"Semi" is a creative team that redesigns bags and pouches using materials such as flags used for outdoor advertising and event venues. A pop-up event focusing on the team will be held at Isetan Shinjuku from June 26th to July 2nd. We spoke with team members Daisuke Ishikawa and Shinya Kamata about how the team was founded and their future prospects. ——First, please tell us about your career paths. Ishikawa: I worked at Yoshida & Co. and IKEA before enrolling in the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design. There I met Kamata and Yuichiro Kage. It was a newly established graduate school, and all three of us were part of the second class, enrolling in 2009. Kamata: After graduating, I got a job at a creative agency. Kage also works in interactive web design during the week, and we both spend our weekends working on "Semi."
--How did "Semi" come about?
Ishikawa: In the fall of the year I entered graduate school, I approached the two of them and suggested we start something to revitalize the area with the Roppongi Promotion Association.
Kamata: When I went to the association's office, I saw a flag lying around that had been displayed in the city during an event. I thought, "I wasn't going to throw it away anyway," so I took it home and tried making a pencil case or something using the sewing machine and laser cutter we had at graduate school. The result was better than I expected.
The flag was originally designed by 130 winners of a public competition. We set up a special website for the selected designers and made and sold bags. The response was so great that we thought, "It might be fun to continue," and that's how it all began.
--What kind of activities have you been doing since then?
Ishikawa: The theme of Tokyo Designers Week that fall was "environment," so the concept fit and it seemed interesting, so we decided to exhibit there. We exhibited several card case samples and case studies using leftover materials. We named it "Semi" at the time.

Kamata: Of course, there were a ton of flags and posters on display at the Tokyo Designers Week venue. When I asked, I was told they would be discarded within a week, so I said, "Okay, take it!" Now, we have more materials than we can use, but that only started this year. Until around mid-2011, we went around to various event venues, negotiating, and getting turned down over and over again.

Ishikawa: The only way to get people to understand us is to make good products. Since then, we've become even more particular about our craftsmanship. "Product first" is what we value most.

--Where did the name "Semi" come from?

Kamata: Our concept is to "extend the lifespan of design." For example, advertisements take a long time to create, three or six months, but once they're released, they disappear within a week or two. That's similar to the life cycle of a cicada. Also, with overseas expansion in mind from the start, the pronunciation of "semi" (semi) was chosen because it would be easy to remember in both Japanese and English. The use of kanji and Roman letters, such as "semi" (semi), was also intended to achieve this.
--What is the concept behind the Isetan pop-up shop?
Ishikawa: "Owning the city." The idea is to wear something that was displayed in the city. This time, we used flags from the Isetan grand opening in March as bags. There are 44 flags in total, and each bag has a serial number engraved on it to identify where it was displayed.
Kamata: At the venue, we are exhibiting visuals that allow you to see the before and after at a glance. We also created a story movie that summarizes the entire production process, from the original advertising materials to the bags.
--One of the reused products is FREITAG, which makes bags using truck tarpaulins.

Ishikawa: When we first started "Semi," we weren't really aware of it, but we thought it was the same path our predecessors had taken, so we looked into it and found out that two brothers washed and cut up tarpaulins in the bathroom, then started exhibiting and selling them with their friends on a bridge. I really relate to that story and have a lot of respect for it. However, while "FREITAG" is known for its rough texture that matches the aged materials, we use materials that have been used for a relatively short time and focus on the fine stitching and design. It's not a question of which is better or worse, but rather that we each have a different approach.

—How do you plan to work from now on?

Kamada: I think it's important to expand while keeping an eye on it. If we expand too quickly, it will be consumed all at once, and both the quality and concept will slip away from us. That wouldn't be beautiful, and since we talk about "extending the lifespan of the design," I don't think it would be meaningful if it ended in 10 years.

Ishikawa: I enjoy making things, so I want to always share that. It's inefficient, and from the outside it may seem like a stupid thing to do, but I have a sense that I'm doing something right.