creators
for

Delivering immersive experience inwhich creators can draw freely​

Wacom team members strive day in day out to provide creative professionals
with exceptional digital pen experiences via the company’s solutions
such as the Wacom® Cintiq® Pro 27 and other products.​

22

23

MATERIALITY 1

1. Naoya NISHIZAWA
Director of Design
Technology & Experience

Nishizawa joined Wacom in 2012, where
he has primarily worked as a designer for
consumer products such as styli, smart pads,
and pen tablets. As part of the Wacom Cintiq
Pro 27 ETC Team, he served for a productand package design.

2. Hiroaki Shiokawa
ManagerEnterprise and Design Education Group
Creative Business Unit

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4
1

5

Shiokawa started out his job at Wacom in B2C
sales activities with retail stores in 2007. After
getting involved with solution sales activities,
he moved to the current group where heengages in B2B sales activities while working
as a member of the ETC team. He directlylistens to feedback from customers anddelivers it within the company.

3. Bunta Tauchi
ExpertTechnology & Experience

Tauchi joined Wacom in 2018, starting in ateam developing circuitry for pen displays. He
brought both an engineer’s perspective and auser’s perspective to the ETC Team. He is also
creating artwork for events, including thoseorganized by Wacom.

Technology innovation and new creative experiences

MATERIALITY 4

The growth-conducive environment we provide our human capital

A new approachto product development

consumers have shifted their focus
on the "experiences that can only beobtained through those products.” No

The product development process

longer can they satisfy their customers

that Wacom has adopted in recent

simply by adding more features to ouryears is led by a task force composedof team members from departments

products. The fact that customers
have shifted to seeking “specific

all across the company. They areexperiences" through "material

known as the Extended Core Team, or

possessions" has fundamentally

the ETC Team for short. Each member

transformed the process of productbrings with them knowledge anddevelopment. Establishing the ETC

experience accumulated from working

Team process was a necessary

in various specialized fields; the task
force’s mission is to incorporate theirinitiative for meeting the needs of thetimes.

combined knowledge and experience
into the development of a single
product. Members continue working
in their respective departments while
participating in the ETC Team project.
Not all product developments require
this kind of framework, but ETC
Teams are spearheading an increasing
share of Wacom projects every year.
Wacom established the ETC
Team process to better alignthemselves with the latest trends
in product developments. While
products are rapidly commoditized,

Developing the best
Wacom product to date
On Oct. 12, 2022, Wacom
launched the Wacom Cintiq Pro 27
pen displays. This new flagship model
was developed by an ETC Team.
Development began in December
2019, just before the world wasstruck by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wacom President and CEO Nobutaka
Ide (Nobu) announced that an ETC
Team would be developing this

4. Tatsunori Kato
Senior Manager
Software Engineering

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Kato joined Wacom in 2017. He develops
firmware for pen tablets while working as amember of the ETC team. Drawing on previous
experience in developing entertainment robots
and embedded OS for devices, he has been
constantly researching for the best methods
and systems to support creative activities.

5. Kentaro Matsumoto
Technical Support Senior Specialist
JPAP Customer Engagement

crosstalkMatsumoto joined Wacom in 2013. He was
first involved in sales activities for enterprises
and retail stores. Currently, he works at the
Wacom Call Center and joins the ETC team.
Serving as a relay point both internally andexternally, he plays the role of collecting awide range of feedback from customers, so
the company can reflect it in its products.

How the ETC Team demonstrated

a new approach to product development
Innovation requires bringing together minds that are often working apart from eachother. This is the idea behind the ETC Team, a new systematic approach to idea
generation that Wacom is implementing. The development of the Wacom Cintiq Pro
27 serves as a good model for how this approach has transformed the company.

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The Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 is a flagship pen
display that offers breakthrough performancefor inspired creativity. It features a refined
design that incorporates feedback from
Wacom’s diverse professional user base,as well as an intuitive interface that allows
one’s creativity to flow freely. Together, thesefeatures provide an environment in which it iseasy to immerse in your work.

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development also helped the task
force members view the process withclear eyes. They were able to consider
even the most minute aspects without

into technical jargon. If such a practicebeing bound to practice or precedentcompany, product development atand back up their opinions with

Wacom could evolve by bounds.
Already, user-based trial events have

objective evidence so anyone—expert
or not—could be able to understandtheir rationale. This approach helped
refine the product to a point where “wecould all explain every feature of thecompleted Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 inprecise detail,” says Shiokawa.
Giving shape to an idea requires a

new product so they could provide
creators and artists with the best
digital pen experience in the world.
In other words: to properly reflect thevaluable feedback of Wacom users
in their products, Wacom needed tocompletely change the way they used
to do things.
Known at the time only by its
codename, the Wacom Cintiq Pro
27 project began with the assemblyof a task force composed of fiveteam members best suited for thetask who were coincidentally fromfive different Wacom departments. It
was a diverse team in which no two
members had the same professional
background. This ETC Team was
led by Bunta Tauchi, a Wacom userfrom even before joining the company
who still uses Wacom products in his
creative endeavors. His reason forjoining the task force was simple: as acreative type, there was nothing more
he wanted to do than help create
Wacom’s best product yet.
Product design was handled by
Naoya Nishizawa. He still remembers
what Ide told him at the start of the
project: “You have nothing to lose.”That was when he realized this project
would demand much more than theusual development process.
Another task force member was
Hiroaki Shiokawa, who handles
corporate clients at the Creative
Business Unit. “By getting involved
from the start, I was able to describe
the qualities this product would requirein plain words instead of rattling out
features and specifications,” he says.
“That’s a unique strength you develop
when you’re out there talking toclients every day about the productitself instead of about what individual
creators or artists can do with it.”

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Kentaro Matsumoto, who receives
user feedback on a daily basis asa member of the technical support
team, also provided valuable insightto the project. He is known to takeinitiative—he once compiled user
feedback and their issues into areport that he submitted directly to
Ide himself, even when he wasn’t
specifically asked to do so. “Joining
the ETC Team was a chance for me
to learn something new,” he says.
“Deepening my knowledge of Wacom
technology can only help in myeveryday work.”
Finally, there was Tatsunori Kato,
who joined the task force in the
middle of the project to fill a position
that required software expertise. The
first thing he did was to look throughthe minutes of every discussion theteam had held to date. “I wanted toknow what this project meant to eachmember and where they were coming
from,” he says. “That gave me insight
into the kinds of things I often don’t
get to see in my regular work.”

Evidence to backevery choice“In the past, I felt that cooperation
wasn’t very smooth between theplanning departments, which
decide on new product concepts,
and the design and development
departments,” says Tauchi. “As aresult, it was difficult to translate userand development team feedback into
product features and their benefits—
something that should be done ona continuous basis.” Often, features
were incorporated into a productsimply because they were trendy,
irrespective of whether they met userneeds.
For the Wacom Cintiq Pro
27, product planning involved athorough attempt to understand theuser’s perspective. The work force
repeatedly discussed what it was that
their users were really seeking in theirproducts. Wacom products are soldaround the world, which means thesame product is used in a variety ofplaces by a variety of people. Thiscan make it difficult to know exactly
who the product is intended for. To
allay their doubts, the ETC Team
formed a clear goal: they would
each approach the project with a
specific user in mind—someone theyknow—and create a product thatwould make that user happy. Afterall, nobody wants a product that is
made for everyone. Working under
this common goal “helped us createa really unconventional product,”says Nishizawa. The accompanying
Wacom Pro Pen 3—a digital pen
with customizable grip thickness,weight, and center of balance—also
incorporates valuable information
gathered by listening to actual users
and observing them use the product.
Members of the ETC Team say
they were given complete freedom incommenting on the project’s direction
during discussions. There were no
constraints to speak of; just a general
understanding that discussions should
focus on three pillars—“stability,”“immersive,” and “amplifying”—
to prevent talks from going all overthe place. The fact is that one’s
perspective on product development
varies depending on the work one
does every day. The varying opinions
served as a catalyst for unexpecteddevelopments throughout the project.
Not being experts on product27 project consciously attempted was
to “translate” this subjective feedback
were to take root throughout the

become an increasing priority for thecompany. The members of the next
ETC Teams are also benefiting fromthe knowledge left behind by theirpredecessors, who approached thisexperimental undertaking without
being bound to the past and byclose relationship with the engineers.
Although the ETC Team included

repeatedly taking on new challenges.

some members who were not

Pro 27, Tauchi says he feels there

technologically fluent—and who initiallywere some things the task force could
have pushed for more. However, that

had difficulty following all the technicaljargon—“we listened carefully to every
explanation and little by little increased
our vocabulary,” says Matsumoto.
“From a certain point, we were able
to discuss the project at the samelevel as a seasoned engineer.” Thefact is, every member of the ETC
Team was chosen because they wereas passionate as engineers about
creating a product that users would
truly love.
The Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 was“a real technological challenge,”according to Kato. “The final productis an amalgamation of so many
new things we attempted during
the project.” It is also the product ofpassionate debate and discussion
between people who have a deep lovefor creating products. The completed
Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 has received
rave reviews all around the world.
Even the overseas team—which hadsome very frank discussions with
the ETC Team over the course of the

On reflecting on the Wacom Cintiq

simply means there is room for growthin the ETC Team approach. Whatworked this time around has been
given shape, and that will help thenext project attain an even higher levelof quality. Each of the new ETC Teams
that have since been established are
now writing their own small stories inwhich they bring together their minds
and passions to create another wellloved product.

The starting
point of a newjourney
Faik KARAOGLU
Executive Vice President
Branded Business

It is very powerful to listen to the feedback ofour customers. The Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 isonly the starting point of our journey to develop
creative professional value propositions withthe contribution of creative professionals. Our
rigorous path forward to combine technology,
customer perspective and experience does
make the difference for future innovations.

project—has been very happy with the
product.

Transforming
the corporate culture
How will the use of ETC Teamstransform product development at
Wacom? According to Tauchi, onechange it has already brought about
is the growing company-wide resolve
to develop products from the user’s
perspective. User feedback tends tobe subjective—for example, wanting
to draw without shakiness or wanting
a pen that marks the screen exactly as
the user intends. As a result, it used
to be difficult to reflect this feedback
in Wacom’s technology. One thing the
ETC Team for the Wacom Cintiq Pro

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C R E AT I V E M I N D SGEMISTUDIOCOLORIDO

A high-quality
and stress-freecreation process“What more
could you ask for?”The first words out of the mouth of

The name of Studio Colorido comes

Gemi are: “This model is very good—practically perfection.” An illustrator
who works in a variety of fields such as
book design, Gemi has earned a large
fan following for his artwork, which
exhibits a distinctive visual style andan attention to detail that one might
associate more with analog art tools.
Gemi has only been using theWacom® Cintiq® Pro 27 for a few
months, but every day he recognizes
the difference it has made.
“What really appealed to me was
the size of the screen,” he says. “Thedevice is more compact overall, but
the screen size remains the same asprevious models. I love how easy it isto create high-quality art on it. When
you’re painting on canvas, you’llsometimes step back to see how it’sgoing overall. I think it’s important to do
the same with digital art, but it’s tricky if
the screen is too small.”Having received a growing numberof advertising commissions in recent

from the Portuguese for “colorful,” afitting name for an animation studiothat has produced many imaginative
films over the years, including Drifting

years, Gemi has seen the benefit of alarge screen in this line of work as well.
Ads are often printed in large format—
such as on a poster—so it is important
to maintain a high standard of quality.
“If it looks off when blown up, it will ofcourse not get the job done,” he says.
“For that reason, I’m grateful for thelarge screen—it allows me to examine
my work in detail.”Gemi adds, “It’s uncomfortable touse a pen when the nib is too far fromthe liquid crystal layer of the screen
because it looks like the drawing is
floating on the glass layer above.
But that doesn’t happen at all withthis product. Also, the pen is light,
comfortable to hold, and doesn’t needcharging, so I like it a lot.”

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Wacom has always supported the endeavors of creators aroundthe world. Here are seven prominent creators who give their honest
feedback on the experience of using Wacom products.

The creators who utilize Wacom products

GEMI
Gemi is an illustrator whose works include book designs and corporate ads. He has supplied illustrations for
New Japanese , a textbook published by Tokyo Shoseki; Gakuhi no Eru, a scholarship program run by theJapanese Cabinet Office; the university preparatory school Yoyogi Seminar; Nara Shika Train, a deer-themed
train wrap for Kinki Nippon Railway; and the Pokémon Trading Card Game. His illustrated books include the artcollection Rain Piles Up in the Slivers of Night and the Otome no Hondana series.

Home , A Whisker Away , and Penguin
Highway . Colorido’s director ofanimation is Hiroyasu Ishida, who is
known for his long-time use of Wacom
pen tablets in the creation of his films.
So, what impression does the
Wacom® Cintiq® Pro 27 leave onsuch a preeminent creator of Japanese
animation? Ishida’s response is simple:“I couldn’t ask for anything more.”“The 27-inch screen is nice because
it allows me to simultaneously display
the animation layers in a vertical panel
and the timeline in a horizontal panel,”he explains. “I pass files back and forthwith many different people in my role asdirector, which means I handle a hugevolume of information. I have to keep
track of the progress of a variety oftasks, such as animation direction andproduction, while also adding drawings
as necessary. The large screen helps
me properly multitask.”
Ishida is especially happy with the
new Wacom Pro Pen 3. The tradition ofdrawing with paper and pencil is deeply
rooted in the animation industry, somany animators still prefer a thin pen.
“The Wacom Pro Pen 3 is even thinnerthan the Wacom Pro Pen Slim,” says
Ishida. “I appreciate that it’s slim andlight enough to feel like you’re drawing
with a pencil. The tip of the pen isalso sharply angled, which is good fordrawing when the tablet is on a flat
surface—like when I’m sketching.”

Hiroyasu Ishida
Hiroyasu Ishida is the animation director at Studio
Colorido. Ishida first found fame with the independent
film Fumiko’s Confession , which was released in 2009
while he was still at university. His first Studio Colorido
production, the short film Sonny Boy & Dewdrop
Girl , was released in 2013. Penguin Highway , his first
feature film, was named Animation of the Year at the2018 Japan Academy Film Prize. His latest film, DriftingHome, was released in 2022.

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C R E AT I V E M I N D S

Massimo Borrelli

from ITALYKang
Gyoung Hun

Industrial Automobile Designer

from SOUTH KOREA

Webtoon Artist

Italdesign, a prestigious automobile design company, has put
many famous cars and consumer products out into the world.
The company’s senior designer, Massimo Borrelli, refers tohimself as a proud, early adopter of Wacom.

Kang Gyoung Hun is an artist at Kenaz, a South Korean
platform for the digital comics and webcomics known as“When it comes to the rendering of automobile designs,

webtoons. At Kenaz, some 400 artists are creating webtoons

I have personally witnessed the transition from traditionalby various production process and offering webtoon IP in
South Korea and abroad, with high-quality artwork.
“I have been using Wacom’s products, including the Intuos,
Cintiq 21UX, Cintiq 22HD, and Wacom Cintiq Pro 32, for morethan 15 years,” says Kang. “Wacom products are set apartby the impressive sensitivity of their pens to pressure, whichis especially important to me because I am exacting when it
comes to the lines of the brush strokes in my work. I stick with
Wacom because they allow me to control the pressure of thepen delicately and sensitively.”drawing—with marker pencils and pastels—to the digital age
with the arrival of the first Intuos tablet,” he says. “I equippedmyself with a Cintiq Companion and a Wacom MobileStudio
Pro, and I am currently exploring the potential of the new
Wacom® Cintiq® Pro 27. I appreciate the dimensions of boththe large screen and the small stand, which fits onto smaller
desks without sacrificing the solidity of earlier models.”

Phillip Boutte Jr.

from US

Concept Artist

Phillip Boutté Jr. is a concept artist from the United States
who has designed costumes for Black Panther and other
Marvel films, as well as for singers such as Madonna.
He says, “I choose Wacom products because the quality
is better; they just have more experience making tablets.
They align themselves with artists and actually listen to us tounderstand our needs. My initial impression of the Wacom
Cintiq Pro 27 is that the sensitivity of the screen is way better.
It feels so natural, as if I’m drawing on paper. I also like being
able to change the weight of the pen. It feels like a very
professional tool that is intuitive to use.”

Raj Khatri
Poster Artist

Tony Washington

from US

Artist & Music Producer

Tony Washington is a multi-talented concept artist, illustrator,and music producer who works in a variety of fields such ascomics, video games, and feature films.
“I build my music and art concepts using both analog
and digital tools to enable endless creations,” he says. “Thesketches I draw and the wavelengths in my music both giveme a sense of scale and style and help me understand how
they fit into the environments I envision. As my music anddigital art bring a new world into being, it is my Wacom devices
that keep the creative process seamless and allow me toimmerse myself in audio and visual content.”

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from INDIA

Raj Khatri is a film and TV poster artist from Mumbai. As oneof the most active artists in the industry, he has worked on awide variety of creative endeavors and even spoke at a TEDx
event.
“I have been using Wacom products since June 2010,” says
Khatri. “I remember it vividly. I was saving up to buy a Wacom
tablet, but my girlfriend (now my wife) gifted me an Intuos 4tablet for my birthday. My world just changed overnight. Later,
I bought the Cintiq 27QHD as well. The strength of Wacom
products is their extreme durability and stability and also thatthey open your imagination to endless possibilities.”

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