Iseki Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. is a comprehensive specialized manufacturer of agricultural machinery founded in 1926 in Matsuyama, Ehime. Based on the idea of "I want to free farmers from harsh labor" by the founder, Mr. Kunisaburo Iseki, we have been developing products and services related to the production of agricultural products such as tractors and combine harvesters for a long time, and in recent years we have released an automatic operation type robot agricultural machine We are aiming for further contributions to the agricultural field.
In 2018, we adopted UD Kakugo_Large" for Iseki's tractor operation terminal "IMLT®" (ISEKI Machine Link Terminal). This time, we interviewed Mr. Suzuki of Iseki & Co., Ltd., who was actually involved in the selection and adoption of fonts, UD Kakugo_Large" and his future business prospects online.
Yuta Suzuki
Born in Fukui prefecture in 1991. Majored in product design at Shizuoka University of Art and Culture. After graduating from university, he joined Iseki Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. as a new graduate and was assigned to the design department. Currently, he is mainly in charge of product design and UI design for agricultural machinery.
Select "straight and sharp characters" for agricultural machinery used in harsh environments
――First of all, please introduce your company's design department.
Mr. Suzuki: The design department of Iseki & Co., Ltd. is in charge of overall design related to products developed in-house. The work of the design department is mainly done such as character and logo design used for the product, coloring of the product, sketching when thinking about the appearance design, creation of 3D data, and UI design of the operation screen liquid crystal system. I have. There is no particular division of fields, and everyone is working evenly.
In addition, when developing a new product, it is a feature of our design department that several designers are assigned and all the designs are done by those members.
――Please tell us a little more about the handling of characters (fonts) in your design department.
Suzuki: The designer makes it according to the image of the product. For example, select a font with a good atmosphere from the font service "LETS". However, there aren't many fonts for agricultural machinery that don't have to be tampered with, so I'm constantly fine-tuning them to match the image of the product.
――You said, "There aren't many fonts that you don't have to play with the design for agricultural machinery at all", but there are selections and directions of characters (fonts) unique to agricultural machinery that need to be adapted to all weather and situations. Is it?
Mr. Suzuki: Agricultural machinery is a product that is used in harsh environments, so we often adjust the characters to be straight and sharp. The characters themselves should be thickened, three-dimensional, and the decals displayed on the sides should be italic. The characters displayed on the product are completed through processes such as assuming the actual usage environment and inspiring us designers through fieldwork at the agricultural site.
I was also in charge of designing the mini cultivator "My Pet KCR7 Series" most recently, and the font for this product is Eurostile®, which is included in "Monotype LETS". This Eurostile® is a very straight and sharp European font, with a wide variety of weights, and I personally like it very much.
UD Kakugo_Large" that resonated with my sensibility. The comfort that is passed down to farmers
――Now, can you look back on the process of adopting UD Kakugo_Large Kakugo_Large” in “IMLT®”?
Mr. Suzuki: Initially, as a way to use the tractor operation terminal "IMLT®", it was assumed that the screen would be checked for a moment while driving. Therefore, we needed a font that could convey information correctly in an instant. In addition, the need to display as much information as possible on a 7-inch screen has made Universal Design fonts increasingly dominant. Furthermore, I learned that it must be a built-in font in order to display it on the tractor operation terminal, and since it was my first experience to install the built-in font on the tractor operation terminal, I searched for it in various ways, and at that time several companies I consulted with the font maker.
――While consulting with other font makers, what is the reason for choosing us?
Mr. Suzuki: It was great that Fontworks prepared a project license (a license to buy out the product series). The fact that we received a comprehensive proposal for the license for the entire product series, rather than the amount of money per product, was in line with our budget. In addition, the sales staff at that time responded flexibly, and the information on the site was the most complete compared to other font makers, so I was very relieved even in such small details.
――I am glad that you have been close to your request! From here, I would like to talk from the perspective of font design. First of all, did you know the font itself with the concept of Universal Design
Suzuki: I was aware of the existence of universal design (Universal Design For example, we actually used Universal Design fonts from other companies in our printed materials.
Universal Design fonts from other font makers, what is the reason for UD Kakugo_Large
Mr. Suzuki: The resolution of the display (of the tractor operation terminal) is actually not that high precision. While the characters are often rough on the display, I felt that it was good to see UD Kakugo_Large You can display more information on the display because you can read the characters well. The final deciding factor was the company's reputation for being "easy to understand and cool," while giving the impression of a modern appearance with wide areas and beautiful curves.
――In addition to the high "readability", "visibility", and "discrimination" that are the basic features of Universal Design UD Kakugo_Large" has "aesthetics" that is our unique perspective. You have captured the essence wonderfully!
Suzuki: When I borrowed fonts from several font makers and displayed them on a display for verification, UD Kakugo_Large" and said "This is good!" (Laughs). It resonated with my sensibility. Since the font itself is comfortable and familiar, I feel that the comfort is conveyed to the customers.
I want to support the rapidly changing world of agriculture with a "bold and long-lasting design"!
――Your company will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2025, but I hear that the world of agriculture has undergone a particularly significant transformation recently. What is happening in the agricultural world right now?
Suzuki: As a premise, customers are changing first. In Japan, the aging of agricultural workers is accelerating. Against this background, the trend is to consolidate and increase the scale of agricultural land, and many young people and corporations, who are said to be the leading farmers in the process, are also entering the market.
Looking at the technical side, is it the efficiency and labor saving of work due to the decrease in the agricultural working population? Specifically, in large-scale management, smart agriculture utilizing AI and data is becoming popular. For example, instead of looking around, the drone is flown, AI judges the growth condition of rice from the color of the captured image, and adjusts water and fertilizer, and the decisive factor of the taste of rice from the image of artificial satellite. A method of grasping a certain protein content and determining the optimum harvest time is becoming popular. I feel that the farming method itself has changed significantly.
-- So that's it. By the way, please tell us about your latest efforts in this area.
Suzuki: We sell "variable rice transplanters". It is becoming more common to plant rice while sprinkling fertilizer, but the "variable fertilizer rice transplanter" uses real-time sensing technology to check the fertility of the soil and plant rice while optimizing where and how much fertilizer is sprinkled. I will. By doing so, the rice will not fall down and the quality of the rice will be stable and delicious.
――Thank you for your teaching. Lastly, please tell us about Mr. Suzuki's "pride" as a designer of your company who continues to run as a front runner in the industry, adapting to changes in the environment surrounding agriculture!
Mr. Suzuki: Many customers have been using agricultural machinery for decades, so I always keep in mind a "bold and long-lasting design." In the world of agricultural machinery, new functions and operations are coming out one after another, but especially in UI design, we continue to make things that are straightforward in terms of appearance and operation, and that are really easy to use. I want to. I would like to continue to work closely with agricultural and farmer customers to create products that will expand their future.
This time, as we proceeded with the interview, we asked Mr. Suzuki about the "origin" of becoming a product designer.
As an original experience, there was a rice field in Fukui's parents' house, and he had a chance to touch farm equipment. When Mr. Suzuki was a child, he remembered that his grandfather, who was involved in agriculture, was "somehow excited" when he was planting rice and touched the rice transplanter.
A boy who liked to draw manga when he was a child became interested in designing industrial products when he was a high school student, and majored in product design at Shizuoka University. In job hunting, I was able to hear a very interesting story that I continued my activities focusing on agricultural machinery manufacturers and joined Iseki Agricultural Machinery.
"No one was close to me and went to an agricultural machinery manufacturer, and I wanted to try something new in the absence of anyone," (Mr. Suzuki).
Following his own feelings, Mr. Suzuki decided to take on the challenge of a company in Shikoku that he had never visited before he got a job. Contrary to its laid-back atmosphere, I was reminded that I am a product designer with a solid core.
"With new tools, we can provide the value of making our lives more convenient and enriching. We want to play an active role in creating new products and making them easy to use and attractive. I sincerely hope that our fonts centered on UD Kakugo_Large" will continue to be close to Mr. Suzuki.
Date of coverage: April 8, 2021
Iseki Co., Ltd.
Since its founding in 1926, it has contributed to the modernization of agriculture as a comprehensive manufacturer of agricultural machinery. We have consistently pursued the efficiency and labor saving of agriculture, and in the process, we have developed a number of agricultural machines ahead of others and supplied them to the market. Always thinking about the world's population growth and food problems, as well as today's food self-sufficiency and land conservation issues, we continue to work today to fulfill the social mission of agricultural machinery manufacturers.
https://www.iseki.co.jp/
