[Part 1] Don't easily rely on vendors! A story about the creator's spirit that gets polished the more you cut | Workroom revealed for the first time🏠

This is a weekly relay column by the three members of peak silence✍️
This week it is mami's turn.

𓂃✍︎This article consists of approximately 5,300 characters of text and 45 images✰˒˒꙳⋆

Summary of previous episodes

Last time, I talked about how I wanted to try living a life disconnected from Adobe!!
By the way, I've been to Royal Host twice since then㊙️

It seems I'm the type who can't work hard unless I'm given a reward first.

The history of me and paper cutters🪚

This is sudden, but
“Wait... have I... been cutting something this whole time??”
I thought to myself today.

What on earth have I been cutting so much of??
I'd like to take this opportunity to look back with photos.

👇Going back 11 years to 2014.

It all started with small accessories essential to products, such as quality labels and price tags.
Usually, it's common to order these from specialized vendors.
But RORO let our inherent DIY spirit explode and produced them in-house every time.

The reason is simple. Because ordering from vendors costs money!
Cost is important.
Where and how much to spend on costs.
I think that is also a kind of “sense”.
To put it further, even that is part of the design.

Of course, if you spend money, you can (with high probability) make good things.
If you outsource, you save time.
And you can use that time to work on other tasks for the brand.

But reconciling ideals and reality is really difficult, isn't it.
Is it about continuing for a long time, or is it about doing what you want to do?
What do you prioritize, and what kind of presence do you want to have?
I think that choice is also the brand's personality and a form of expression.

That said, it's also common to go back to square one wondering if this is okay.
Am I the only one who feels like my head is going to fall off while writing this?😇

👇By the way, the first paper cutter is this one I bought in 2013.
It was a super dangerous paper cutter that didn't consider safety at all, and if you sliced your finger, it would be over🪚
I bought it on Amazon for 2,000 yen. I learned that cheap tools are dangerous.

Back then, the world (vendor plans) didn't have what we envisioned, and even if they did, the prices were too high to make outsourcing realistic.
You could say it was our destiny to make them ourselves anyway.

Let's combine what we can do now and aim for the best! We did everything with that spirit.
For example, even for a copy, rather than just copying normally on plain paper at a convenience store, we'd rather print on rough recycled paper with a home printer and enjoy the texture itself!

I think we've consistently done things DIY-style from the beginning to the end, regardless of the early stages.
Whether we have a budget or not, we don't easily rely on the situation; that is the RORO style.

☝️Next, we cut ribbon band tags that express the brand's concept.
For the printed part of this logo, which is the face of the brand, we made a plate with a master of foil stamping and luxuriously applied gold foil stamping.
We did our best where we could, and for crucial moments, we borrowed the power of professionals to create one-of-a-kind promotional materials.

We started this white band by looking for the ideal A4 paper (a matte, calm paper texture with a white glossy feel) at Sekaido in Shinjuku, which has a selection that would surprise even the Mona Lisa. It's difficult to judge rare textures and standards because they might be discontinued in the future. If you seek stable supply, you end up with ordinary paper.

Once the paper was decided, I consulted with and commissioned Cosmotec Co., Ltd. for the logo printing.
Back then, the process was: sourcing paper → bringing it in → foil stamping by the artisans → cutting at home.
I had decided back when I was an avid reader of 'Design no Hikidashi' that if the time ever came for me to do foil stamping, I would definitely ask Cosmotec, so I designed the logo band with foil stamping in mind.

(I'd love to work with you again someday🥹)

When I think about these things, I imagine them displayed in a shop, someone picking them out, or being handed over as a gift to someone special.

And for this ribbon-style diagonal cut, since I use thousands of them every season, I did look for a vendor, but no one could handle a cut that was both diagonal and this short.
So, in the beginning, I cut these one by one at home too.
I eventually found a good place to do the cutting, but until then, it was just days of cutting, cutting, and cutting some more.
Even a rough calculation suggests I've cut tens of thousands of them in total.

And the fourth one is...

☝️This is the paper cutter at a rental workspace in Akihabara, a go-to spot for people making doujinshi for events like Comiket.
Meeting this paper cutter allowed me to significantly improve work efficiency while keeping costs low, which greatly expanded the range of what I could achieve with promotional materials.

As for how I use it: first, I create the data in A3 size → submit it to a printing company for printing → bring the finished product to the workspace.

I wonder how those people I shared the workspace with in Akihabara back then are doing. Did they make it to Comiket safely?
Even though our genres were different, we were comrades who honed our skills using the same paper cutter.
I feel like there was something we understood without even needing to speak🤝

After that, I kept going to Akihabara, steadily improving my cutting skills, and I even became able to do 10-part cuts, which are even thinner than 4-part cuts🙌

This isn't white ink printing like the two above; this is also a black band made by taking soft Japanese paper I found at Sekaido to Cosmotech for silver foil stamping.
The black band was a 'rare band' position, used for limited edition products and collections that appeared from time to time.

While borrowing the power of professionals and masters in their fields at key points, we think and act on the basics ourselves.
That accumulation, before I knew it, trained both my head and my hands, andI felt 'what I want to do'gradually changing into'what I can do'.

The endless journey of improvement

For the first generation, I made two types of attachments (information tags) for one pair of socks.

I printed these on a home printer in the beginning, too.
Using commercially available A-One stickers.
But how to make it not look like that is where the skill comes in.
I was quite particular about the design, font, and size.

I'm checking to make sure there are no mistakes in the information.
Regarding this label, I was checking it very strictly, not just twice, but five or six times.
Because if there were a mistake in the product number or price, it would be a disaster that couldn't be undone.

And after repeating small improvements many times, it finally becomes integrated like this.

For socks with delicate threads or processing, I was able to take measures to prevent the fabric from being damaged by making the corners of the cards rounded.

After that, I renewed the paper logo band to OPP (polypropylene resin) and renewed the cards accordingly.
At this time as well, the OPP was purchased from a material manufacturer in a colorless, transparent sheet state, and it was completed by taking it to Cosmotech for foil stamping.

👇Here is a look at me verifying the size of the sticker to be placed on the back of that OPP band in actual size.

And finally, the cost remained the same, and it climbed up to this sticker type.
Finally, the arrival of the QR code!!

And it even became possible to add color!!🙌
In 10 years, the paper, sticker, and printing industries, as well as technology, will change.

Materials and technology are evolving rapidly, and it's an era where ideal printing can be achieved even with small lots and low budgets🙌
But since it was the last 1-2 years of the collection when it arrived, I couldn't benefit from the era that much, but thanks to that, RORO was able to grow, so I am very grateful to the previous era as well.

Never neglect to visually check the actual size

Wow, I can really talk this much about accessories. Wait, what was I talking about again?


“Wait... somehow I... have I been cutting something the whole time??”
That’s how I started looking back at my past paper cutters. The reason I thought that was because there was another scene that felt like déjà vu,

and here it is

Today, I was checking the actual size of a design for submission data. I had already disposed of my cutting mat thinking I’d never use it again, so I laid down some cardboard. I don’t have a printer now either, so I went to a convenience store to make copies. Because actual size is important. When you cut along the crop marks at actual size, lo and behold. It often happens that the impression is quite different from what you saw on the monitor! So, I go out of my way to copy, cut, and compare; it’s a hassle, but if you want to improve quality, you can’t skip this step. By the way, what I’m checking now is some data that is finally scheduled to be born in a visible, touchable form next month. I’m so excited😍

Aside: A creator's room just before debut

It’s not this chaotic anymore, and I don’t think my image will suffer much by exposing it, so let’s post it. (No, wait, maybe it will... If so, I’m sorry to the two members🙇‍♀️)

This is my workspace in 2013, just before the brand debut. I’m cutting four or five types of exhibition invitation materials simultaneously.

And this was when I was researching select shops all over the country that seemed to have an affinity with the RORO vibe and was diligently writing letters to them.

I remember that this one was stopped at the post office when I tried to send it because the transparent part of the envelope was too large or something, and I had to redo it. I was so ignorant about so many things that every time I took an action, something unexpected would come along with it; those were the kinds of days I had. And I was at a 100-yen shop, Sekaido, or Tokyu Hands almost every week😂 I would go on to spend the next 10 years or so living like that.

👇 Cutting the bands for the snacks is also nostalgic.

Besides the products, thinking about souvenirs for the exhibitions was always fun too. This was for my first exhibition in 2014, and I had kinaco, who was active as a "funny candy store" at the time, make custom cookies for me.

Currently, kinaco runsEdible Forest Stollenin Yonago, Tottori Prefecture🌳

Looking back like this, I realize once again that a brand is built on the support of so many people, shops, products, and services.

In particular, wasn't the logistics service the one supporting me the most behind the scenes? I was constantly indebted to them for deliveries, from supplies to products. There must be countless ingenuity and efforts behind the convenient systems and services in the world... Through DIY, I’ve become able to imagine the background behind those things a little bit. I want to continue living without forgetting my gratitude for the invisible support.

My room was also revealed in last week's wagu episode!
I think this is quite rare. The commentary is also worth paying for.
If you haven't seen it, check it out here💌

I also do the exact same thing, sticking things directly on with paper. Is that a common designer thing?👀

The computer screen you're curious about is a photo I had taken because I admire extroverts. We snapped it with the whole team after the shoot⭐️

I usually work with just one computer, but before an exhibition, the workload increases all at once, so I mobilize all my monitors to increase efficiency.
They are lined up side-by-side, as you'd expect🎹🎹🎹
You can see MIEM's legendary triple-monitor vertical setup technique here👇

My room is much tidier now, you know. Please keep that in mind until the end. (Just a reminder)

Thank you for reading until the end🙇‍♀️
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