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At fusionbureau we aim to help our clients with the one stop shop service they have come to expect from us. Although we cover a wide range of services, it might be good to summarize our specialties:

• web development 
• visual identity 
• brand consulting 
• integrated social media marketing 
• 3rd party API mashups 
• web and mobile applications 
• e-commerce websites 
• concept development 
• facebook applications 
• SEO / SEM 
• SSL / secure / payment gateways 
• PHP / MySQL / HTML5 / CSS3 / jQuery / Ajax / LESS 
• nodeCMS / WordPress / Drupal / Magento / custom CMS 
• company and product name consulting 
• web audits and competitive research 
• accessibility / User Experience / Web Standards

INTERACTIVE CREATIVE AGENCY 
web + graphics + more 

TOKYO | LONDON 

Searching for any of these? 

You need to set up a Japanese or bilingual e-commerce web site. 
Your image is vital to your business and it needs an upgrade. 
You have an app idea but you need someone with experience to advise and produce 

We are a creative agency that uses strategic thinking, great design, a deep understanding of technology and a unique network to enhance your communications. 

With our Tokyo head office and a satellite in London, our multilingual team has a strong global outlook combined with in-depth local knowledge. 

CONTACT: 
tokyo@fusionbureau.com

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The 26th edition of Tokyo Designers Week opened on November 1st and runs until the 6th of November. Despite the name, it's more of a single location event - all the other design events on at this time of year are not actually under the TDW umbrella.

My expectations on arrival were not that high. On my last visit to the event a few years ago there was a lot of interesting furniture but nothing that really left an impression. This time the event was a slightly different experience - there seemed to be much more of a contemporary art focus with a lot of installation type design as well as a lot more of an academic presence with numerous art and technical universities sponsoring and running booths. As a sign of the times, interactive technology also had a strong presence with DoCoMo building an interesting smart phone manipulated environment and Fujitsu creating a sensor based interactive video and music experience.

While there was a lot of innovative Japanese design on show, design from neighbouring countries South Korea and Taiwan also stood out. The Red Dot Design Award winning Korean designed silicone iPhone stand was particularly popular.

Overall TDW 2011 offered a wide range of interesting and innovative creative design. If you miss the last day of the event tomorrow, keep an eye out for the event when it comes around again in 2012.

See the full gallery on Posterous

IMG_1059.MOV Watch on Posterous

IMG_1060.MOV Watch on Posterous

See the full gallery on Posterous

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On Monday this week, an email was sent to LinkedIn users located in Japan announcing the launch of the Japanese version of the business networking site.

Coming more than eight years after the launch, this has to be one of the slowest localisations of a popular site ever. Digital Garage (the company behind the successful localisation and launch of Twitter in Japan) originally planned to help produce a Japanese version in 2007, although that never came to fruition. There was a new announcement in May this year that Digital Garage was back on the case but there hasn't been any mention of DG in this latest development so it's unclear if that's the reason why we're finally seeing a Japanese version.

With the delay in launching a dedicated business 'SNS' in Japan, a number of companies attempted to launch Japanese equivalents but without the international brand recognition of a site like LinkedIn, they were unable to gain a critical mass. Much more than in western societies, Japanese are reluctant to share personal information in a public forum so the small locally produced sites were never able to gain the necessary trust to get people to sign on. In the absence of a real business social network, facebook has actually become the standard for business social networking in Japan.

With the huge brand recognition and hundreds of thousands of users in Japan already using the English site (a real rarity in Japan) it shouldn't take LinkedIn long to usurp facebook as the leading business networking site in Japan.

However, having played around a bit with the Japanese interface it's quite clear that the site is still a real work in progress. Despite having a Japanese version of my profile it continues to show me the English one when I click on 'profile'. Also, despite putting in my central Tokyo postal code, it's telling me that I'm in Tokyo outside the 23 wards rather than inside. These are just small things, but they're the difference between a smooth user experience and one in which the user has to make an extra effort to use it.

Now that they LinkedIn are putting an effort into the Japanese version these kinks will be quickly ironed out. The question will be whether business people in Japan will be willing to share 'personal' info such as companies they have worked for and schools they have attended.

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Please check out the new fusionbureau web site.  If you have any feedback for us, we'd be happy to hear from you.

http://fusionbureau.com

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Just to make this clear from the outset, 'Corporate Identity' is about a lot more than a logo.  A logo can be a unifier that ties everything together, but CI is about everything that your customers (or staff) are likely to come into contact with.  It includes the name of your company, slogans, symbols, colours, the clothes that employees wear to client meetings and in the office, business cards, presentations, the way you answer the phone, the tone and speed of email responses and even your customers.

It's usually the more authentic, organic aspects of a business that shape the visual elements of a business's corporate identity rather than the other way around.  For example, if you're an expensive, discreet, trustworthy legal firm you're probably not going to want an electric pink colour theme with comic sans as your primary font.

Within a domestic context, it's possible to get a pretty good handle on all this and project a consistent image.  However, when an international aspect is added to a business there are suddenly diverse cultural and linguistic considerations that mean that you may have to rethink your entire visual system.  So here are a few things to think about when you start on developing the visual aspects of your international corporate identity.

1. Challenge your Assumptions

Something that has meaning in one culture may mean something completely different in another.  You may think a colour, font or mascot communicates one thing but in another culture it may have a completely different significance.  Visuals including animals, traditional symbols and gestures are particularly susceptible to this.

2. Local scripts

In the Americas, Africa or Western Europe, it's not usually necessary to change the script in which the name of your company is written.  However, in some countries, a version of the name written in local script is required by law.  In others, locals may not even be able to read Latin script - especially for words containing non phonetic spelling.  Also don't assume that because countries share a similar script that the same will apply in each country.  For example, in Japan it is very unusual for an international company to use Chinese characters to write the company name but in China, this is the norm.

3. Changing your name

Ideally, an international company wants to leverage its international brand when entering a new market so that brand building doesn't have to start from zero.  However, sometimes it makes sense to go for a different name or a variation on the name.  The illustration above is a good example - McDonalds decided that the 's' was superfluous for Japan so the localised name (written in Katakana script) is just 'McDonald' (or more precisely 'makkudonarudo').  The case of McDonalds Japan highlights another issue with an international brand - local trademarks.  McDonald's were beaten by a day to registration of their own trademark in Japan resulting in a legal battle lasting 16 years.   Another example of a company that tweaked its brand in Japan was ice cream shop Baskin Robbins.  In Japan it is commonly known as '31' from its original slogan of '31 flavours'.  Presumably the thinking was that '31' would be easier for Japanese speakers to pronounce and remember.

4. A one size fits all approach or an adaptable visual system

The approach of international marketers over the last twenty years or so has been to build consistent 'global' brands.  Often there is a strong push of strategy and creative from head office to international offices.  German multinational DHL maintains a strict consistency by keeping all logos and tag lines in English irrespective of the location.  The other approach is to allow for flexibility in the corporate identity.  This could include prescribing standard ways in which the logo can be adapted - for example a localised version of the name could be included above, below or to the right of the global logo.  This could also include specifying equivalent fonts in local character sets (as McDonalds has done in the image above) or an alternative colour palette.

5. Go the whole hog

Corporate Identity is often the reflection of many years of accumulated culture.  When developing an international corporate identity it can be easy to forget the aspects that are separate from typical elements such as logos, web sites, business cards and stationery.  This is sometimes seen in tech startups who open offices overseas.  Whereas the head office is a fun, creative, relaxed environment the office in Tokyo is just like that of every other company.  Adjusting a corporate identity for an international market doesn't mean you need to make your working environment the same as every other company in the market.  This is where disconnects can occur - corporate identity becomes a facade rather than a genuine expression of the company

6. Go with your gut

When going into any new market, there are always a plethora of agencies and consultants ready to give you an opinion on your brand and your CI.  They typically get paid for the amount of work they do so of course they're going to come up with a long list of 'problems' that need to be solved - whether they are genuine risks or not.  The key is having someone on your side with intimate local knowledge who can balance the unique aspects of your corporate identity with the needs of the market and to a certain extent just trusting your intuition.

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In mid to late autumn of each year there is a flurry of interesting art, design and media related events in Tokyo.  Here are a few that we'll be either attending or keeping an eye on.

Digital Content Expo 2011

Thursday, the 20th of October to Saturday, the 22nd of October

This is what it says.  The best of Japanese CG and 3D art and animation will be on display.  There will also be a wide range of hi-tech companies showing off such things as interactive tables, thermal drawing devices and the latest in 3D cameras and display technology.

http://dcexpo.jp/en/access/

AdTech Tokyo

Wednesday, the 26th of October to Friday, the 28th of October

This is an industry event for the ad business with lots of closed seminars and heavy hitting agency types giving key notes.  However, free entrance can be obtained with pre-registration which will give you access to the main exhibition hall and some of the sponsored rooms.  Last year Microsoft was showing off the Kinect before it's public release and Adobe had some interesting seminars about their approach to helping in the production of iPad/tablet magazines like 'Wired'.  More 'business' than 'creative', but very interesting and inspirational nonetheless.
http://www.adtech-tokyo.com

Design Tide Tokyo

Sunday, the 29th of October to Thursday, the 3rd of November

Design Tide started as the upstart event in 2005.  However, in recent years it has been solidly establishment with its base at the upmarket Tokyo Midtown complex near Roppongi Station.  As opposed to TDW, Design Tide is a 'curated' event so not just anyone is allowed to exhibit here - or perhaps you just need to know the right people.  The tough times that the design industry has been going through (along with everyone else) is perhaps reflected in the theme of this year's event.  "Trading design. Trading Ideas".  Time to cash in.

https://designtide.jp/tide2011/

Tokyo Designers Week

Tuesday, the 1st of Novermber to Sunday, the 6th of Novermber

This event has become an institution in the Tokyo design scene.  There tends to be a strong focus on product and interior design but the work on display can be quite diverse.  There seem to be a few less exhibitors than last year.  The theme in English is 'Love/Arigatou' while the theme in Japanese is still 'Love' but instead of 'Arigatou' it's 'Love of the earth, love of people and love of things'.

http://www.tdwa.com/en/

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refreshing summer greetings from fusionbureau

http://www.fusionbureau.com

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fusionbureau recently completed an international site for Coram Japan.

http://en.coram.co.jp/

The product for which Coram Japan is most well known is the Lékué silicon steam case which has been a huge hit in Japan over the last couple of years.  Although Coram doesn't actually manufacture the steam case, they are experts at creating 'software' around a product.  Coram has developed numerous cook books, blogs and demonstration videos and the product has been profiled a number of times on prime time TV.  This is part of the proposition that Coram wants to make to manufacturers outside Japan - they don't just take a product and push it through existing distribution channels, they grow the brand making the global brand stronger in the process.

This is also the purpose of the site.  The target is top class international producers interested in entering the lucrative Japanese consumer market.  We feel that this site is a cut above those of other companies in this space and hopefully it will push suppliers who are looking for a company that understands brand and marketing in Coram's direction.

We also think the site is a great example of the quality you can get when professional photography is specifically commissioned for a web site.  The difference in quality between this site and one that uses stock images or images taken by staff is quite apparent.

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In the 4 weeks since Serkan's article, the growth in facebook user in Japan has been only 146,060 to reach a grand total of 3,205,060 (according to facebook's advertising tool).  This is slightly higher than the level on Socialbakers of 3,059,000 users.  Also, doing a very rough trend analysis of the Socialbakers figures (see the roughly drawn red line in the chart) the growth is not exponential - in fact it would appear that the growth is either fairly constant or actually decreasing slightly.  Assuming a  constant rate of growth for facebook and none for Mixi, facebook will be on parity with Mixi in about 10 years.

The problem with all this analysis of registered members, is that it's kind of meaningless.  To anyone who has been on Mixi, you will notice the majority of communities have had hardly any activity for a number of years.  Most users would also appear to be inactive or only very occasional users.  The active users - those sharing their blogs with their close friends - would at least anecdotally appear to be a tiny percentage of the total members.  This isn't to say that all Facebook users in Japan are more active than their Mixi counterparts - there are a lot of accounts with only 1 or 2 friends and no updates.  This could be because Japanese users come in knowing the blog paradigm and then don't know what to do.

Although Nikkei Trendy is guilty of spreading the misinformation about growth in numbers, they did have an interesting take on the differences between Mixi and Facebook - at least in the eyes of Japanese users - Facebook is a party and Mixi is Karaoke.  The idea being you meet and greet lots of people at a party, but you go with your real friends to Karaoke where you let your hair down.  This might seem a bit strange to western users as facebook is considered a more private place to share thoughts and photos of your lunch.

So the uses of Facebook and Mixi are quite different.  Whether Mixi users are less engaged than Facebook users is difficult to say, but Alexa (I know this can be quite inaccurate) has some interesting things to say.

Top ranked sites in Japan (social networking sites only - first number is rank)

6. Ameba Blog (ameblo.jp)
10. Facebook
13. Twitter
14. Mixi

So which is the top social network in Japan?  Best bet is to watch the advertising numbers - and it feels (I could be swallowing the hype too) that there is a lot of interest in Facebook from Japanese advertisers at the moment.

This article was originally posted on Greg Lane's Blog as "Facebook to be #1 Social Network In Japan in 10 Years".

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fusionbureau has produced a bilingual showcase and online store for innovative Japanese reed maker Forestone.

Forestone is revolutionising the worldwide market for clarinet and saxophone reeds with a synthetic bamboo hybrid reed that combines the tonal qualities of traditional cane reeds with the durability of synthetic reeds.

The site is built on the Magento ecommerce platform and is divided into an English shop accepting US dollars and a Japanese shop which accepts yen.

Check out the site and please share with any saxophone or clarinet players you may know.

http://www.forestone-japan.com/

if you're interested in your own bilingual Japanese/English online store accepting multiple currencies, get in touch.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Tokyo Garden Party, a summer event, has been woken up by a strong earthquake, powerful tsunami and leaking radiation. We should come together, enjoy each other's company and celebrate spring with new sakura blossom and old habits.

CHARITY:
We will give the opportunity to donate money for the Tohoku region and 100% of proceeds will go to Second Harvest Japan who will make sure the funds are quickly spent on direct deliveries without red tape. Please bring a coin or bill to add to the donation box.
http://2hj.org/

WHEN
Saturday April 16th from 12:00 - late evening
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=174225342626015

LOCATION:
Yoyogi Park area nr.5 with pink dots on following map (kindly suggested by Momo)

TWITTER:
follow @tokyobeergarden for last minute information
post your tweets with hashtag #TGP2011

WEATHER:
unless there is a super typhoon we will try to be at above mentioned location, please check twitter @tokyobeergarden or this facebook event page for last minute information
http://tenki.jp/forecast/city-63.html

BUY TOHOKU REGION PRODUCTS:
Please support the TOHOKU region by buying/bringing their beer/sake. Thank you to Akiko, Tim, Mariko, Noriko and Mihoe for suggesting the info below.

sake (Iwate, Yamagata, Fukushima and Miyagi)
http://shopping.yahoo.co.jp/category/2499/recommend

Iwate based
http://www.sekinoichi.co.jp/

Ginga Kogen Beer from Iwate is one of my favorate local beer in Japan - strongly recommended:
http://www.gingakogenbeer.com/english/index.html

Inawashiro (from Fukushima) looks tasty
FYI:猪苗代ビール（Inawashiro beer) *Only in Japanese
http://www.g-select.info/

breweries in Tohoku, Nippon *Only in Japanese
http://beer.books.ascii.jp/breweries/tohoku.html

Iwate Prefecture:
Baeren: http://baeren.jp/
Ginga Kogen: www.gingakogenbeer.com
Iwatekura Beer: www.sekinoichi.co.jp

Miyagi Prefecture:
Sennan Craft Beer: (No homepage)

Akita Prefecture:
Aqula Beer: www.aqula.co.jp
Tazawako Beer: www.warabi.or.jp

Fukushima-Prefecture
Michinoku Fukushima Ji Beer: www.f-beer.com

Ibaraki Prefecture
Hitachino Nest Beer: www.kodawari.cc
Ushiku Brewery: www.ch-kamiya.jp

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To our clients, business partners and friends,

As we're sure you are aware, the east coast of the northern area of the island of Honshu was hit by a disastrous earthquake and tsunami two weeks ago. While the images on TV helped many around the world to appreciate the destruction and horror of whole communities being obliterated, the emergency continues with hundreds of thousands still without access to sufficient heat, medical care and basic supplies.  Additionally, the psychological damage and uncertainty for the future will continue to impact peoples’ lives long after the emergency situation ends.

We urge all our clients, business partners and friends both inside and outside Japan to do what they can to alleviate the suffering - whether on a business or personal level.  By now, the avenues for monetary donations have been well publicised, however we have suggested a few avenues with links at the end of this post.

While the after effects of the earthquake have been an inconvenience at our base in Tokyo, the effects on the fusionbureau team and our immediate families have been minimal and we were spared any damage.   Despite rolling power cuts (which do not affect central Tokyo where our office is located) and disruptions to transport, fusionbureau’s ability to serve clients and to complete current and future assignments has not been affected.

We look forward to continuing to work with you all.

Johan Rooms
Wayne J. Moskwa
Greg Lane

We think the following organisations are doing a great job providing disaster relief:

Japanese Red Cross
Providing disaster relief efforts to help those affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Second Harvest Japan
Providing food and supplies to homeless and refugees in Japan

http://www.2hj.org/index.php/eng_home

Voluntary Architects Network
Providing flexible partition systems to bring privacy to refugees at evacuation sites.

http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/SBA_NEWS/SBA_news_5.htm

Doctors Without Borders
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organisation that provides emergency medical assistance.

http://www.msf.or.jp/donate/select.html

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It was our pleasure recently to work with Amit Thakur and the team at ANS Solves on upgrading their corporate website. This bilingual web site follows the design theme established in the production of other promotional materials such as a new company brochure and press-folder and reflects the growth and professionalism of the company.

ANS Solves is a software technology company that was established at roughly the same time as fusionbureau. We look forward to working with them on more projects in the future.

http://www.ans-solves.com/

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My argument is that in Japan, an 'ideal' message works better than a 'real' one. What does this mean? For example, "We're small, but we try really hard" might work with a western audience but won't work as well in Japan. This doesn't mean that a good line in bullshit will win over your customers in Japan, the reality (or at least the customers experience) has to back up the 'ideal' message or it won't work.

This difference is reflected in how Japanese and westerners express themselves and their individuality. In western cultures, openness is highly valued - it helps to build a quick connection with a counterpart. Exposing weaknesses isn't always a negative - it can help build trust. Also, westerners are (increasingly) less likely to hide their identity behind an avatar when online. On sites like facebook, they use their real name and usually a real photo. If their online persona is markedly different from their offline persona, friends and associates will call them on it.

In Japan, a weakness is a weakness. On web sites like Japan's largest social network Mixi and bulletin board 2channel, users are overwhelmingly anonymous. Users aren't looking to boost their ego or their individual worth in the real world. Anonymity provides the opportunity to be the 'ideal me' online. In reality, they might be quiet and non expressive, but with an anonymous persona they can be free of the weaknesses of their everyday life. They can be witty, opinionated, aggressive and engage in online behaviour that is far beyond what they would ever contemplate in real life.

The gaming industry is another case in point. Japan used to be the leading games producer in the world. This isn't the case any more. While ultra realistic titles like Halo and Modern Warfare top the sales charts in the US and Europe, they have proportionally lower sales in Japan. Japanese gamers prefer stylised anime type characters. Ideal beats real.

What does this mean for marketing? I think it would be incorrect to suggest Japanese consumers don't appreciate authenticity, but perhaps in choosing a message for your product or company, ideal might work better than real. Looked at through this lens, the huge number of celebrity endorsements for products and services in Japan make a lot of sense.

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According to a new study commissioned by Tokyo interactive agency Cyber Communications, Japan iPad users spend twice as long on internet connected devices as non-users. iPad users spent an almost unbelievable 6 hours a day using internet connected devices, whilst non-users spent a full 3 hours longer in the real world. Interestingly, users and non-users spend almost the same time watching regular old TV.

It's not so surprising that iPad users would spend more time online, but the sheer amount of media they consume is interesting. Are they iPad users because they like to consume massive amounts of media? Or has the iPad changed the way they consume media and communicate with friends? As sales of the iPad and other tablets increase, it will be interesting to see if the average media time comes down or if the whole population just turns into screen junkies.

The PDF news release (Japanese only) can be accessed here: http://www.cci.co.jp/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/ipad20101028.pdf

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The brief was to keep it clean and simple - but with references to publishing and communication. This lead us to a frontpage layout with specific modules to showcase previous work, highlight news and events and generally act like a complete 'table of contents' for the entire site - much like you would have at the start  of a magazine or newspaper. Internal pages have a distinct newspaper feel with simple column layout and allowance for sortable images and graphics to be inserted.

As always the nodeCMS's power to link any site data together functions in this site to allow related information or any selected content items to appear where Klenske wants.

All around - a very good result and a very happy customer!

www.KlenskeInk.com

See the full gallery on Posterous

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PRNEWSWIRE features an interesting article about what went wrong with the redesign of the GAP logo. Eventually the new logo was withdrawn and the jeans retailer went back to using the old logo.

A neurofocus study found out the new logo was not 'new' enough, broke some semantic/visual/font rules, had too sharp edges, not enough contrast, disturbing overlays and a lost legacy.

On the other hand, the whole discussion surrounding their new logo probably brought them more publicity than they had hoped for.

PRNEWSWIRE ARTICLE
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brain-gap-neurofocus-study-reveals-wh...

NEUROFOCUS
http://neurofocus.com

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The 22nd edition (yes, that means it has been running since 1968) of this famous show kicked off yesterday in the provincial town of Kortrijk, West Belgium. Junya Ishigami of SANAA fame and recent Golden Lion Winner at the Venice Architecture Biennale is this year's guest of honour (so an extra large packet of frites for him). This is a bit of a turn up for the books so to speak, as its apparently the first time the organisers of this event have chosen a non-European designer to be their guest of honour.

Anyway, the show has the usual suspects of mega-brand manufacturers - Cassina, Flos, Morosso, et al, as well as a zillion smaller and more 'humble' companies trying to push their own particular niche into the market. The venue is fairy massive so it's impossible to see it all in one day - however it is possible to can get a good sense of the overall range and current direction within the industry - which in this year's event seemed fairly conservative to be honest.

Apart from Ishigami's picnic installation which is a by far and away the stand out exhibit, there are a definite lack of people or companies pushing any boundaries - I guess you could say an obvious consequence of the current economic climate (yes, there you go, lets blame it on that AGAIN!). For me it is a pity that the show displays that even the most creative people seem also to nervous about getting radical, questioning past assumptions, or pushing new materials and technologies to the limit.

Perhaps the mandate of the show isn't to do this - so what I'm saying is out of order - but there you go, just my thoughts. The few images attached to this article will perhaps give you a sense of the show, and if I have a chance to get back there in the next week whilst it is still running, I will update this post with more.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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