At the "FONT SWITCH PROJECT LIVE for students" event, which aims to convey the appeal of fonts to students, we invited illustrator and YouTuber Naoki Saito as a guest to hold a talk show.
"How to convey your ideas through illustrations and streaming"
Guest: Professor Saito Naoki
Illustrator and YouTuber.
Born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1982. After graduating from Tama Art University, he worked for a game company before going freelance. He is the main illustrator for the Pokémon Cards and the game Dragalia Lost. He posts information on how to improve your drawing skills and how to think about it on his YouTube channel.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saitonaoki2
Twitter@_NaokiSaito
*Registration is required to watch archived videos.
Talk show report
Participant comments
Just like the teacher's videos, it was a fantastic event that made me want to draw! The theme of "communicating" was exactly what I felt I was lacking, so it was very helpful.
I was reminded once again of the importance of thinking in a way that can be conveyed to others! It was also fun to hear about Professor Saito Naoki's student days.
What gave me courage more than anything was to learn that Saito-sensei had struggled to get to where he is today. I think that's something that artists like us need. I think it was great that he conveyed the mentality needed to continue working at it, rather than just talking about the art itself.
Use the correction corner to make your illustrations more "communicative"!
During the talk show, exclusive corrections were made to illustrations submitted in advance! The illustration that was selected was "A Demon General protecting a human girl from countless arrows." Along with explaining the illustration, the artist asked, "What can we do to help people better understand our intentions?"
Mr. Saito added an "enemy" firing countless arrows, correcting the direction the arrows were pointing, as well as the character's facial expressions and gestures. The situation was easier to understand than before the corrections, and the illustration had a sense of tension, which drew comments of admiration from the participants.
The ability to communicate developed through 40 rejections
During the talk show, Professor Saito talked about his time as a student. He began drawing illustrations in junior high school. He also shared some precious works he created during his junior and senior high school years. At art school, he began to pay attention to a different style, and after publishing his work on a website, he began to receive requests for illustration work while still a student.
He chose to work at a game company, but quit after about a year and a half to start working as a freelance manga artist. He took his manga to various publishers, but was rejected 40 times in a row.
"Thanks to the 40 rejections, I feel I was able to develop my communication skills," says Professor Saito, looking back on that time.
The trigger for the sudden increase in views was "revealing his face"
Returning to the world of illustration, Saito-sensei began his YouTube career in 2019.
"Unlike songs or manga, illustrations are difficult to turn into content, and I felt that this was an issue. When I thought about why, I realized that there were no words for it."
By sharing the illustrations with words, we aimed to turn them into content.
While the number of views was not increasing, one day he showed his face on a video introducing his work tools, and the number of views suddenly increased.
"I think that showing our faces not only increased trust and a sense of security, but also allowed us to convey subtler nuances."
What I want to convey is the joy of drawing.
In his regular videos and streams, Saito-sensei focuses on conveying the "fun of drawing" rather than teaching drawing techniques. Rather than providing step-by-step explanations, he aims to make the viewer enjoy the video first. He also talked about the flow he keeps in mind in his videos, and the ideas he uses for thumbnails and titles.
During the question and answer session, participants were asked, "What habits did you develop as a student that were useful?" to which she replied, "There were many classes where we had to give presentations about the pictures I had drawn, so I think it was good that I got into the habit of explaining why I did what I did, even if it was after the fact."
Finally, Professor Saito gave a message of encouragement to the students, saying, "In the future, creators will need the ability to communicate. Please try to be conscious of how you can get your message across!"
Morisawa added that fonts, like illustrations and videos, are tools that make it easier to communicate what you want to say, and the highly successful talk show came to a close.
After listening to Professor Saito's talk show, you'll definitely want to create something and share it yourself. Be sure to watch the entire archived video! (Registration is required to watch archived videos.)
"FONT SWITCH PROJECT LIVE for students" will continue to plan events to help you convey the thoughts you want to convey.
Follow the Morisawa FONT SWITCH PROJECT on social media to turn on everyone's font sensibilities and have even more fun with fonts!
All fonts are available! The student font product "MORISAWA PASSPORT Academic Edition"Here
UD fonts for business use available from 330 yen per monthHere