Food innovators revolutionizing the global food culture

Cup Noodles was invented in 1971 as a warm meal that can be served anywhere and anytime just by adding hot water and waiting three minutes. Now, almost 50 years later, Cup Noodles is sold in more than 80 countries globally, innovating the food culture not only in Japan, but around the world. Nissin Foods Holdings Co., Ltd. is the holding company for a group of companies centering around Nissin Foods Co., Ltd., which launched Cup Noodles.

Nissin Foods Holdings Co., Ltd. is a holding company of the Nissin Foods Group, and its Design Room plays a key role in organizing product packaging for domestic and overseas Group companies. With each member of the team handling 100 different products every year, the Design Room seeks to further improve design quality and operational efficiency by utilizing the various features of Adobe Creative Cloud for teams as communication tools to interact with external designers.

According to Hiroki Yamamoto, Head Designer of the Design Room, “Nissin Foods is known for being the first to invent instant noodles, so for us, it is incredibly important to have the mind of an innovator. Our slogan for Cup Noodles this year is ‘Crazy Makes the Future.’ Based on the philosophy that being over the top is the way to pioneer the future, we constantly face the challenge of surprising the world with our product development and advertising.”

One such example is the release of limited edition Cup Noodles products that contain lots of minced meat, known colloquially on the Internet as ‘mystery meat’. As Cup Noodles symbolizes the brand itself, the endeavor to update Cup Noodles is inherent in the corporate culture itself — be creative and innovate.

The company also opened a new style of staff cafeteria at its Tokyo headquarters, called ‘Kabuteria’. The cafeteria combines the spatial concept of a creative garage with the event concept of a stock-linked staff cafeteria, where the objective is to promote each employee’s active engagement in raising the company’s stock value. It is a space where any employee pursuing a new potential food can brainstorm creative concepts and ideas to increase corporate value, which is a truly unique initiative taken by the Nissin Foods Group.

Handling package design for a global group company

Nissin Foods Holdings’ Design Room plays a significant role in creating and arranging product packaging for domestic and overseas Group companies, with products ranging from instant noodles to beverages and frozen foods. Each of the nine members of the team handles the packaging design of about 100 different products per year.

According to Naomi Katsuyama, Head Designer of the Design Room, “The Design Room is responsible for all branding-related work, from packaging of products sold by Group companies both domestic and international, to interior design for meeting spaces. Of course, we do depend on outside design companies for some of the work, but in-house designers take care of around 70% of packaging design for cup-type noodles sold domestically and overseas.”

For a company that relies on packaging to represent the face of its products and the company, the role of designers is extremely crucial. Designers are always involved from the trial stage, tasting the food and incorporating the results into their designs, and even presenting the designs to the CEO each time.

Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator were the two design tools that the Design Room used throughout the years, as the team is required to continually improve design quality and operational efficiency. After many years using Adobe Creative Suite, in June 2016 Nissin Foods Holdings decided to migrate to Adobe Creative Cloud for teams. The number one reason for this change was the wish to achieve smooth data exchange with overseas design offices using the latest versions of the Adobe products.

Ms. Katsuyama commented, “Most design offices in North America and Europe are using the latest versions of Adobe products. We made the decision to migrate to Creative Cloud so that we could always have the same software versions when sharing files between designers.”

Smooth file sharing through shared folders in Adobe Creative Cloud

File handling is a necessary part of the package design process when collaborating with domestic and overseas designers. In the past, the company used external online file storage services when sharing files, which always entailed security risks. With this in mind, they decided to utilize the shared folders feature of Adobe Creative Cloud.

Ms. Katsuyama commented, “There are two main benefits. First is the ability to maintain security. Second is reduced workload because overwriting files in the shared folders means new files do not have to be sent. After making changes, all you have to do is send an email saying you have overwritten the file, so it is a perfect feature for collaborating with overseas design offices. Using this service has enabled us to halve the time previously spent.”

Typekit significantly expands the selection of fonts available for laptops

Ms. Katsuyama also praised the Typekit font service that provides approximately 1,000 fonts. “When away on business, the limited fonts available on laptops are often the cause of difficulties in creating an image on the spot. Typekit offers an extensive range of fonts at times like this. The font makes a huge difference to the final image, so this feature is enormously helpful. Just the other day, when I was away on business in the United States, I used Typekit fonts in my design proposal.”

Another major feature Adobe Creative Cloud offers is the updated touch interface that is compatible with pen tablets and touch pens. Ms. Katsuyama commented, “I have been using pen tablets on a daily basis for a while now, and the handwritten input feels completely different from Creative Suite 6. With the new update, I think it is easier to express the ‘crafty’ feel of handwritten sentiment.”

Utilizing mobile apps to double operational efficiency

Nissin Foods Holdings is actively utilizing the various mobile apps available in Adobe Creative Cloud. Mr. Yamamoto commented, “We use Adobe Capture to upload hand-drawn drafts. Bringing hand-drawn logos into the design always generates new ideas. In the past, we had to scan the logo on a multifunction printer each time, but with Adobe Capture, we can import the image on the spot. This must be saving us at least half the workload previously needed for capturing rough, hand-drawn copy.”

Ms. Katsuyama uses the Adobe Photoshop Sketch drawing tool as a communication tool. “Face-to-face communication with local designers is only possible for a limited period of time during business trips. I use Photoshop Sketch to make the most effective use of that time. It is impossible to communicate a design image with words alone, so using Photoshop Sketch allows me to stand and talk with designers, for instance at a supermarket, and communicate composition and arrangement of elements directly with them. And being able to apply color also makes it much better than using a simple memo pad. Enhancing consensus with Photoshop Sketch definitely leads to less working time.”

The Design Room also plans to actively utilize Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries to share information with external designers. The Design Room is always looking for further improvements in design quality and operational efficiency, and Adobe Creative Cloud is certain to provide them with the solid support into the future.

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