Kenichi Tanaka completed this amazing motion graphics piece highlighting some of the unique features of his home country Japan. He says his objective was to remind his fellow countrymen that all that is happening in Japan isn’t necessarily normal.
Minchi is a rather inexplicable Japanese artist/illustrator who combines hand crafted illustration techniques like acrylic painting, gouache, oils, etc. with digital production. The subject matter is a bizarre mix of internal organs, food, sadomasochism and ocean life. Like I said, inexplicable.
Digital Mash is a ‘mash’ of work from Australian (now living in Japan) graphic designer Rob Morris who is heavily influence by the ‘modernist school of design’. His sites seems a little heavy-handed in tone, but he has some nice examples of typographical layout happening within his design portfolio.
Wonderwall is an interior design firm that was founded by Masamichi Katayama in 2000. They are responsible for some of the most drop dead gorgeous interiors you have ever seen. They have also just recently launched a new website that features a what could only be described as a wondrous wall full of wonderful work.
Kazuki Takamatsu creates some of the most unusual and quietly contemplative black and white illustrations I have seen in a very long time. They are like a frozen moment from a strange dream and each one is wildly gorgeous.
Talented painter and illustrator Yuta Onoda has updated with some new work to his painting section. For the uninitiated, get familiar. He’s talented.
Wow. Not much more to say. A friend of mine was trying to explain this to me last night so I just had to look it up and this is legit. I would say just for experience sake, this is probably something you would just have to see.
Japanese design agency, Commune has some really nice work in their collective portfolio. Commune consists of Ryo Ueda and Minami Mabuchi.
I was really impressed by the illustrative works of Marumiyan who emailed his work in yesterday. Marumiyan lives in Fukuoka, Japan and works as an illustrator and graphic designer. There is some really striking use of color and composition happening in some of the illustrative work.
I have been following Tessar Lo for a while now, back since my Design Is Kinky days. His work is just so dreamy and lyrical, it transports you into another world. His latest work is even better and the colors and imagery are just beautiful. The painting of the boy floating above the cityscape is something I have envisioned in my own dreams many times over and to see it painted makes me wonder about the universal mind. Keep an eye on Lo, he is the real deal.
Stardust sent me news of this recent campaign for J-Power in Japan. I was really amazed by the animation. Beautiful work.
Wow, there is a lot of credits on this one:
PROJECT NAME: J-POWER “nature”
RUNNING TIME: :30
DATE OF FIRST AIRING: April 15, 2009 (Japan only)
FILM STAGE/LOCATION(S): Japan
CLIENT: Electric Power Development Co., Ltd (“J-POWER”)
CITY/STATE: Tokyo, Japan
AD AGENCY: McCann Erickson Japan, Inc.
CITY/STATE: Tokyo, Japan
CREATIVE DIRECTOR/COPYWRITER: Isamu Nakamura
ART DIRECTORS: Takehiko Araki, Kenichi Horie
PRODUCTION COMPANIES: kirameki, inc. & Stardust Studios
CITY/STATE: Tokyo, Japan & Bicoastal, USA
DIRECTOR: Jake Banks
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Naoki Noda
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Sachiko Tamaru (kirameki)
PRODUCER: Yoshiki Ishii (kirameki)
DESIGN/ANIMATION COMPANY: Stardust Studios
CITY/STATE: Bicoastal, USA
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Jake Banks
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Paul Abatemarco
DESIGN DIRECTOR: Neil Tsai
PRODUCERS: Jody MacKinnon, Clara Park, Steven Poulsen
DESIGNERS: Neil Tsai, Gretchen Nash, Tosh Kodama, Bill Bak, Ling Feng, Angela Ko, Jenny Ko, Juliet Park
ANIMATORS: Sang Lee, Angie Tien, Brian Broussard, George Longo, Damon Snyder, Ryan Hooks, Marisol Baltierra, Catherine Yoo, Giancarlo Rondani, Maithy Tran, Thomas Horne
2D ARTISTS: Brian Williams, Davina Sanchex, Stephen Edwards, Kristen Swanson
MUSIC ARTIST: Hifana
MUSIC PRODUCER: Masayo Okino
ADDITIONAL POST-PRODUCTION: Sony PCL
CITY/STATE: Tokyo, Japan
ONLINE EDITOR: Masashi Hosoda
MIXER: Tsutomu Higa
FINAL MIX COMPANY: Omnibus
CITY/STATE: Tokyo, Japan
MIXER: Norisato Nakauchi
‘Nam‘ is a Japanese graphic art collective established by Takayuki Nakazawa (Graphic Designer) and Hiroshi Manaka (Photographer). Since it’s inception over 10 artists now belong to the collective all ranging from various artistic backgrounds.
Via Trend Land
Some absolutely gorgeous Japanese prints comprise the portfolio of the talented artist Tenmyoya Hisashi.
Some very strange, unusual and disturbing yet original paintings at I Regret.
An icon of our profession passed January 11th from a stroke. Japanese graphic designer and artist Shigeo Fukuda was best known for his simple, iconic antiwar and environmental advocacy posters. If you would like to see more of Mr. Fukuda’s work you can do so here. You can also purchase a book detailing his work here and read the full story of his life and passing at the NY Times.
Really compelling and artfully composed images from photographer Kanako Sasaki.
Discovered via Picdit.
Wow, there are some really amazing photographs depicting just how densely packed the city of Tokyo really is in the portfolio of talented photographer, Shintaro Sato.
