Rika Eguchi, the artistic director of Dentsu Group, came to Taiwan for the first time and was invited to be the speaker of the international lecture of “2022 Kaohsiung Reading Festival”. She have her lecture on Oct. 8 at the Ji Hui Auditorium of Kaohsiung Public Library to share her creative life and design experience, and talked about how to turn her “interests” into "reality".

"With beautiful design and packaging, the worth of a book does not lie in the content, but in the collection value that heals hearts. Rika Eguchi, the artistic director of Dentsu Group, has made her first foray into the world of picture books, combining her expertise in popular design to create an unprecedented picture book with a shape of bread which retains the thickness of real toast. Since the opening of the 2022 Kaohsiung Reading Festival, the themes of local culture and international perspective have co-existed. International speakers have been invited to Kaohsiung to share their experience in person, and the Taiwan Design Expo is now taking place in Kaohsiung, which makes the event more meaningful with multiple benefits,” said Wang Wencui, Director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government.

Lee Chin-Ming , Chair of the Department of Fine Arts of National Kaohsiung Normal University attended the event to support the lecture on “design”. He stated that “2022 Kaohsiung Reading Festival boasts international lectures with art, creativity and design as the core. With the reopening of the border around the corner, connecting the local to international forces would be particularly valuable in terms of the exchange of arts.

Rika Eguchi shared how she entered the design field. In college, she studied glass craft. In her sophomore year, she designed a small dish that used glass to simulate the shape of a fried egg, and the fried egg was then turned into a variety of other glass items. She even held an exhibition of glass eggs at her school. Later, she took her work to the competition and won various major awards. Her experience in the competition inspired her passion for design and she began to envision a design-related career. After graduation, her glass egg works became her ticket to Dentsu, allowing her to continue working in advertising design while pursuing her passion for art design. Rika Eguchi said, "The glass egg works have had a profound influence on my life. Without them, I wouldn't even have gotten into Dentsu.”

Rika Eguchi's creative advertising works can be found on the streets of Tokyo, subway stations and many products consumed by young people in Japan, which makes us wonder what inspired her. According to her, if creativity cannot be turned into reality, ideas are just ideas. Rika Eguchi also shared with the audience that people have to have a child's heart. Wild imagination or something boring and childish often turns out to be a very good idea.

“King of Bread" was released in Taiwan in June this year, according to Hsinex International Corp, which has obtained the authorization to publish the Chinese version of "King of Bread". Books.com.tw offered the book for pre-order in an online bookstore for two days, and it was ranked in the top 10 new children's books/young adult literature books, and the first print was sold out in 20 days. This time, the author was invited to Taiwan by Kaohsiung Public Library. It was a rare opportunity for us to listen to her sharing her creative process in person while the border was not yet opened. The publisher also asked Eguchi to sign the coaster set, which was limited to 100 sets in Taiwan. The publisher was very pleased to see the “Kaohsiung Reading Festival” planned by the Kaohsiung City Government, which supported the publication internally and connected to the outside world to make the book industry continue to prosper. Hsinex International Corp also prepared more than 400 copies of “King of Bread” for sale on site, and managed to attract more readers to fall in love with the warmth of books through publishing books and international lectures organized by libraries.  

Rika Eguchi, the artistic director of Dentsu Group, came to Taiwan for the first time and was invited to be the speaker of the international lecture of “2022 Kaohsiung Reading Festival” to share her design ideas. 

Rika Eguchi, the artistic director of Dentsu Group, came to Taiwan for the first time and was invited to be the speaker of the international lecture of “2022 Kaohsiung Reading Festival” to share her design ideas. 

Rika Eguchi, the artistic director of Dentsu Group, came to Taiwan for the first time and was invited to be the speaker of the international lecture of “2022 Kaohsiung Reading Festival” to share her design ideas. 

Rika Eguchi's “King of Bread" was released in Taiwan in June this year.