Editorial Design Today Vol.3: Yuko Shouji & Shinji Abe (KARERA)
Here, in the third installment of Editorial Design Today, we will take a look at the work of Yuko Shouji and Shinji Abe, who together make up the design company KARERA. These two, who have worked together on a wide number of books, magazines and similar projects, made their entrance into the world of editorial design with the music magazine Afterhours （http://www.afterhoursmagazine.jp/）. Founded in 1997, Afterhours (editor: Takayuki Osuki) is independent specialist music magazine which introduces its readership to a unique selection of independent overseas artists, as well as playing an active role in inviting musicians to give live performances in Japan. KARERA have been contributing to the design for Afterhours since 1999. The design they do is not limited to page presentation; they are also frequently involved in the editing process. We spoke to them about their experience of magazine and book creation.
How did you get involved in editorial design to start with?
Yuko Shouji (Yuko): I've always loved books. Then, at art school, I took a course in Editing, where I got to design my own pages as part of the lessons, and that was when I started thinking properly about editing. I had a part-time job at a book designer's as well, where I also worked full-time for a short while after graduating. At the same time I was volunteering as a member of the design team at Afterhours. That was how I got involved with the magazine. Then, not too long after that, the Chief Editor asked me to try doing a whole issue by myself. And that's what I've been doing ever since. After I'd done my first issue, I left the book designer's and set up an office with Shinji in a vacant room in the same building as the Afterhours editing department.
What was the flow of events, then, with your involvement in Afterhours?
Yuko: From the first issue up until the seventh, Madoka Iwabuchi was the artwork director. Before I got involved, Shinji was working with Madoka, doing the cover design and page illustrations.
Shinji Abe (Abe): I studied photography at university, so that was my first experience with illustration. I got involved through a friend who was working at the magazine as a volunteer designer, and all of a sudden I found myself asked to do the cover illustration. I didn't really understand the whole printing process, and so when I had to send Madoka my cover design, I just sent her all the separate illustrations of the people. I thought that, since it was the cover, there had to have been a set layout, and was just trying to make it easier for her, but I guess she must have been surprised (laughs).
So, now that you are in charge, what do you pay particular attention to in terms of design?
Yuko: The magazine contains a lot of text so, although it's a pretty basic point, we always have to take a good deal of care to make sure that it can be easily read. Aside from that, it's our basic policy to totally change the format for every issue. Charts and diagrams are pretty common in the magazine, so we always like to try and display those in new ways.
