Commerce Media has several teams composed of members with specialized knowledge to revitalize corporate activities. Currently (as of September 2025), the PR Team, Design Team, AI and Skill Improvement Promotion Team, SNS Team, Analytics Team, and Web Advertising Team are all active.
This time, we will introduce the "Design Workshop for Non-Designers" organized by the Design Team.
What is the "Design Workshop for Non-Designers"?
This workshop, led by Commerce Media's diverse designers, aims to clearly convey the principles behind creating effective documents and banners, moving beyond the idea that "design is just about aesthetics." The goal of the workshop is for those requesting design work and those executing it to have a common, objective framework for evaluation, enabling smoother and more effective communication in design.
The "Design Workshop for Non-Designers" was held for all departments with the following content:
- June 12, 2025: 1st Session - Layout (45 participants)
- July 17, 2025: 2nd Session - Text and Fonts (35 participants)
- August 14, 2025: 3rd Session - Color Schemes (37 participants)
1st Session: Layout
The memorable first session, "Layout," was a great success, with 45 members participating. Design team members served as instructors, explaining everything from basic design principles to immediately applicable techniques, using a wealth of examples.
Design is "Engineering an Experience"
The workshop began with a fundamental question: "What is design?" It explained that design encompasses not only product packaging and advertising, but also the usability of services (UX design) and the shapes of products (product design) that we don't usually consciously notice. It emphasized that design is not merely about decorating appearances, but about considering "what to convey and what action you want people to take," and engineering a comfortable experience for the user. This perspective is a fundamental concept applicable to all work.
Before appearance, confirm the "purpose."
Next, before delving into specific layout discussions, the importance of "design thinking" was discussed. Good design, even before aesthetic beauty, has a clear purpose: "Who is it for?", "Where is it seen?", and "What action do we want them to take?"
For example, even for the same product, the layout and information to be conveyed will be completely different between a social media ad and an e-commerce site banner. Social media ads require impact to stop users from scrolling, while e-commerce sites require information design that accurately conveys product appeal and benefits to encourage purchases. Thus, constantly thinking from the "user's perspective" and clarifying the purpose is the first step toward effective design.
The Foundation of Everything! The 4 Principles of Design
Next, the four fundamental principles of design were introduced.
- Proximity: Grouping related information together. Alignment: Aligning elements along invisible lines to create order and unity throughout.
- Contrast: Emphasizing what you want to convey most to visually indicate information hierarchy.
- Repetition: Repeatedly using the same design elements to create clarity and trustworthiness.
These principles are universal concepts applicable to document creation and email composition, and many participating members responded with "I see!"
Guiding the eye and mastering whitespace
Furthermore, techniques for "eye-tracking guidance," which involves arranging information while considering how people's eyes move (Z-pattern, F-pattern, etc.), and the effective use of "whitespace" were explained.
Whitespace is not just empty space. It plays a significant role in clarifying groups of information, highlighting specific elements, and conveying a sense of luxury or sophistication. By creating "メリハリ" (contrast or balance) through variations in font size, color, and photo combinations, recipients can understand information in the intended order without stress.
A. View the correct answer to the quiz (click to reveal the answer)
The correct answer is "A". The difference is "whitespace". In A, the whitespace is narrow, making it cramped and difficult to read. In B, sufficient whitespace makes it easy to read and understand.
One photo can change the impression.
At the end of the workshop, tips for selecting "photos" that significantly influence design quality and "cropping" techniques to maximize their effect were introduced. While choosing photos that match the content you want to convey is important, the impression received by the audience can significantly change depending on what you crop out (trim). It was shared that a single photo can express various intentions, such as creating space in the direction of the subject's gaze to suggest future or hope, or boldly cropping to create impact.
A. View the correct answer to the quiz (click to reveal the answer)
The correct answer is "A". Utilizing space focuses on "atmosphere and environment," while zooming in on the subject focuses on the "main character."
Participant Feedback
In the post-workshop survey, many enthusiastic comments were received from participating members.
- "The section on the four major principles was very helpful as a reminder of what non-designers should primarily be aware of. Knowing these fundamental reasons made me realize that design isn't just about talent, but something that can be reproduced."
- "The point about creating space in the direction of a person's gaze through photo cropping to evoke a sense of the future was a real 'aha!' moment for me."
- "I learned a lot about the concept of 'weight' in design balance and the technique of intentionally handling images."
The first session on layout was an opportunity to deeply understand that design is not an intuitive process, but rather a "design" based on clear intentions and principles. Participants gave positive feedback such as "I want to immediately apply this to creating future proposal documents" and "I feel like I can communicate my design requests more clearly to designers," indicating that the workshop was a great learning experience.
2nd Session: Text and Fonts
The second session that followed was "Text and Fonts." The design team's passion for this workshop was so strong that the slides totaled 85 pages! Again, many members participated and explored the profound world of text and fonts.
The core of design is "priority."
In the previous survey, the most requested topic was "how to set priorities." So, this time, we started with a workshop on prioritizing.
Design is about planning "who, where, and what action you want them to take." If the purpose changes, the priority of information naturally changes. What is the most important thing to convey? To achieve that, which information should be displayed prominently, and which should be handled with less emphasis? Reconfirming the importance of this "information hierarchy" is the first step toward effective design.
Get to know typefaces, and get friendly with text.
In the workshop, the characteristics of representative typefaces, "Mincho" and "Gothic," and "classic fonts" that are staples in design, were introduced.
By the way, do you know the origin of the name "Noto font" provided by Google? It's an abbreviation for "No more tofu," reflecting the desire to eliminate the square symbols (colloquially known as "tofu") that appear when text is garbled. We deepened our understanding of fonts, incorporating such trivia.
"Accessibility" to reach all users
Design needs to be considerate not only of some people, but of all people receiving information. In the workshop, we delved deeply into the importance of text size appropriate for the medium and the reader's age, from the perspective of website accessibility and universal design.
Why that size? By designing with evidence, we can deliver information more reliably to a wider audience.
Slight adjustments can greatly affect the overall impression.
The quality of design is significantly influenced by attention to detail that may seem imperceptible at first glance. We also introduced advanced techniques that make a difference when creating banners and documents.
- Kerning: The technique of adjusting the subtle spacing between characters to achieve both readability and beauty.
- Text aspect ratio: The principle is not to distort text so as not to impair readability.
- Baseline: An adjustment that unifies the entire text by aligning the bottom lines of characters when Japanese and English text are mixed.
The accumulation of such details significantly elevates the overall quality of the design.
A. View the correct answer to the quiz (click to reveal the answer)
The correct answer is "1, 2, and 3, all of them." And... that's not all that changed.
- The ratio of the extended bar in "ビール" (beer)
- Letter-spacing of the title, especially "ト" (to)
- Letter-spacing of "10倍" (10 times)
- Letter-spacing of the day of the week
- Baseline shift of the colon
- Letter-spacing of the time → Aligned the visual appearance of the top and bottom dates and times
- Aligned the visual appearance of the font size for the contact information and phone number
- Baseline shift of the hyphen
Participant Feedback
In the post-workshop survey, many participating members provided comments.
- "I used to use text fonts without much thought, so it was enlightening to learn about their characteristics and how to use them effectively."
- "I had never really considered that Gothic fonts have high readability before."
- "Adjusting spacing between characters and using different fonts for Japanese and English – I learned that such precise adjustments are made, which was surprising!"
Many participants commented that by understanding the role of fonts and the criteria for choosing them, they gained a decision-making framework that goes beyond "just a hunch."
3rd Session: Color Schemes
This was the final installment of the three-part "Design Workshop for Non-Designers." Following the first session on "Layout" and the second on "Text and Fonts," the concluding theme for the design fundamentals was "Color Schemes." Participants learned that color is a crucial element that not only affects visual impressions but can also influence people's emotions and actions.
Why that color? "Evidence-based color selection" is fundamental to design.
The workshop began with an explanation of the basic units of color, the "three attributes of color (hue, lightness, saturation)." The most important message emphasized was, "It's important to choose colors with evidence, being able to explain why that particular color was chosen."
That evidence is derived from various perspectives, such as:
- Target audience: Who do you want to reach? (Gender, age, etc.)
- Concept: What is the worldview of the product or service?
- Psychological effects: What are the psychological and cultural influences of the color?
- Competitors: Is differentiation from competitors achieved?
By having such clear intentions instead of intuitively choosing colors, the persuasiveness of the design significantly improves.
Eye-catching colors, easy-to-find colors.
When working with colors, it's important to consider "inducibility," which attracts people's attention, and "visibility," which makes information easier to find. For example, red and yellow, which have high inducibility, are used for warning signs. On the other hand, established color scheme rules that many people recognize, such as "exit signs are green," enhance "visibility" in emergencies.
Furthermore, accessibility considerations tailored to the target audience are a crucial aspect of design. For instance, older adults may find it difficult to perceive differences in color brightness (luminance contrast), so a high contrast between text and background is necessary. Similarly, for infants whose color perception is still developing, using highly saturated colors that are easy to recognize is recommended.
Harnessing trends and seasonality
The workshop also introduced examples of how famous brands utilize trend colors. Incidentally, PANTONE's Color of the Year for 2025 is "Mocha Mousse." This calming and warm color is trending in 2025.
By incorporating such trends and "seasonal feelings"—like pale tones reminiscent of cherry blossoms in spring or deep tones like autumn leaves—into color schemes, messages can be delivered even more effectively.
Participant Feedback
In the post-workshop survey, the following comments were received:
- "I reaffirmed that it's important to use colors that match the purpose, and that you shouldn't just pick them at random."
- "The point about how the impression changes with color saturation and contrast, and how slightly shifting the hue helps colors blend instead of clashing when using complementary colors, was very helpful."
- "I didn't know there were free tools to help with color schemes, so I'm excited to try them out right away."
Design is not "just a hunch"—it's a blueprint for communication.
Throughout the three-part workshop, it was widely shared among participants that design is not mere decoration, but rather communication engineering aimed at achieving the goal of "conveying a message." By understanding the respective roles and principles of layout, text/fonts, and colors, non-designers can communicate more effectively with designers using a common language.
And the strength of Commerce Media lies precisely in this culture of sharing and learning across job functions, rather than keeping specialized knowledge confined to a few teams. We hope that as all members deepen their understanding of design, it will become a driving force for improving the quality of our proposals and creating new value.
We will continue to report on future "Design Workshops" as they occur!
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