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Featured Artist Interview - Heisuke Kitazawa
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Heisuke Kitazawa a.k.a PCP is a freelancer illustrator/designer based in Orange County, CA and Tokyo, Japan.
Personally I envy PCP’s job. He gets to work with some great bands like The Postal Service and Dublab, doing cover illustrations for their album releases. When he’s not stressed out working in Tokyo, he is enjoying the sun, sand and sea at Orange County, while working with various clients in both locations.
PCP has worked with clients ranging from Honda to Nintendo. He has done some interesting illustrations on messenger bags and wallets for Poketo, the apparel and accessory store. His other interest lies in creating beautiful picture books that are on sale at his website.
TAXI >> Hi Heisuke, thanks for joining us. Give us a little introduction on yourself?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> Hello, my name is Heisuke Kitazawa or PCP, and I am illustrator/designer based in Tokyo and Los Angeles.
TAXI >> PCP and Heisuke Kitazawa seem interchangeable and inseparable. What does PCP stand for, by the way?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> To be honest, PCP should not stand for anything, or at least that’s how I wanted it. Since my name, Heisuke Kitazawa is so Japanese, people used to automatically associate it with the whole anime/manga scene, and since I wanted the viewers to look at my drawings with no pre-conception, I decided to use the name PCP, which I thought means nothing. But then, nice people around me began to tell me that, it was the name of a drug, a very strong drug. I heard that you get so high that you won’t even notice if you were shot. Nice.
TAXI >> On your recent summer PCP tour, you went to Seattle for the Seattle/OKOK art show. How were you involved in that particular exhibition? TAXI Design Network was at Seattle for the Icograda Design Week recently too. How do you like Seattle?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> I loved Seattle, I’ve never met that many nice people in just a few days. Only thing I didn’t like about Seattle was the taxi drivers… I didn’t have good experience with them.
I got offered from Charlie and Amanda, owner of OKOK, to do this show about a year ago, and right before I did my show, they were moving to a new, bigger space which they completed right before my show. The new OKOK gallery is so beautiful, it is now one of my favorite galleries.
TAXI >> Do you feel that your work has any Japanese significance in it? It seems to me that it resembles Hans Christian Anderson's illustrations in his books.
Heisuke Kitazawa>> It seems to me that it resembles Hans Christian Anderson's illustrations in his books.
I’m not sure about it myself, but people around me told me that my illustrations have lightened up ever since I moved to Japan about 4 years ago. Maybe because Tokyo is so poppy and colorful that it’s influencing me on an everyday level.
It’s such an honor to hear that my work resembles Hans Christian Anderson, because picture books are something that I want to go into more, and I can’t thank you enough for your kind words.
TAXI >> You design illustrations for several outlets such as books jackets, CD covers and magazines. Which is your favorite project?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> Actually, my favorite project is the one that I am doing with a band called, Her Space Holiday. I was introduced to Marc, who is the main person of Her Space Holiday, and we really connected in many levels, and we’re currently working on a picture book/CD project that should be out by the end of this year. It’s always fun to work with someone you can connect and at same time, can be good rivals to each other to help each other grow.
TAXI >> You produce books too. "Unique picture book[s] made only with collage and sound effects." What are your books about? Why did you choose collage and sound effects medium for your books? Are they good outlets for your work?
Heisuke Kitazawa>>Picture books are something that I was always interested in. When we did that, sound effect book (called, Gion), my wife and I made one picture book a month for a whole year as a limited edition subscription based picture book series. We made 12 books all together with different themes and different techniques for each one, to experiment with different ways to tell a story. That book Gion was very experimental in a way that it didn’t have any words. Also, all the sound effects were wrong in this story, (for example, automobiles might be saying, meow meow) to show that there might be something wrong with the world today.
TAXI >> What are the qualities that matter the most to you in your illustrations?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> Feelings and thoughts.
TAXI >> You have an illustration titled "Christmas Wears Me Out". But Christmas is beautiful! Does it really? Why? Is it the presents and the turkey and the Christmas trees...?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> I agree with you, Christmas is beautiful and fun, but the part that wears me out is the whole hype about getting presents to everyone that you know, start shopping right after Halloween (seems like it starts earlier every year..), return all the presents that you don’t like on 26th… I just want to relax and eat Christmas cakes, but that’s really difficult to do nowadays…
TAXI >> Your pool of credentials is amazing. What has working with so many different types of clients done for your own work and inspirations?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> It made me draw in many different styles. If I didn’t do any client work, I don’t think I would have grown as an illustrator. I am really thankful to all the clients for helping me grow and keep going.
TAXI >> It has been an honour to have Heisuke Kitazawa with us today. Before we end, tell us a place where you want a taxi to bring you to right now?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> Thank you, it was really fun. It’s so hot and humid here in Japan… will you take me to some nice tropical island with coconut trees…?
© 2006 by TAXI Design Network. All rights reserved.
Personally I envy PCP’s job. He gets to work with some great bands like The Postal Service and Dublab, doing cover illustrations for their album releases. When he’s not stressed out working in Tokyo, he is enjoying the sun, sand and sea at Orange County, while working with various clients in both locations.
PCP has worked with clients ranging from Honda to Nintendo. He has done some interesting illustrations on messenger bags and wallets for Poketo, the apparel and accessory store. His other interest lies in creating beautiful picture books that are on sale at his website.
TAXI >> Hi Heisuke, thanks for joining us. Give us a little introduction on yourself?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> Hello, my name is Heisuke Kitazawa or PCP, and I am illustrator/designer based in Tokyo and Los Angeles.
TAXI >> PCP and Heisuke Kitazawa seem interchangeable and inseparable. What does PCP stand for, by the way?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> To be honest, PCP should not stand for anything, or at least that’s how I wanted it. Since my name, Heisuke Kitazawa is so Japanese, people used to automatically associate it with the whole anime/manga scene, and since I wanted the viewers to look at my drawings with no pre-conception, I decided to use the name PCP, which I thought means nothing. But then, nice people around me began to tell me that, it was the name of a drug, a very strong drug. I heard that you get so high that you won’t even notice if you were shot. Nice.
TAXI >> On your recent summer PCP tour, you went to Seattle for the Seattle/OKOK art show. How were you involved in that particular exhibition? TAXI Design Network was at Seattle for the Icograda Design Week recently too. How do you like Seattle?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> I loved Seattle, I’ve never met that many nice people in just a few days. Only thing I didn’t like about Seattle was the taxi drivers… I didn’t have good experience with them.
I got offered from Charlie and Amanda, owner of OKOK, to do this show about a year ago, and right before I did my show, they were moving to a new, bigger space which they completed right before my show. The new OKOK gallery is so beautiful, it is now one of my favorite galleries.
TAXI >> Do you feel that your work has any Japanese significance in it? It seems to me that it resembles Hans Christian Anderson's illustrations in his books.
Heisuke Kitazawa>> It seems to me that it resembles Hans Christian Anderson's illustrations in his books.
I’m not sure about it myself, but people around me told me that my illustrations have lightened up ever since I moved to Japan about 4 years ago. Maybe because Tokyo is so poppy and colorful that it’s influencing me on an everyday level.
It’s such an honor to hear that my work resembles Hans Christian Anderson, because picture books are something that I want to go into more, and I can’t thank you enough for your kind words.
TAXI >> You design illustrations for several outlets such as books jackets, CD covers and magazines. Which is your favorite project?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> Actually, my favorite project is the one that I am doing with a band called, Her Space Holiday. I was introduced to Marc, who is the main person of Her Space Holiday, and we really connected in many levels, and we’re currently working on a picture book/CD project that should be out by the end of this year. It’s always fun to work with someone you can connect and at same time, can be good rivals to each other to help each other grow.
TAXI >> You produce books too. "Unique picture book[s] made only with collage and sound effects." What are your books about? Why did you choose collage and sound effects medium for your books? Are they good outlets for your work?
Heisuke Kitazawa>>Picture books are something that I was always interested in. When we did that, sound effect book (called, Gion), my wife and I made one picture book a month for a whole year as a limited edition subscription based picture book series. We made 12 books all together with different themes and different techniques for each one, to experiment with different ways to tell a story. That book Gion was very experimental in a way that it didn’t have any words. Also, all the sound effects were wrong in this story, (for example, automobiles might be saying, meow meow) to show that there might be something wrong with the world today.
TAXI >> What are the qualities that matter the most to you in your illustrations?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> Feelings and thoughts.
TAXI >> You have an illustration titled "Christmas Wears Me Out". But Christmas is beautiful! Does it really? Why? Is it the presents and the turkey and the Christmas trees...?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> I agree with you, Christmas is beautiful and fun, but the part that wears me out is the whole hype about getting presents to everyone that you know, start shopping right after Halloween (seems like it starts earlier every year..), return all the presents that you don’t like on 26th… I just want to relax and eat Christmas cakes, but that’s really difficult to do nowadays…
TAXI >> Your pool of credentials is amazing. What has working with so many different types of clients done for your own work and inspirations?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> It made me draw in many different styles. If I didn’t do any client work, I don’t think I would have grown as an illustrator. I am really thankful to all the clients for helping me grow and keep going.
TAXI >> It has been an honour to have Heisuke Kitazawa with us today. Before we end, tell us a place where you want a taxi to bring you to right now?
Heisuke Kitazawa>> Thank you, it was really fun. It’s so hot and humid here in Japan… will you take me to some nice tropical island with coconut trees…?
© 2006 by TAXI Design Network. All rights reserved.