Building skills at a vocational training school to become the designer she dreamed of

Tell us about your career so far and your current position.

I have loved designing and making things since I was a student, and right after graduating from a fashion vocational school I joined an apparel company in Tokyo.
At that company I got to do the design and creative work I love, so it was very rewarding and every day was fun.
However, about two years after joining, the brand I was in charge of changed, and I was transferred to the product planning department at headquarters.
Around that time I had started thinking, "I want to try design work outside the apparel industry," so I took the plunge and decided to resign.
After leaving, I spent about five months at a vocational training school learning web skills so I could work in the web industry I had always admired, and then joined SSS.
I now focus mainly on web design, front-end site construction, design creation, landing pages, and WordPress development.

Delivering designs clients love, with "the client's request plus something extra"

What do you keep in mind when designing?

I try to make each design better by proposing "something extra" on top of what the client asks for.
To be able to do that, I study every day, for example by tracing the designs of appealing websites.
Making good use of both working hours and my own time to look at many different site designs expands my repertoire for "design, which has no single right answer," so I value that habit.

What is the most rewarding part of being a designer at SSS?

The most rewarding part is that I get to do all kinds of design.
In the web design industry, many companies have you handle only one thing, say banners if you are on banners, but at SSS you can be involved in a wide range of design genres.
For someone who loves design as much as I do, being able to work on so many different designs at SSS is a real joy.

Designs that can only be created through open, honest relationships

What do you find appealing about actually working here?

There are truly many things, but the biggest is an environment where I can casually ask about anything I do not understand.
This was also one of the reasons I chose SSS: it is a homelike environment where people are close to one another, and even the relationship between the president and employees feels like family, so it is very comfortable.
This is a story from a senior colleague, but there was even a case where they shared their opinion on something unrelated to their work, such as benefits, and it was adopted.
Being able to freely share your opinions and ask questions is, I think, SSS's greatest appeal.