and negative.

Celvoke 2020 A/W Makeup Collection
Collection Video
website
Planning/ Development/ Sales agency: Mash Beauty Lab Co., Ltd.
Brand Director: Yoko Tagami (Mash Beauty Lab Co., Ltd.)
Photographer: Akinori Ito (AOSORA)
Makeup artist: Mikako Kikuchi (TRON)
Hair artist: Koichi Nishimura (Angle)
Stylist: Rena Semba
Video: Keita Hoizumi
Music: Hiroki Saitoh
Art Direction & Design: SPREAD

British public broadcaster, the BBC, posted a special article, “Design’s new happy mood”, on their culture and design website series, “designed”. The article highlights the creative use of bold colors and patterns to inspire positive moods. There is a coverage report on SPREAD, along with introductions to “Life Stripe” and “HARU stuck-on design;”. It also depicts studio works featuring colors from around the world, including Spain and Australia. Please take a look.

Design’s new happy mood by Clare Dowdy
website
Listing Studio: SPREAD, Morag Myerscough, etc.
Edit: Clare Dowdy
Media : BBC.com

The video of the “Roppongi Color Canyon” installation, exhibited at the “Tokyo Midtown DESIGN TOUCH” design event that was held at Tokyo Midtown last October, has been completed. With a “soaking in colors” concept, we aimed to blend colors and the landscape through a vivid mesh fabric. We hope the colors make your days brighter.

Tokyo Midtown DESIGN TOUCH Roppongi Color Canyon
Installation video
Date: October 18 – November 4, 2019
Venue: Tokyo Midtown, Midtown Garden
Organizer: Tokyo Midtown
Video: Ooki Jingu, Kazuhiro Kodaira
Music: Hiroki Saitoh
Production: waki process Inc.
Fabric：NBC Meshtec Inc.
Art Direction and Design: SPREAD

“Life Stripe”, produced and presented since 2005, is an artwork that replaces everyday actions with 21 colors and expresses these using a striped pattern. To create a varying range of patterns, we have been collecting memories of a single day in different lives, from babies to the elderly, and have also delved into the lives of various creatures, from insects to animals. So far, over 150,000 memories have been documented. With the recent spread of Coronavirus, we began to question the effects of this on our everyday lives. We saw this as the perfect opportunity to start our research on life after the Coronavirus pandemic, and have already produced and presented several works.

We truly appreciate your participation and cooperation with our project as we continue to collect memories of a single day in different lives.

Life Stripe
Questionnaire (Japanese) download
Questionnaire (English) download Website
Website

In cooperation with the “Virtual Design Festival” hosted by Dezeen, the design platform, ALCOVA, presents a program of interviews with eight international studios, including SPREAD. Our interview has been released online (English only). We hope you enjoy the article and learn more about the history and concept of SPREAD.

FROM ALCOVA WITH LOVE
Virtual Design Festival（Dezeen）
ALCOVA

Dance Base Yokohama（DaBY）is an institution dedicated to establishing a professional environment for dancers, with a creative hub to nurture dance-related creators through various projects. We are looking forward to your participation in our trial performances and workshops.

Dance Base Yokohama
Website
Opening: June 25, 2020
Address: KITANAKA BRICK&WHITE BRICK North 3F, 5-57-2 Kitanakadori, Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Organizer: SEGA SAMMY ARTS FOUNDATION
Artistic Director: Eri Karatsu
Space design: Hirotaka Isshiki + Narumi Ozawa + Shiori Mori + ondesign
VI, promotional design: SPREAD

We had a workshop for the art teacher invited by the Ministry of Education last year, and as the second time of the workshop we did this in a real school.

AXIS Web Magazine’s series “Daily ‘Corona and Creative'” has started. This is a series that introduces “Creative activity research for new coronaviruses”, which starts gradually from the end of February and continues as a studio activity from the beginning of April, once a day.

Daily ‘Corona and Creative’

“Stay Home coloring book” production

Factory Festival hold an exhibition “ROOTS OF METALCRAFT: Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata, Japan” at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in Singapore.

ROOTS OF METALCRAFT : Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata, Japan
Date: February 15 – March 22, 2020
Venue: Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts（NAFA） Campus 1, Ngee Ann Kongsi Gallery1&2

Biology of Metal exhibition won Gold (Grand Prize) at German Design Award 2020. We participated in the ceremony in Frankfurt.

We participated in the award ceremony as the final judge of the Taiwanese design award “GOLDEN PIN DESIGN AWARD” with a history of 38 years.

A Slice of Niigata Food Culture
Experience Gastronomy with Tsubame-Sanjo
Date: November 15 – 20, 2019
Venue: Japan Culture Center

“Haru stuck-on design;” (Nitoms, Inc.) won gold, and “ROOTH 2-3-3” (Be The One Co., Ltd.) won silver in the “DFA Design for Asia Awards 2019”, hosted by the Hong Kong Design Centre. Although the award ceremony was cancelled due to the deterioration of the situation in the region, we are very happy to have received the ‘double prize’ in these awards which advocate for and emphasize the contribution of design in enriching the lives of people in Asia.

DFA Design for Asia Awards
Website
HARU stuck-on design; (Nitoms, Inc.)
ROOTH 2-3-3（Be The One Co., Ltd.）

A solo exhibition by SPREAD take place at (PLACE) by method starting from October 31st to November 23rd, 2019. Through this exhibition, as an attempt to their next creative step, SPREAD deepened their knowledge of the aesthetics behind the contrast of colors, which resulted in a work under the theme “Ornamental Contrast”.

Ornamental Contrast
Date: October 31 – November 23, 2019
Venue: (PLACE) by method

Landscape Architect Ryoko Ueyama’s drawing archive exhibition “Prospective Landscape: A Retrospective. Drawing Exhibition ‘Vortex’” started.

Prospective Landscape: A Retrospective.
Drawing Exhibition ‘Vortex’
Date: October 19 − 26, 2019
Venue: Architect’s House Hall

A interview with SPREAD is published in the web magazine “Roppongi Future Conference”.

Hosted at Tokyo Midtown every Autumn, “TOKYO MIDTOWN DESIGN TOUCH” is an annual event under the concept of “Enjoying design with all five senses”. Creative unit SPREAD was assigned to create an installation which they entitled “Roppongi Color Canyon”, for the events main content the “Design Forest”. Under the concept of “flooded with colors” SPREAD will cover the garden area of Tokyo Midtown to create a canyon of vibrant colors using fabrics with an overall length of 1km, portraying the ever changing views of the nature. Changing sunlight, and sudden waves of color surfaces. Embraced with colors, we hope for the viewers to enjoy their conversation with this color-scape.

Tokyo Midtown DESIGN TOUCH “Roppongi Color Canyon”
Installation by SPREAD
Date: October 18 − 11.4, 2019
Venue: Tokyo Midtown
Organizer: Tokyo Midtown

The Tsubame-Sanjo Factory Festival is an event held in Tsubame-Sanjo (Niigata), an area known for metalworking, blacksmithing, carpentry.During the event, factories normally closed to the public will open their doors to offer tours and workshops.

Tsubame-Sanjo Factory Festival
Date: October 3 – 6, 2019.
Locations: Sanjo-Tsubame, Niigata Prefecture

A interview with SPREAD is published in the September issue of the magazine “Discover Japan”.

Dezeen announced the longlist of Dezeen awards, with our studio name.

The collaboration exhibition “After-Image” of “INTERSECT BY LEXUS” and “HARU stuck-on design;” has started.

After-Image
Date: June 19 – July 30, 2019
Venue: INTERSECT BY LEXUS-TOKYO

The exhibition “Biology of Metal” held in Japan Hoouse London last year has been shortlisted to D&AD.

HARU is used on the top image of the Milan Design Week 2019 secret spots at ELLEDECO.com.

Grand Seiko returns to Milan Design Week with the theme “THE NATURE OF TIME,” at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum.

Grand Seiko
THE NATURE OF TIME
Date: April 9 – 14, 2019
Venue: Poldi Pezzoli Museum
Graphic design: SPREAD

Hold an exhibition of HARU stuck-on design; entitled “Color Appreciation” at ALCOVA, Milan Design Week 2019. We mix various beautiful contrasts such as light and dark, city and nature, life and death…

HARU stuck-on design; Color Appreciation
Date: April 9 – 14, 2019
Venue: ALCOVA

“LIVING COLORS: Kasane – the Language of Japanese Colour Combinations “, which introduces dyeing and weaving works that express the traditional colors of Japan and the changing subtleties of the season, is held at Japan House London.

Living Colours: Kasane – the Language of Japanese Colour Combinations
Date: April 5 – May 19, 2019
Venue: Japan House London

We designed “Rain and Caterpillar” and “Thunder and Crab”, a collaboration product with Mmakoto Kagoshima and Hida Sangyo. The two works have been expanded to rocking chairs, sofas and cushions.

Life Stripe is on display at the “Human-Nature” exhibition at the Red Dot Museum in Singapore.

Human-Nature
Date:  – September, 2020
Venue: Red Dot Design Museum

From April 17 to April 22, 2018, NITOMS, INC. (Head office: Tokyo) exhibits “HARU stuck-on design;” “space designing tape” which sticks and peels off again, in Milano Fuori Salone in Milan, Italy.

The venue is unused industrial warehouses under Milan Central Station. HARU stuck on design; exhibits artwork inspired by cave paintings – one of the world’s first-known works of art – directed by the creative unit SPREAD “Imagination led by color” as concept.

http://dailypress.org/wordpress2017/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/HARU_milano_2018_release_f-1.pdf

Nitoms proposes new styling way of space design, “sticking on color”, with HARU stuck-on design; to add a life to space and to influence people’s senses and sensibilities, stepping into a completely different area in which Nitoms had excelled in pursuing functionality and convenience.

Color, stick on, transform. Spaces become freer.

HARU stuck-on design; bring color into your life
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2018 – Sunday, April 22, 2018
Open Times: 10:00 – 20:00 (closed at 18:00 on April 22)
Venue: VENTURA CENTRARE via Ferrante Aporti 11 Milano
Press Preview: Monday, April 16, 2018, 15:00-19:00

Nominated by Mainichi Design Price 2017.