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Hello friends, Another week means another work in progress update. Again, I will be revisiting the Musick's project since it seems to continuously grow in scale with each passing day. I promise next week will be something different though; I have a lot of different projects on hold at the moment. Anyway, today's update is again related to the Musick's /podcast. I agreed to work with them over the coming year to produce an image for the weekly release of their podcast. Each image is intended to be a unique edition in what I can only hope would be a lovely collage of all things culturally Japanese. They aren't intended to be anything super sophisticated, but I think I will try to observe some major holidays/events, seasonal foods, and imagery that is commonly associated with this country from a domesticated perspective. So, don't expect to see any Sumo wrestlers, Geisha, or any other stereotype images over the next 52 weeks. Above are the first 4 images I've drawn up for the most current and furture episodes(at the time of writing). I'm pretty happy that I've been entrusted with a long term project like this. Since I have full creative control of these images, I think it will ultimately help showcase my versatility and creativity in the long run. Of course, it will no doubt improve my consistency and speed as well.
What do you guys think? What kinds of projects are you working on? Have you ever been commissioned long term? What kinds of images do you associate with Japan? Do you want to know why I chose the imagery that I did? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, please like and share this post~ Until next time, Peace Hello friends, This coming September, Japan will host the Rugby World Cup at various venues all across the country. Rugby isn't very popular in America but is a sport that has seen rising interest throught this country since its formal introduction in the 1930s. In fact, the Japanese National Team are strong competitors, currently ranked number 11 throughout the world and are by far the best team in Asia. Which is all very cool, but in order to keep with the design theme of my blog, I wanted to specifically inform you of the brand new World Cup ticket designs introduced last week.  I should mention that I am not much of a Rugby fan either. I actually don't know anything about the sport, but these designs have definitely peeked my curiosity into learning more. The front of the tickets show depictions of players engaging in battle, reminicent of old Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints popularized throughout the 17th~19th centuries. I really like how the designs are stylized in a traditional manner, but simultaneously maintain a refreshing pop of color and refinement that push it them into the modern era. The gold backgrounds and delicate patterns are also nice details that do well in elevating the cheaply printed tickets to a classier level. I also appreciate that there is more than one design, which adds incentive to collect them in the long run.  I wouldn't mind just receving a used ticket to paste on my sketchbook to be honest. Which leads me to believe that the designs were crafted with foreign audiences in-mind. A lot of contemporary Japanese design tends to lean into the "ludicrously cute" territory. What do you guys think? Do you prefer this antique Japanese style or the cute stuff? My girlfriend said she would have prefered to see the Rugby mascots, Ren-G, gracing the face of the tickets, but understands the appeal of this traditional approach. Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, don't forget to like and share this post~
Until next time, Peace Hello friends, There was no clear plan for what this post was going to be about, but for the sake of the blog I managed to rummage something interesting together. If you've been following my commission journey for the Musicks in Japan, you would be aware that I've been deep in the trenches finessing my typography skills. To expand my practice even further, I often extrapolate ideas from paths that are often unusable for a particular project, but still manage to be interesting enough to warrant development for other purposes. That so happened to be the case for the image below.  As I was trying to resolve organization and typesetting issues for the Musicks in Japan logo, specifically for the word "Japan", I came across a neat idea. By pushing the vowels back in space, outlining them through the shadows of the consonants, I could make the abbreviation of JPN clearly legible with my own unique font. However, aside from being a cool design, there wasn't much purpose behind this idea, so I left it sit in the recesses of my mind until I finished my commission. Thankfully, I like to be as resourceful and intuitive as possible with all my designs to maximize the potential from the tiniest of sketches. I figured whatever the end goal would be for this idea, it would have to be timely in its content and execution. Over the past few years, talks about the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games have been the center of conversation, an inescapable fact of life here. Unfortunately, a lot of people have become quite disillusioned by the whole idea and aren't really looking forward to the event, despite what the media publishes. Therefore, I decided to do the opposite and look back at the 1964 games. For whatever reason, people don't seem to acknowledge the history the Olympics has in Japan, preferring to focus exlusively on next years games. With that in mind, I continued developing my sketches in a way that could incorporate these ideas but kept a strong focus on type.  I think the first inclination some novice designers have when implementing their designs onto products would be to use a t-shirt or a mug. However, not all designs are suitable for all products and vice-versa. I felt this route would cheapen my design, so it didn't take me very long to move away from this idea and consider more sophisticated options. Considering the refined and elegant nature of my wordmark, I figured mocking-up a commemorative postage stamp would be the most ideal option.  Keeping with the time period represented, I chose a retro color scheme and a vintage finish that would allow the graphic to pay homage to that era's design sensibilities. Simultaneously, I think the final product still has an air of modernity considering the color vibrancy, economy of space, and font choice. What do you guys think? What other sporting events should I explore in the future? FIFA? Rugby? Baseball? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, don't forget to like and share this post~
Until next time, Peace Hello friends, I haven't done a Throwback Thursday in quite a long time, so I figured today would be a good time to get back into it. Unlike, some previous versions of this post, I won't be redesigning anything, but instead releasing a new design that has been floating in my head for quite some time. Today, I decided to return to the ChaTo brand and expand on what I developed 3 years ago. For those that don't know, ChaTo is a boutique retailer specializing in Japanese loose tea, ceramics, and gifts exported from business' all across the country to their location in San Francisco. Previously, I created the wordmark for their brand, which is still proudly being used today.  I think this logo is quite nice, but I thought it lacked the flexible use a self-contained image might have especially when it comes to branding. When I consider the type of enterprise ChaTo actually is, the image of ceramics and tea isn't always clear even though there are elements within the present design that express that. Unfortunately, third party individuals wouldn't likely notice these subtlties and often need imagery to be more obvious. After re-evaluating the current wordmark from this perspective, I decided to go with a design that was a bit more straightforward but remained in-step with the previous design.  The idea was to create a secondary logo that could live harmoniously alongside my previous design. In order to test this idea, I mocked up some business cards in which this new design is used as a watermark on the back side of the card.  What do you think? Do you think the wordmark works well in communicating the business practice on its own? What designs should I revisit next time? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, don't forget to like and share this post~
Until next time, Peace Hello friends, Today's word falls in-line with our previous entry covering the rainy season or "梅雨/つゆ/tsuyu" as it is more commonly referred. This post could easily be interpreted as a continuation of the last, so to keep that spirit going we will return our conversation to weather for now. One of the more pleasant things about Japan's temperate climate, is the amount of diversity in its flora across all 5 seasons. During the rainy season in particular, beautiful pink, purplish-blue, white, and green "アジサイ・hydrangea" come into bloom all across the country. This word actually has kanji(紫陽花), but is more commonly referenced and written exclusively in kana. Actually, many flowers follow this trend unless found in scientific literature. However, for the sake the blog, lets breakdown these kanji anyway. 紫陽花
Unlike the rest of the words I've introduced so far, the reading of the kanji doesn't match the pronunciation outside this particular context. So, unless you were aware of the what the kanji are actually referring to in the beginning, I think most beginners would actually misread these kanji(and rightly so). However, I think that is what makes these characters particularly interesting because its current kanji usage was derived from a misunderstanding centuries ago.  There was once a famous poet from Tang Dynasty China whom wrote about a beautiful blue flower that was blooming in the sunshine. This poem became quite famous during the Heian period in Japan, and the the flower was mistakenly interpreted to be the hydrangea when, in fact, the hydrangea was not in bloom at the time in China. The poet was actually describing a different flower. But since, there weren't any photos back then, no one was aware of this mistake. On top of that, the Japanese used the kana version of the word to describe a type of mackerel(ガクアジサイ) which shared a similar pronunciation. So, in order to make a clear distinction, the kanji stuck and became associated with the image of the アジサイ we have today. Eventually, this mistake was noticed and the kana became あづさヰ.
Anyway, I'll end the lesson here before things become too convoluted. In all, the kanji attached to this word was all a big misunderstanding that stuck around for hundreds of years. What do you guys think? Does your language have a word with a similarly interesting history? Is there a Japanese word with an origin that confuses you? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, don't forget to like and share this post~ Until next time, Peace Hello friends, Today's post is much less a work in progress as it is a complete product. Nearly one month ago, on Toriaezu Tuesday, I announced the beginning of my commission for /the Musicks in Japan podcast. Sometime early last week, I completed the first portion of the project; drafting the logo and rendering mockups. In the following paragraphs, I've taken the opportunity to explain some of my design decisions throughout the process.  For the logo, I knew an enclosed circular design would be ideal to not only organize the wordmark, but easily implement its use as an icon across various social media platforms. Second, I chose to create a hand lettered font with swooping curves and rounded shapes to reflect the kind and approachable nature the Musicks's envoke through their podcast. These softer shapes also do well to keep the circular framing device more consistent throughout the composition. I decided to reinforce that idea by using the traditonal scallop pattern to also breakup stagnant negative space in the background. Third, I think utilizing red was an obvious choice to reference the hinomaru symbol emlazoned upon Japan's national flag, as well as discreetly communicating the idea of the Musicks literally being in Japan. Finally, there are limited opportunities to visually tie the content of the podcast to the logo in more obvious ways. Therefore, I figured utilizing the iconic imagery of Hokusai's Great Wave would be the safest and easiest way to bring all the elements in the design together while simultaneously framing the logo in a manner to keep audience's attention within the boundaries of the composition.  After completing the logo, I thought it would be nice to try my hand at creating mockups. Mockups are an easy way to showcase ways in which designs can be implemented on various products. I'd never created mockups before this project, but I'm considering returning to several older designs to fill out my portfolio in a more comprehensive way.  What do you guys think? Are you looking for a project to be commissioned? Which one of my former projects should I return and mockup? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, don't forget to like and share this post~
Until next time, Peace Hello friends, As I mentioned before, the next few post will be related to the commission I had for the Musicks in Japan podcast. That said, I wasn't entirely sure how to approach "Toriaezu Tuesday" in regards to that, but I figured post in this section ultimately relate to art and creativity in some pretty obtuse ways. Therefore, I decided to keep that trend and share some music with you all. Its no secret that many people, creative or not, enjoy listening to music while on the job; I'm no different. Music is a particularly fun way to help me get into a creative mindset and focus on the task at hand. If you are like me or just enjoy expanding your music selection, this post might be for you. Below you will find a short playlist of the music I listened to on my journey throughout the creative process for the Musicks commissions. Beware, my music taste is super eclectic, so I have a tendency to jump from genre to genre. I also must mention that this is a constantly evolving playlist so feel free to add it to your soundcloud as well. Enjoy! https://soundcloud.com/tour-grantham/sets/the-musicks-in-japan What do you think? Who are some of your favorite musicians/producers/DJs? Would you like to see more music related posts in the future? I guess I should also mention tht my personal taste in music is by no means a reflection of the views independently held by the Musicks themselves. Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, please like and share this post~
Until next time, Peace Hello friends, Its about time we got back into the groove of featuring some common, yet mildly interesting Japanese vocabulary experienced on a daily basis. Today's word is related to the weather, more specifically the seasons. Were you aware that Japan has five distinct seasons? That fifth season is called "梅雨/つゆ/tsuyu・rainy season", typically lasting from early June to Mid-July . But what do these kanji really mean? Lets break it down. 梅雨
*The pronunciation of these kanji changes depending on context.  Unlike some of the words I've introduced on the blog previously, the true definition of the individual kanji is vaguely helpful in understanding the true definition of the word. Naturally, this requires us to take a closer look at the history and etymology of the word. For those unaware, Japanese originally derived from Chinese centuries ago. Because of this, the two languages share similar writings and pronunciations of certain characters still used today; hence the asterisk above.
What we commonly recognize as 梅雨 now, used to be written as 黴雨/ばいう/baiu when early Japanese still maintained closer ties to the Chinese language. The first kanji(黴), means mold. In China(Japan as well), mold easily sprouts during the rainy period and was therefore aptly named. However, due to the negative connotations that "mold" has, the Japanese selected a more palatable kanji(梅) with the same reading(bai) that would also be seasonally appropriate -- please note the Japanese Almanac of Seasonal Words. Whatsmore, plum trees blossom in early spring and eventually bare fruit toward the summer. Eventually as the language developed, alternative readings for various characters would proliferate until the colloquial pronunciation persisted into the modern era. Cool right? Well, I guess that depends on who you ask. What do you think? How many seasons does your country have? Do you have a favorite season? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, don't forget to like and share this post~ Until next time, Peace Hello friends, Sorry for the extended absence! I recently finished my latest commission and have a lot to update you guys with starting with today's Master Copy Monday. Similar to previous post in the MCM section, this texture cube was created to help organize and develop a way to design the look of smoldering charcoal. Originally, the Musicks requested a design in which an oak tree was struck by lightning. Since the image was intended to be used as a logomark for a separate podcast, "The Blast and The Fallout", I had to consider what would be the most effective and readable way to communicate some really complex ideas in accordance to the design brief. I took that opportunity to study the lighting and color of smoldering charcoal to really emphasize these ideas as the main focus of the composition.  As you can see, there was a lot of time poured into the organization of organic shapes and how the lighting and temperature would affect the final render. Unfortunately, the dimensions of the final logo coupled with differences in creative opinion, prevented us from moving forward with these ideas and was eventually scrapped for a strategically simpler design.
Though it was unfortunate that I could not use my new techniques to render out this particular logo, I did learn a lot in terms of layer organization and blend modes. I encourage my readers to try an replicate the look and feel of everyday materials as texture cubes to become more comfortable with the use of blend modes within their own projects in the future. I also think its good practice to develop this skill to increase speed and manage workflow as well. What do you think? What type of cube should I make next? In what ways would you improve my cube? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, don't forget to like and share this post~ Until next time, Peace |
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