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The JAPAN SHOP Venue is bustling as soon as it opens

How do you communicate your message to customers entering your shop? How do you tell them what sets you apart? How do you create a lasting impression in your customer's mind? Doing this requires communicating not just information, but emotion as well.

JAPAN SHOP is an exhibition of companies supporting commercial-space design and urban planning. At this year's JAPAN SHOP, creative signs making use of leading-edge printing technology and environmentally friendly products leapt out at the eyes. There were a number of ideas that stood out for the functionality as well as their sophistication in design. The exhibitors were ingenious about communicating their sales concepts in detail, and using the latest attention-grabbing techniques. Visitors to the venue also asked many questions.

A New Concept in the Presentation of Commercial Stores

How can you best use your walls, ceilings, and floors in your presentation? In order to stand out at JAPAN SHOP 2005, exhibitors aimed at creating a commercial space with a great design, while taking advantage of printing technology, and presenting new systems and products.

One example of the use of printing technologies in building materials was Tokyo Koki's "Picture Works." The company uses heat sublimation printing to put full-color images, illustrations, and other information on such materials as aluminum and stainless steel. The company thus created product ideas that succeeded in creating demand at the venue: one door manufacturer actually used Picture Works in a swing door. "We will use [Picture Works] to actively design spaces that create visual impressions where customers' eyes are normally not drawn, such as storage lockers," said a company representative. With support for small-lot production, the product has a great deal of hidden potential, making it possible to tailor solutions to customer needs.

Detailed images printed on metal at the Picture Works exhibit.
Gradations are also possible.
Not producing organic solvents or other forms of industrial waste,
this is also an environmentally friendly printing method.
The door in the photo is being sold as a product.

Today, the printing technologies that add vibrancy to commercial facilities must be environmentally aware as well. Nohara Co., Ltd., a seller and installer of room interiors and the like, has unveiled K-Tile, a new floor material using recyclable PET plastic film and ink. K-tile is a floor material consisting of 500 x 500 x 0.5 mm sheets that can be laid over existing floors. When remodeling, it can be recovered as discrete tiles. A wide range of printing technologies can be used with the company's product, including inkjet, offset, and silk-screen printing. A special hard-coat treatment effect also gives the tile a signature glossy appearance.

Nohara's K-Tile enables seamless integration of wall and floor design

A New Sign-system Solution

Exhibit tool manufacturer and seller Sasao was showcasing a unique package using a touch-sign system called "ties." The system is especially effective at enabling shops in large commercial facilities with many tenants to communicate their messages. Another feature of the sign is that it is able to keep count of the number of times it is touched. Shops can log and tabulate this data for use as a marketing tool. And the sign system's possibilities do not end at merely transmitting information: it also holds new possibilities, such as a new use for digital data.

The venue also included an IC tag panel information system: an information panel equipped with IC tags that could deliver audio, video, and a wealth of other information to personal data assistants (PDAs) swiped over the panel. This system has many possibilities for transmitting information in public spaces, especially museums and galleries. Its uses in urban development are probably only limited by the imagination.

"ties" is a package that can be used in shop sign systems.

This IC tag panel information system displays audio and video about each of these animals.

Sound is also a critical element of communicating a message. Saiunion has developed a sound panel system that produces narration and sound effects by causing the panel to vibrate. Unlike speakers, which transmit sound in only one direction, the panel transmits sound in all directions. This user-friendly sign system also features a medium pitch that the elderly find easier to hear. The system is already being used in commercial facilities, but there are many more possibilities, including multilingual narrations at tourist attractions and signboards on city streets.

This compact sound panel enables audio advertising when space is limited.

Fixtures Combining Beauty with Functionality

One of the attractions of JAPAN SHOP is finding out the latest developments in fixtures and furniture. One of the main trends seen among the fixtures on display was the use of aluminum. There were many simple, utilitarian shelves on display.

Erecta International was also showcasing acrylic fixtures with a fresh look. Treating cube-shaped units as individual cells, the units and shells can be locked onto horizontal and vertical grooves in bars, creating a freely extendible structure. Visitors from the healthcare and beauty industries showed a great deal of interest in the soft, gentle design consisting of curved lines.

In addition to the exhibits, JAPAN SHOP also features a number of lectures given each day. On March 4th (Fri.), the Japanese Society of Commercial Space Designers held the final selections in its JCD Design Award 2005, a design competition calling for "mobile store" ideas from students and young designers. The selection was held in the East 3 Hall, in a special program called "Commercial Space Design Today." This event also provided opportunities to pick up tips about shop design and urban development.

Surrounded by vibrant colors and subtle patterns, the wide variety of ideas for space design at JAPAN SHOP provided a renewed understanding of the importance of communicating in a way that evokes the emotions and tells a story. Combined with a huge array of the latest printer technologies and new tools, this is one event that is not to be missed. A future article will showcase the venue in further detail.

(Noriko Kawakami, design journalist)