Tokyo, November 7th, 2019

With offices on the east side of Tokyo, Garden Eight is an award winning Japanese digital production company.

Its diverse and young team of experts creates visually attractive digital experiences, offering services in web development, visual design and web design, being the latter its main area of expertise.

Hiroki Noma is Garden Eight’s CEO. With a first career in human resources, he founded the agency with other two designers, with the focus of using digital communication to connect companies’ philosophy and feelings with consumers. Since then, the agency has only gone upwards.

On this interview, Noma described Garden Eight’s brand design process and gave an inside look at the agency’s daily work, from hiring to dealing with clients.

He looked back at his professional and personal life and also described the landscape in Japan with clients and consumers.

How did you get started in the industry?

I started my career in a different field: human resources. At my second company specializing in digital marketing, I met 2 wonderful designers. I was impressed by their talents and persuaded them to start a new company together which is Garden Eight today.

Were you always interested in advertising?

I was more interested in the philosophy of companies and how people feel about working there. I thought it would be beautiful if I could use digital communication for connecting the companies’ philosophy and feelings to consumers.

Could you describe Garden Eight’s ideal brand design process?

First of all, we spend a lot of time to understand each other. We share the things with representatives of the companies, such as backgrounds and current interests to get a grab on their personality, their way-of-life.

With this knowledge, we determine whether we should work with them or not. With some companies, we spend more than half a year in this process.

Next, we look over their strategy. We determine what kind of roles our website will play in their digital communications. If necessary, we also make proposals for an entire strategy. Afterwards, we start designing websites. After exchanging our views with each other, the creation of their website usually goes smoothly.

Smart team drives agency growth. What’s your approach to hiring?

We like to work with a person who isn’t a professional yet, but full of passion and potential. This is because we believe that there is a better future awaiting the Japanese digital industry with their bright future.

I also prefer people who have a view without preconceived ideas and think out of the box. Japan is a very limited market. It tends to develop in a Japanese way even in the digital industry. That’s not always bad, but we want to be a team that can provide great service not only in Japan but also overseas.

What’s the most common problem that clients approach with?

Most of them want to renew the way a brand is perceived by the market through digital communication. The purpose is to show a presence in the market or reinvent the company’s culture.

We have a long-term relationship with clients who utilize the website with their own strategy. But no matter how good a sword is, it is useless if a Samurai uses it poorly. That’s why we always want to work with mature and courteous clients.

Recently, Garden Eight created the website for the 2020 AWWWARDS Conference in Tokyo. What was the design process like?

We created it with SHIFTBRAIN . The process is… a secret! Enjoy the website.

How would you describe the digital industry in Tokyo compared to other major cities?

At the moment, the market is just enough in Tokyo alone and this is a big feature we have. Moreover, we are blessed with the situation existing as one of the world’s leading cities and having no unnecessary influence from other countries.

However, that is the current situation. In the near future, it is going to be an open market and have hot competitions in Japan, which I look forward to it.

Due to the impact of the closed market, most of the clients don’t care about the cross-cultural vision for their brand identity. However, we should be prepared so that any clients interested in it can start their business abroad at any time.

I’ve always thought that we should produce without any national borders influence. I assume that’s what makes the Internet appealing.

Which circumstances helped bring Japanese agencies to this level?

I hope it is about rediscovering the craftsmanship. I assume creators worked hard with love and achieved results in their business. They also start realizing that companies who control digital communication are controlling business as well.

Talking about audiences, what’s your point of view on Japanese’?

The audiences are always selfish. That’s why we need to provide high-quality products while committing to the details.

However, audience and creators should make commons efforts to keep a good and healthy relationship as we always do. In addition to their selfishness, the Japanese audiences’ perspective is becoming global.

This may be due to the diversification of information through social networking. As a result, I believe that clients and agencies will experience increasing competition. It’s time to make the most of the strengths of digital communications.

When looking at the technological landscape today, what makes you think “wow”?

The revival of past technology. It’s interesting that digital tools who have been admired a long time ago appear again with innovative technology.

When legendary players in Japan talk about the current digital expression, I am surprised and find it intriguing when they say, “It’s a new technology but I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

Three things I wish I knew when I left school:

The importance of English language skill and the importance of knowledge in history and DJ, which I love work in creating websites and experiences.

What global issues are you most passionate about and why?

There are two. One is about climate change. We especially need to think of global warming. We’re on an island and typhoons come a lot. Global warming has a major impact on our lives since it is exacerbating the apparition of natural disasters.

The other one is about the Japanese aging society. It is an issue that should be considered along with the population decline. In human history, it is rare for a nation who has more than 100 million citizens to experience aging.

I am getting older. To pass the baton to the next generation, I think it’s time to act and think about what kind of country we should be. In particular, I consider we need to talk well about the function of social welfare.

Which defining moments have helped shaped the person you are today?

Japanese historical novels helped a lot to shape me. You might have heard about the adventure of Samurai. I grew up admiring their life and mindset, living for what they think ‘beautiful’ without hesitation.

Thanks Hiroki!

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