The Moripass Club is divided into eight teams and is creating zines to convey the appeal of fonts to university students. At the third meeting, each team presented their nearly completed zines to the entire club and spent two days preparing the data for submission.
The guest's words gave me the impetus for my final run
On Thursday, August 1st, Moripass Club members gathered at D-LAND LOUNGE, an after-school activity center for art school students, to listen intently to the presentations being given by each team right in front of them. Listening to the zine presentations alongside the other members was graphic designer Kaishi Tomoya. He participated as a guest in the third club meeting, and offered words of encouragement tailored to each team's zine, as they near the climax of submitting their work.
For example, for a team creating a zine focusing on font elements, Kaishi pointed out the advantages of the content, saying, "It has a lot of appeal and substance," and then offered an encouraging message: "Let's figure out how to present it before submitting it." This team wanted to make the font's design appeal interesting and appealing to readers by focusing on the details of the elements, so they were able to get advice from Kaishi that helped them take the next step.
Or, in the case of a team producing a zine that focused on the role of fonts in branding, he praised their efforts, saying, "I can see from the wealth of information that you've put in that you've worked hard on your research." He then offered advice that focused on considering the reader, saying, "If you organize the typesetting more neatly, readers will be able to absorb the information more easily." As the team had edited more than 10 pages of interviews, receiving advice on how to make them pleasant to read was a perfect step in the final polishing period before submission.
Kaishi also delivered a message of encouragement to the entire Moripass team. He said, "It's amazing that each team is able to express the appeal of fonts that Morisawa alone can't. Please feel free to continue creating until the very end." His words were relatable to the members' feelings and gave great strength to all the members as they resolved to devote their all to the final run towards submission.
Members praise each other as each team is completed
After the presentation, it's time to start the submission process. While listening to advice from their advisors and managers, the members make final adjustments to their zines. Once this is complete, they begin a pre-submission data check, undergo a final confirmation by Morisawa, and then are finalized. The two days of submission time are allotted for the teams that have reached the final stage.
On the first day, all the teams focused on making final adjustments, and then on Friday the second day they returned to Morisawa's Tokyo headquarters. In order to make the zine easy for readers to read, they not only made adjustments such as standardizing the text to 11 or higher and examining the compatibility between paper and folds, but also worked out intricate details to connect readers' interests and concerns with the appeal of the font.
In one team's case, we checked whether they had created an introduction, development, twist, and conclusion that was in line with the zine's concept, so that readers could easily understand the contents from start to finish, and we adjusted the introduction and catchy copy. Furthermore, to unify the tone and manner of the zine and make it more enjoyable to read, we changed the interviewer, who used to speak in polite language, to a passionate character who is known for ending his sentences with "~tsu," thereby enhancing the entertainment value of the zine.
The fact that they were able to maintain this attention to editing, design, typesetting, printing, and processing until the very end was a result of the knowledge they gained from the seminars they attended in the first and second sessions by the supporting companies. Over the course of the roughly two-month zine production period, it was clear to see that the Moripass team had definitely deepened their knowledge and understanding of fonts.
Each team then assigned a role to each member and focused on producing a zine that they were satisfied with. They also actively listened to the advice of their advisors and managers, aiming to create a zine that would be objectively high-quality. The first team finished shortly after noon. Without anyone noticing, they were met with words of praise: "Good job!" and "Congratulations!" The moment came when the team was sent off with applause.
From the second team onwards, everyone shared the excitement of praising the other teams' completion, and each team worked with concentration until the very end, aiming for the moment when their zine would be completed. They were able to progress to the stage where they could proceed to printing and processing without any problems, and the third workshop came to an end.
The final data will be printed and processed, and 100 copies of each team's zine will be completed. After distributing some of the printed zines to nearby students and collecting real feedback, the teams will reunite for the fourth meeting in about two months. How will the zines that the members worked so hard to create be received by the other students? We can't wait to see if they can "ON" the sensitivity of the font when the results are announced in two months.