Ryo Sampei
Producer / Designer
Spectrum Tokyo
Ryo is a Producer & Chief Brand Officer at Flying Penguins Inc., a business design firm in Tokyo. While he acts as a board member at the firm, he is also the producer of a design community platform Spectrum Tokyo, which digs into broader topics in digital design and introduces the Japanese design scene to the world. He is also the head of Design Matters Tokyo, a global design conference originated in Denmark. In his past career, Ryo founded UX MILK, the largest UX design community in Japan, and contributed to cultivating UX design amongst web/app developers. With Design Matters Tokyo and Spectrum Tokyo, Ryo aspires to be the bridge between Japan and the world, for better design culture and practice.
Behold! The Power of Mascots
Ryo has always been obsessed with mascot characters. It’s like almost whatever he makes needed eyes, hands, and a feet. As a Japanese designer and a otaku (nerd), mascots and characters were always there, and it was natural for him to make good use of it when it came to designing for services and brands.
In Ryo’s talk, he will share his experience in designing mascots for his past projects, and how to make good use of mascots for digital service and brands. He will deep dive into his roots in the Japanese culture, the different processes in the making, and also define what makes a good mascot character.
