Meet Takuto Domeki

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Takuto Domeki a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Takuto, so happy you were able to devote some time to sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our community. So, we’ve always admired how you have seemingly never let nay-sayers or haters keep you down. Can you talk to us about how to persist despite the negative energy that so often is thrown at folks trying to do something special with their lives?

I like how silly it sounds to say I research memes. But I think memes do offer some really interesting insights on how image culture affect us. My interest in memes definitely stemmed from an appreciate of comedy, as I’m always curious as to why something is funny to me, and asking this question helped me a lot in uncovering default biases I wasn’t previously privy to. People who write off my work as silly are correct, though I think people who write off my work as valueless are wrong.

I think it’s really easy for graphic designers to feel doom in their field. With advancements in A.I., the job market feeling like a game of who you know rather than any honest validation of our creative output, the profession of graphic design looking different from the promise of graphic design maybe a lot of us heard in college, and the lack of creative freedom that comes with being an employed junior designer, associate designer, full time intern, or other synonyms. It was through that frustration that I developed my thesis show “Why Does Graphic Design Make Me So Angry Yet So Horny?” where I tried to express this contradiction through memes. Even though it hasn’t been too long since, since I hadn’t started to really work as a graphic designer at the time, I think there were some aspects that were pretty naïve and I’ll probably be thinking I’m acting naïve

If there were to be nay-sayers towards memetics and my work, I would say that me researching this field is more symbolic of a more open-minded personal academic culture than any proclamation that my work is more important than others. I know this is me being lofty, but I believe the study of comedy and memes has the potential to shift our concepts of intellectualism, away from the spiffy annoying nerd stereotype and towards a more empathetic and curious ethos. Who really knows though, I just like memes. So keep doing you I guess.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Hi. My name is Takuto Domeki, I’m a graphic designer based in New York. My focus is on the internet, humor, and culture. I grew up in Massachusetts after coming from Japan with my parents.

I went to the Cooper Union, where I first encountered graphic design through amazing professors like Beverly Joel, Barbara Glauber, Sasha Tochilovsky, Roy Rub, and Robyn Kanner, and working at the Herb Lubalin Study Center.

This year, my most exciting endeavor is starting my own firm with my partner, Amanda Blanca. It’s called “Friends of Comedy Studios” and we’re currently in the process of taking on clients.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

For me, personally,
1. Separation of art and work
In sophomore year of high school, I was taking a physics test which I did not study for. After guessing on the first 3 questions, I flipped the page and wrote 3 paragraphs on why I needed to learn physics and how I wanted to be an artist but was destined to become an art teacher (incredibly pompous). But the core issue with the statement is that you can be an artist AND and art teacher. Every person needs to “work” in a society. This leaves some (not a ton of) space where you aren’t working and can pursue creative endeavors. Design can feel like a very creative job, and at times, it for sure is. But there’s probably going to be some design work that isn’t creatively fulfilling, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The problem starts when you feel the necessary restrictions of Work impeding on your own personal creativity.

2. Showing other people
Whatever anyone has to say about your design, whether it be fellow designers or strangers off the street, will offer fascinating insights on what comes across from your work. This doesn’t mean you have to bend to every critique you hear, but it’s always good to know. Design is read cold. Also, document your work. I hate doing it but when you’re making your portfolio, you’re gonna be glad you had a file full of images.

3. Hope
Have hope that graphic design will be better in the future, and trust that whatever design you put out into the world has a hand in shaping that future.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Like most freshly graduated graphic designers, I am in the process of looking for a job. I am a Japanese citizen and am on my optional practical training, or OPT, doing my best to find sponsorship as a graphic designer. If you or someone you know is going through a similar process, you know how much stress it can be. This is the unfortunate reality for many international students, let alone art students. I think it’s important to keep these issues transparent, because it shows how biased towards STEM American views of these academic fields are, which STEM is obviously incredibly important work, but Art should be held to an equally important position. I’m definitely not qualified to make any damning case for the importance of Art, because it’s so ubiquitous yet so marginalized within the pillars of knowledge society is built around.

The OPT only allows me to work in my field of study, which is graphic design. So I’m not only personally bound to graphic design, but legally as well. It makes me pursuing graphic design jobs feel more hollow, because even though I have ambitions of becoming a well versed graphic designer, it can feel at times like I’m looking for a means to an end. But I know that even if this weren’t the case for me, (at the risk of sounding like a meme), graphic design is my passion, and I would still 100% be pursuing it.

What I’m working on to secure this is what I’ve been doing up until this point: keep going. I’ll continue to work on my portfolio, talk to more people, learn more skills. The usual. I’m super excited to work on my craft, picking up more freelance projects, learning as much about this field as I can. I feel confident that my skills will allow me to land on my feet somehow, and if I don’t, I’m sure I’ll be somewhere else exciting <3

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