Project Nendo

Project Nendo, published by Thames & Hudson, presents Oki Sato, founder of the well-known design agency Nendo. The talented Japanese designer's work covers all the fields from product, interior and graphic design to architecture – “there's nothing I would not design,” Sato himself has said. This book presents original designs, product images and inspirational texts behind Sato's creative process that certainly prove that statement.

Sato renders his designs with remarkable conceptual clarity. At the outset, he allows his imagination to run wild and then documents his idea with a simple black line drawing – be it a bathroom basin defined by a single, ceramic swirl or a pair of wooden chopsticks that twist together to become one. These 2D images are converted into minimal 3D shapes described with clean outlines and a largely monochrome palette. Like a traditional Japanese ink painting, which constructs an image with just a few brush strokes, Sato extracts the unnecessary and eliminates distraction.

Featuring Sato’s original sketches, full-scale product images and explanatory texts, Project Nendo uncovers and unpicks the designer’s unique creative process, guiding the reader step-by-step through his innovative and playful world to reveal the secrets behind fifty of his inimitable works.