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Japanese Students Association(JSA)

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The Japanese Student Association is a student body organization based at San Francisco State University. The JSA was founded to assist and introduce international Japanese students to local cultural, social, and professional opportunities around the San Francisco Bay Area. The JSA is divided into 2 sections; each focusing on specific activities that include the “social” and “career” chapters.

Since these two chapters have unique visual identities, the most challenging aspect of my design duties was managing time and volume. Since the JSA schedules a semesters worth of events at each term, I became incredibly efficient at interpreting event goals in a visually unique and accessible way that was both appealing to the public and in-line with the club's mission.

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Title: 
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Chief Graphic Designer
3/2012 - 12/2014
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Process:

Consultation > Concept Sketches >Drafting > Review > Finalization > Delivery

​AVG. Approx. Completion time:  4-5hrs
​Tools:
  • ​Pen & Paper
  • Photoshop​
  • ​Illustrator

Logo Design

Midway through my career with the JSA, I was tasked with revising the old logo(far left) into the current logo(far right). Considering the input of 30+ members we transitioned the design through several design iterations.
Original logo; The committee felt the style was dated and in need of a refresh.
1st Revision; I considered taking a more traditional approach by emulating classical calligraphic techniques, but decided it was too faithful to the original.
2nd Revision; Decided a circular lock-up was more contemporary. Added the "wheat" iconography to acknowledge our academic roots, but ultimately decided the logo projected too much exclusivity.
Final Revision; Edited and assembled a custom typeface that maintained the contemporary nature of the group. Added a cleaner sakura blossom and a single stalk of wheat.

Social Events
​Banners・Admission Tickets

​JSA Social promotional materials were focused on club events, karaoke gatherings, picnics, cultural exchanges, and other fun opportunities where Japanese students could mingle with American and other international students. JSA also worked extensively with  external Nikkei groups around the bay area to organize culturally focused events like tea ceremony to providing volunteers to vend parades like the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival.

Flyers

Each event hosted by JSA social had a flyer, banner, and, in some cases, admission tickets conceptualized, illustrated, and drafted by me. Aside from the initial consultation with individual event leaders, the creative direction was generally left in my control. This allowed me the freedom to experiment and develop new design techniques that I still utilize today.

Career Events
​Banners・Flyers

JSA Career promotional materials were focused on activities that connected students to multi-national corporations, startups, and businesses of all sizes for internships and post-graduation employment. This side of the organization was also responsible for organizing annual trips to the Boston Career Forum and fundraising through company talks hosted on campus.

​​In contrast to Social, communication with JSA Career event leaders was much more frequent. Most events required the permission of 3rd party organizations in regards to the handling and presentation of their imagery. As a non-native Japanese speaker, proofreading, editing, and typography also played a much larger role in design creation considering 100% of the Career events were conducted in Japanese and targeted toward the Japanese.

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  • Portfolio
    • Commissioned Works >
      • DinoJr.
      • Beelieve
      • Tokyo Dope City
      • The Musicks
      • Chato
      • Japanese Student Association
    • Visual Development >
      • Yokai: Japanese Monsters, A History & Culture
      • The Swaggatrons
      • LINE Stamps
      • AAU
      • Fashion
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog