Interview with Yoshi Sodeoka

Currently, the Internet is used throughout the world by all generations, from the young to the old. However, the Internet’s history is still young. When the Internet started to enter people’s lives, a Japanese web designer appeared on the scene and roused a new wave in American business. His name is Yoshi Sodeoka. After he worked at Viacom, America’s major media group and the world’s biggest entertainment company, he as art director started World.com in 1995. 1995 is the year that Windows95 was introduced; an event that caused an explosive, worldwide movement. Next year the numbers of households using the Internet reached over 10 million. Sodeoka, who still works in New York as a freelancer, talked about the recent state of the Internet.

COOL: Can you briefly tell me about yourself and what you are working on right now?

Yoshi Sodeoka: I came to New York in 1989 when I was 20. I was studying arts and computers at the Pratt Institute. After that, I was working at MPB for about two years. I then started working on my own business and I founded a company with three other partners. Now I’m on my own again and doing some arts and design. As for the arts, I mainly work on videos and demonstrate them at museums and galleries.

C: What made you come to New York?

YS: I was going to Temple University in Japan and met a teacher from New York. The teacher was the Dean of Parsons School and was teaching arts and design. He was older than me but we had many things in common so we got along well. He was about to go back to New York and he asked me to continue my studies there. So that was the main reason for moving to New York.

C: You obviously have done various projects in the past. What do you think about your work at Viacom and World?

YS: Soon after graduating from school I started working at Viacom; I worked there for about two years. I did not know anything yet at that point, so I learned a lot from MTV projects and many other projects. At World, I could mostly do anything I wanted to do. I was an art director and I had the freedom to make the decisions most of the time. At that time the Internet was just getting popular, so everybody was interested in what I was doing. I really believed that I could do interesting things.

C: Is there any difference in web design from the past to the present?

YS: Design has changed a lot after the birth of the Internet. Unlike magazine and books, you can see current information right away on the Internet. Also, design in general has improved a lot. At the same time, there are many more people that imitate the designs of others. When one good design comes out, everyone wants to imitate it. Because of this many designs lack originality. Before the Internet became popular there were more people working on unique and individual designs. We have so many things going on now, so if you don’t know what you really like you probably would get lost.

C: What area of design do you find most interesting?

YS: Communication is important in the field of design because we have to create designs that someone else wants. Not only is skill important, but we are also required to find every solution in a limited amount of time. Every time creating a design is challenging, and each experience is unique. As for my personal art projects, creating them involves a totally different process from commercial design because with my projects everything comes from my inspirations. It does not have a given deadline, so I alone am responsible for the creating a schedule for completing my work step by step. I do two completely different things, art and design, so I don’t have a good balance.

C: Can you tell me your policy toward design?

YS: I’m trying to create designs that not only have a good appearance but also have deep concepts and make the audience think. I always wonder if this duality in my design is possible. I don’t think a design always has to have a complicated look because some designs that look so simple and easy sometimes have deep meaning inside.

C: Where do you get your inspiration?

YS: It depends on my project, but mostly my inspiration comes from normal life. I don’t go to museums to get the inspiration. And, especially if I’m in New York, I don’t really have to be conscious of getting it.

C: What’s your recent project?

YS: I worked on VH1, station ID at MTV. Also, I worked on a music video for Beck. Right now, I get more projects in video design than in web design. I prefer a short-term project for design because if the design project takes a long time, I would loose my interest. For me, I can be very creative when I’m forced to be so.

C: Do you have any vision toward the future?

YS: I have been doing design for a long time, so I want to concentrate more on arts; especially I want to work with video art. When I had the company with my partners I had to devote a lot of my time to the company -- but I’m on my own now, so I have more freedom. I want to use half a year of my time for myself.



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Yoshi Sodeoka
Sodeoka studied graphic design at Pratt Institute. After graduation, he was involved in inventing CD-ROM for MTV at Viacom. In 1995, as an art director, Sodeoka started an online magazine, World.com. As a starter of Webzine*, he has become a superstar in web business and has won many awards, such as the New York Folio Award and the I.D. Magazine Interactive Media Design Award. His interactive digital projects have been introduced in many websites and CD-ROMs, also exhibited at Sun Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American art, and Germany Museum of Design. *Webzine is an online magazine or an online journal that is formatted into a homepage. The name, Webzine, is combination of “web” and “magazine.”

text by Kazumi UMEZAWA