Bridging ideas, people, and futures through design and research.

Hikaru Mugita is a Japanese designer and researcher specializing in communication design, whose practice explores new relationships between people, and between people and their environments, through artistic expression.

For Mugita, making art is an act of visualizing questions of communication that cannot be fully captured by words or theory. His works translate these inquiries into sensory experiences that invite reflection. Even when producing design probes as part of his research, he employs hands-on practice as a means of reframing his own thinking, while creating spaces that prompt audiences to generate new interpretations and insights.

At the core of his inquiry lies the question: "How are relationships between people, and between people and environments, formed, and how might they change?" His works are often grounded in personal concerns and traumas surrounding human relationships, exploring themes of solitude and connection, vulnerability and resilience, and the fragile balance between the individual and the collective.

Mugita's projects and artistic expressions draw on literary texts, philosophical concepts, and structures from the natural sciences, weaving together multiple perspectives. His use of universal motifs such as geometry and abstract forms reflects this approach, while also resonating with the traditions of Zen and the Way of Tea in Japan-his cultural roots. These minimal forms open a space for cross-cultural interpretation, allowing audiences to bring their own thoughts and experiences into the work. His practice spans diverse media, from drawing and printing to sculpture, digital art, and moving image.

Through his work, Mugita seeks to offer moments in which viewers and participants may reconsider their own relationships-with others and with their surroundings. For him, an artwork is not a fixed answer, but rather a catalyst: a point of departure from which audiences can project their own memories and emotions, and weave new meanings.

In this way, his practice both inherits and redefines the tradition of abstraction. By embedding research into abstraction, Mugita positions it as a "site of meaning-making"-a space where reflection and dialogue can unfold. In the context of a contemporary society marked by fragmentation and isolation, his work aspires to provide opportunities for rethinking how we connect and converse with one another.

• 2025
• "MRes RCA 2025 Research Journeys," Royal College of Art, London, UK (Group)

• 2017
• "unframe 005," The Fleming House, Tokyo, Japan (Group)

• 2015
• "unframe 003," Ikejiri Institute of Design, Tokyo, Japan (Group)

• 2014
• "unframe 002," Panof N Studio, Tokyo, Japan (Group)

• 2013
• "unframe 001," Panof E Studio, Tokyo, Japan (Group)

• 2025
• "Future Connectivity: Probing Kensington Campus for Future Interactions," Royal College of Art, London, UK (Workshop)
• "Learning from London 2025," THE GUILD, Tokyo, Japan (Lecture)
• "Fruit of the Ooof," Royal College of Art, London, UK (Workshop)
• Graduate Interview, Workshop Designer Development Program, Aoyama Gakuin University (Interview)

• 2024
• "Short Pitch Conference," WSD 41st Cohort, Tokyo, Japan (Lecture)
• "Fruit of the Oops," Royal College of Art, London, UK (Workshop)
• "Future Products Trading Company," Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan (Workshop)
• "Chapon," Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan (Workshop)

• The 60th ACC Tokyo Creativity Awards
• Branded Communication Division, Category A (Digital Experience) - Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award / Grand Prix
• Branded Communication Division, Category B (Promotion / Activation) - Silver
• Marketing Effectiveness Division - Gold
• Design Division - Bronze

• The 69th Nikkei Advertising Awards
• 12th Nikkei Veritas Advertising Award - Grand Prize

• 2024-Present
• Master of Research (MRes) in Communication, Academic Development Office, Royal College of Art, London, UK

• 2024
• Program Certified Workshop Designer, School of Social Informaticss, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan

• 2008
• Bachelor of Arts (BA), School of Bionics, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan