CRANBROOK ACADEMY OF ART GRADUATE DREGREE EXHIBITION 2025  
GRADUATES \\ WORK \\ ABOUT \\
NOMAKI 
ETSU

DEPARTMENT
3D

Nomaki Etsu is an industrial designer with a multicultural background. He has lived in both Japan and China before coming to the U.S. for his college education. He primarily designs objects to express his holistic sense of understanding of the living world, particularly through the levels of architecture, artifacts, and visuals. Nomaki not only engages with the design realm but also embraces art, sensing the flow-of-being in various forms such as literature, performance, and sound. He pursues his studio practice through questioning, thinking critically about, and designing the existing environment, dedicating himself to challenging the prevailing norms of living and offering alternative perspectives. During his studies at Cranbrook, Nomaki created designs related to the topic of Objects in Context, exploring spatial relationships and raising the question: “How does an object contextualize the experience of its immediate and extended spaces?”



The Coffee Podium
2023, mahogany-stained baltic birch ply, powder-coated steel, L30” x W20” x H54”
The Thinking Chair
2024, plywood, steel, ultrasuede, foam, L26” x W22” x H39”
Crane Mosaic
2024, limestone, granite