masaaki hiromura was born in the aichi prefecture, japan in 1954. after graduating from musashino art university in 1977 he began working for tanaka ikko design office in tokyo. with ten years of work experience under his belt he decided to open his own studio.

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 2 masaaki hiromura

located in minato-ku hiromura, tokyo hiromura design office is made up of nine designers and one manager. since 1988 hiromura and his team have built up an award winning portfolio of graphic design projects that cover identity, advertising, signage systems, packaging and exhibitions. clients include issey miyake, nissan and numerous museums and businesses in japan and overseas.  masaaki hiromura is the art direction advisor for tokushu paper co . ltd and is also an associate professor of tokyo polytechnic university.

designboom asked him a few questions about his work: what would you say is the main characteristic of your visual communication? ‘I always think about ‘how information is conveyed’ rather than ‘how to convey information’ the most important thing to achieve is not expression but to find out essence. I want to continue thinking about the relationship between information and people.

it appears you specialize in the design of signage systems how difficult is it to innovate in this field without confusing the user? I am interested in every type of design but my specialty is graphic design . I only came to work on signage systems through an encounter with a great architect.  a complicated space plan causes confusion,  a signage system cannot redeem it but makes people more conscious of the space. we shouldn’t be afraid of confusion.

how do you imagine the future of signage systems? the ideal signage system is the one which doesn’t need any signs, I wish it could access one’s brain directly.

can you explain how you came to design the kitasenju pictograms? we looked at the meanings each kanji letter has. making a part of the letter an illustration gets right and left brain working at the same time, and it increases one’s attention.

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 3 kitasenjyu marui shokuyukan, vi, tokyo, 2004

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 4 kitasenjyu marui shokuyukan, vi, tokyo, 2004 photographer: nacása & partners inc.

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 5 kitasenjyu marui shokuyukan, vi, tokyo, 2004 photographer: nacása & partners inc.

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 6 kitasenjyu marui shokuyukan, vi, tokyo, 2004 photographer: nacása & partners inc.

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 7 various logos, clockwise: izumi garden, 2002 – nasu garden outlet, 2008 – takeo mihoncho honton, 2000 – AB design, 2003

  masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 8 numbers, private exhibition, 1997

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 9 numbers, private exhibition, 1997masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 10 numbers, private exhibition, 1997

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 11 nissan motor co., ltd., sign, kanagawa (japan), 2006 photographer: kozo takayama takeo

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 12 nissan motor co., ltd., sign, kanagawa (japan), 2006 photographer: kozo takayama takeo

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 13 nissan motor co., ltd., sign, kanagawa (japan), 2006 photographer: kozo takayama takeo

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 14 nissan motor co., ltd., sign, kanagawa (japan), 2006 photographer: kozo takayama takeo

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 15 nissan motor co., ltd., sign, kanagawa (japan), 2006 photographer: kozo takayama takeo

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 16 9h, sign, kyoto (japan), 2009 photographer: nacása & partners inc.

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 17 9h, sign, kyoto (japan), 2009 photographer: nacása & partners inc.

more images from the nine hours project here

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 18 loft ads, 2008

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 19 miyoshi factory soap, package graphics, 2009

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 20 shinonome canal court codan, sign, tokyo, 2003 photographer: nacása & partners inc.

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 21 shinonome canal court codan, sign, tokyo, 2003 photographer: nacása & partners inc.

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 22 shinonome canal court codan, sign, tokyo, 2003 photographer: nacása & partners inc.

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 23 shinonome canal court codan, sign, tokyo, 2003 photographer: nacása & partners inc.

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 24 shinonome canal court codan, sign, tokyo, 2003 photographer: nacása & partners inc.

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 25 ginza wakana, package, 2003-2004

masaaki hiromura / hiromura design office - 26 takeo tokyo bay distribution center, sign, tokyo, 2005 photographer: nacása & partners inc.