Images have never been easier to create, yet truly original perspectives have never felt more difficult to find.
For dentsu Japan Executive Creative Director Yoshihiro Yagi, that tension sits at the center of modern art direction. In a creative landscape shaped by AI, automation, speed, and endless visual repetition, Yagi believes craft is no longer simply about refinement or aesthetics. It is about judgment, restraint, and the discipline to create work that quietly alters how people see the world around them. The most powerful art direction, he says, does not end at visual impact. It changes perception, culture, and memory.
Speaking with adobo Magazine Founder, President, and Editor-in-Chief Angel Guerrero at the 2026 D&AD Awards in London, the 2026 Art Direction Jury President reflects on why craft remains one of the industry’s most urgent creative disciplines.
As one of Japan’s most awarded creatives with more than 500 international honors, Yagi’s body of work consistently transforms business into cultural storytelling — from “Pocky THE GIFT” to JR East’s “Get Back, Tohoku,” and most recently, the Black Pencil-winning “My Japan Railway” campaign. Across the conversation, he explores the quiet strength of Japanese aesthetics, the dangers of convenience in the AI era, and why enduring creativity still depends on deeply human ways of seeing.
adobo Magazine: What kind of art direction work feels truly Pencil-worthy to you — work that not only demonstrates exceptional craft, but also shifts visual culture and changes how the industry sees creativity?
Yagi: A Pencil-worthy work is not only work with a high level of completion — it is work that offers a new standard to culture. Experimental craft is essential: composition, color, typography, the tone of the film, the precision of every detail. All of these things need to be integrated at a very high level, but that alone is not enough. Truly powerful art direction does not just make you feel, at first sight, “This is new.” It slightly changes the way people see things afterwards. It changes how we see a brand. It changes how we see a category. Sometimes, it even changes how a subject is spoken about in society. In a sense, art direction is not decoration — it is the design of a point of view.
adobo: With AI, automation, and endless digital references now shaping visual culture, how can art directors avoid creating work that feels derivative — and continue developing a truly original point of view?
Yagi: Yes, AI can create images, but it cannot create a point of view. So what matters is not only collecting references, but questioning them. The foundation of design is observation, and to truly observe is not simply to look — it is to look without immediately turning what you see into a pattern. Is this expression really necessary? Is it becoming a copy of someone else’s memory? Am I choosing this style because it belongs to the brand and the context, or simply because it feels current? Continuing to ask those questions is what leads to originality. I do not think original means suddenly creating something no one has ever seen before. I think originality is finding meaning that no one had noticed yet inside something everyone has already been looking at.
adobo: In today’s fast content economy, where speed and volume are often valued more than refinement, is the industry slowly losing its respect for craft in art direction?
Yagi: I think we are losing a little of that respect, but that is exactly why craft is becoming even more important. Making something quickly and making something carelessly are not the same thing. Craft is not simply about spending more time — it is the ability to judge what to keep and what to remove. In an age where huge amounts of visual content flow past us every day, the things that remain in people’s memory always have depth and precision: space, rhythm, the relationship with words, the emotional temperature. Work that has these elements precisely designed is the work that does not simply get consumed and disappear. For me, craft is a form of respect for the viewer.
adobo: Your work, including the Japan Railway campaigns, is known for restraint, clarity, and emotional precision. What personal discipline or creative philosophy helped shape your approach to craft and art direction over the years?
Yagi: I try to get as close as possible to what I would call an honest form — not editing too much in order to make something feel stronger, not explaining too much, not trying too hard to move people emotionally. How much should be said? Where should we stay silent? At what distance should we stand? What should we hand over to the viewer? I am always thinking about that precision. For me, art direction is not about arranging the appearance of something — it is about designing the place where emotion can land. In the Japan Railway work, in particular, it was important to see railways not only as a means of transportation, but as something connected to people’s memories and emotions of travel. So it had to feel modern, but still human — functional, but still able to touch memory. I think that balance requires craft.
adobo: Japanese aesthetics often value simplicity, silence, balance, and restraint. How do you see those values influencing — or contrasting with — today’s global visual culture?
Yagi: Today’s visual culture often tends to be strong, fast, and very explanatory. Within that, I think space, silence, and restraint have another kind of strength. The value of Japanese aesthetics is not simply that it is the opposite of loudness. It is a kind of wisdom for an age of too much information — a way of thinking about what not to show and what to let people feel. For example, emptiness or space may seem as if there is nothing there, but precisely because it is empty, people can enter into it. They can place their own memories and emotions inside it, and that creates a kind of gravity. I think that is another form of strength.
adobo: What do you think are the biggest threats facing the craft of art direction today?
Yagi: I think the biggest threat is that convenience can weaken our judgment. AI and digital tools are extremely powerful, but at the same time, they make it very easy to create something that looks convincing. It looks well-composed, it looks beautiful, it looks contemporary — but is it really right? Is it really necessary? The ability to judge is something different. The essence of art direction is choosing, and also choosing what not to choose. I think art direction is a continuous series of those decisions. So the threat is not AI itself. The real threat is that we may stop judging with our own eyes.
adobo: For young art directors currently entering the industry, what skills, habits, or ways of seeing are most important to develop if they want to create work with lasting value?
Yagi: The most important thing is to train your own eyes. Of course, it is important to look at many things, but simply scrolling through images does not train your eyes. You have to put into words why you were drawn to something, why you felt comfort, why something stayed with you. Reading habits are important, and also using your hands. There are things you can only see by making. Small shifts, small discomforts, small discoveries — these eventually become the difference in the final expression. It is necessary to understand trends, but more than that, I want young art directors to think about why something can last. What stands out today and what will still have meaning 10 years from now are not always the same thing. I think the attitude of trying to see that difference is very important.
adobo: D&AD’s theme asks, “Is Creativity Dead or Alive?” Looking at the Art Direction category this year, what is your answer — and why?
Yagi: I think there are two answers. One answer is: alive. Looking at art direction this year, I felt that the field of expression has expanded even further. Art direction is no longer only about shaping the appearance of something — it now creates experiences, actions, brand attitudes, and relationships with culture. In that sense, creativity is certainly alive, but it is not alive in an easy way.
The other answer is: of course, dead. In Japan, there is an idea called rinne tensei (輪廻転生). It means rebirth — the idea that something dies once and is born again in another form. Old formats die, old aesthetics die, and they are reborn in another form. If creativity is something that continues to be reborn, then I am willing to let it die once, because perhaps the cycle of death and rebirth is exactly what creativity is.
adobo: What are two standout works from the Art Direction category that you resonated with?
Yagi: The first one is “Periodic Fable.” It asks what has been sold to us as beauty. Using the form of a scientific periodic table, the work reveals how many beauty claims are not really grounded in science. For The Ordinary, a brand built on honesty, transparency, and a no-bullshit attitude, the campaign exposes the uncomfortable realities of the beauty industry through a strange yet sophisticated combination of film, minimal design, and outdoor work. The visual language remains completely consistent with the brand identity, making the message clear without explicitly saying it. The work questions a system that sells beauty while claiming to educate audiences, and the art direction powerfully brings that tension to life.
The second one is “Your Way Out” by Coinbase. It asks what kind of system we are trying to escape from. The campaign uses an old gaming interface to express the limited choices and restrictive systems people live within today. The work was created through live action, using real sets and real people, which became a very intentional creative decision. By having a real person undergo the transformation, the idea gains more emotional weight in today’s digital and AI-driven world. The brand gives audiences the opportunity to realize that another choice exists beyond the current system, and the art direction brings that feeling to life.
adobo Magazine is an official media partner of the 2026 D&AD Awards.
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