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GINZA SIX EDITORS

ファッション、ジュエリー&ウォッチ、ライフスタイル、ビューティ、フード…
各ジャンルに精通する個性豊かなエディターたちが、GINZA SIXをぶらぶらと
歩いて見つけた楽しみ方を綴ります。

The Nonchalant Urbane Flair of the Ginza Six GINZA SIX Editors Illustration

長場 雄

GINZA SIX EDITORS

Launched on the official GINZA SIX website at the end of September, the GINZA SIX Editors project has drawn more viewers and Instagram followers with each passing day. Fashion, watches and jewelry, lifestyle, beauty, food—in an ongoing series, expert editors in each of these areas, all with a distinct personal flair, wander about GINZA SIX discovering new ways to appreciate, enjoy, and then share what they find with readers. The illustrator who created the animated illustration that heads each installment of the series is Yu Nagaba, who’s drawn covers and illustrations for numerous books and magazines and does work for advertising clients in Japan and elsewhere. An exquisitely rendered sympathetic subtlety and mood hover over the minimalist characters and worlds he draws using a single black pen. He’s undoubtedly one of the busiest illustrators anywhere.

“For this project I wasn’t asked to draw a character or someone famous, but a group of editors, people who normally work behind the scenes. So, in that sense, it presented some difficulties. I had this picture of a ninja clan in my mind (laughter). An editor’s like someone who’s out there, stealthily collecting all sorts of information, and is incredibly knowledgeable about various things. So, specifically, to the left, here’s an editor listening to the sounds of the city. The middle editor is clean-cut, but she’s a woman giving a great deal of thought to something. And the person to the right is like an editor who doubles as a cameraman.”

Nagaba’s unadorned way of talking reflects his artistic approach. In his drawings, he says, he dislikes exaggeration. Aside from the drawing itself, he focuses on the nature of the drawing as an act of communicating while also valuing the peculiar specificity of given situations. Consistently light, his touch beguiles and gets you thinking in ways that really let you connect to the essence of an illustration.

“When you hold back a little bit in everything, perhaps you tend to lose out to more exuberant forms of expression, and people, that put themselves front and center. But I think of being laid-back as a more tasteful feel, and it’s the style I like to work in. I like the fact that the GINZA SIX Editors’ nonchalant animation gives it the feel of a flipbook, and I actually used a flipbook technique to make this animation by using several drawings.”

Nagaba has liked to draw since he was young. He spent two years in Turkey from the age of 10, after his father was transferred there for work. That time left a vivid impression. Having lived apart from Japanese culture for this time, his return to Japan left him feeling alienated. Later, he realized the outsider’s perspective he’d developed without knowing during these years led both to his current drawing style and some of the ways in which he approaches his day-to-day life.

“For example, when I’m out walking about and I unexpectedly run into someone I know, it’s fun to stand back a bit and assess that person’s reaction. I think I somehow categorize and keep a stock of all these reactions. They seem to come out in my illustrations—like, oh, I wonder if that person’s reaction will fit in here. When I’m out drinking, I prefer being in a group compared to being with just one other person. It lets you make yourself invisible. No one cares (laughter).”

Curiously, Nagaba tells us he’s been interested lately in the trends of luxury brands.

“The Louis Vuitton and Supreme collaboration was really interesting, I thought. And it feels like brands like Balenciaga and Gucci are boldly taking on a challenge to create a trend that people like me might think isn’t all that cool. It’s interesting things are becoming popular that, maybe, people from my generation can’t quite understand. And, all the same, I’m a little envious.”

Which doesn’t necessarily mean, he says, that he buys major brands all that often; his tastes routinely trace a fairly random pattern from here to there to there. His tastes are broad and eclectic. He looks for fresh modes of expression and interesting approaches. From luxury to street styles, he explores everything without preconceptions. He gets really interested in one thing, then moves on to something else. Your input, he says, has to be greater than your output, or you lose a sense of direction for your own next creative move.

Lastly, some thoughts from Nagaba on where he’s going next.

“I’m interested in doing work from wherever, not just Japan. I’m totally open to accepting projects from overseas clients. The world of modern art seems like fun. It’s something I’m interested in. I’ve had some inquiries from galleries, but I haven’t yet figured out how to compete in that arena. I think it’s a world where you’d have to talk really well, in which you wouldn’t get very far without having an amazingly strong intention to rise. I might need to cultivate a little more ambition (laughter).”

Illustration: Yu Nagaba, Photos: Akemi Kurosaka, Edit & Text: Yuka Okada

editors_nagaba

長場 雄

イラストレーター・アーティスト。1976年東京生まれ。東京造形大学卒業。各種エディトリアルからクライアントワークまでイラストレーションを主軸に、描き文字、ロゴタイプやパッケージのデザインまで、多様に活動。2014年以降、NYやロンドンなどで個展を開催。自身が生み出したキャラクター「kaerusensei(かえる先生)」のアカウントで多彩なオリジナル作品を365日デイリーで投稿するInstgramのフォロワーは約10万人を誇る。なお、GINZA SIX magazine(GINZA SIX発行のフリーマガジン)初号のために描き下ろした、ダ・ヴィンチからピカソ、バスキアから村上隆まで20人の世界的芸術家たちが銀座 蔦屋書店に集った大作のイラスト(上に掲載)をはじめ、2017年12月にはアーカイブ集の出版を記念した展示が、東京・渋谷のGALLERY X BY PARCOで開催予定。http://www.nagaba.com

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