CREATING NEW IMAGE “NURSING CARE = COOL & FASHIONABLE” | KASEIKAI

“KASEIKAI” is a social welfare corporation based in Osaka. Their mission is to
provide various services to improve welfare in society. They operate care planning
centers, visiting nursing stations, and home nursing health care facilities, etc.

In their search and selection of a new uniform for the launch of their special nursing
care center for the elderly named “Vincent Bonheur” they discovered our “WANSIE
UNIFORM” website, marking the start of our project.

This what “KASEIKAI” asked of us.
1 While their facility is categorized as a special nursing care center for the elderly,
they were looking to make the new uniform design with a more “at-home” touch
to avoid giving a "employee feeling". It is based on their concept of "Feeling At
Home".

2 They wanted to eliminate the typical image of the nursing care industry. When it
comes to nursing care, the uniform is always either polo shirt, jersey, or typical
nursing care uniform. By creating a new image of "nursing care = cool and
fashionable", they are trying to improve staff motivation as well as increase the
number of job applicants from people who are considering to work in the
nursing care industry.

3 They wanted a uniform that can highlight the atmosphere of the interior design
of the facility, which is decorated with wood grain-like materials that were full of
warmth and used indirect lighting effectively.

The WANSIE staff was first confused by their concept of a “uniform without that
sense of it being for the working staff” but after a repeated number of meetings
finally we could reach to the idea of putting together Japanese traditional aprons.
While the typical apron is thought to be old style, today there are many newly
designed aprons, which have a modern twist and becoming one of most
fashionable aprons. While integrating such a new trend, we proposed a design that
can draw in the feature of the company “KASEIKAI”. Here are the points on which
we placed in high priority.
(1) To create the good balance between “At Home” and “Uniform”.
(2) To make it fit for different types of staffs in terms of age, physical
characteristics, etc.
(3) Most importantly, to match with the at-home atmosphere of the facility’s interior
design.

After we proposed the new design, they commented that “It was an innovative and
sophisticated design that they had never seen in the industry.” and that it was a
really great proposal, and they think the design would create a sense of “at home”
and a sense of relief. In starting this project, the whole staff was more motivated
towards the starting of this new project.
Even at the sample production stage, we were able to ensure things went smoothly
by closely checking the materials, details, character balance etc. with the person in
charge.

Also at first, they were considering multiple items such as separate pants and shirts for
men and women. However, as our design had a one-piece unisex design, it contributed
to reduction of their cost and as well as the production cost.
As the case of the client, “KASEIKAI” our proposal is not only to provide designability
but also to satisfy our clients meeting their comprehensive needs including cost
reduction.

We have received some pictures of the staff wearing the uniform at the opening day.
The person in charge of guest said, "Without taking away from the significance of
special nursing care center, the concept of the new uniform was easily accepted by the
age of their users and it led to a smooth transition. And they said that it was such a
pleasure that they could make it together, and that the new uniform is tied to their
future motivation.
Changing conventional things is a serious and difficult mission, but we would like to
continue to improve the industrial image through the mission of WANSIE UNIFORM,
“Change the image of the industry through Design”

Item(s) Provided: Kappogi Apron

COMPANY INFO:KASEIKAI
http://kaseikai.or.jp/