Chois Gallery – Little Tokyo Guide & Identity + KittoKatsu Notebooks

From Chois Gallery Magazin: „The city of Düsseldorf has one of the biggest Japanese communities in Europe. Little Tokyo, the Japanese quarter with its countless restaurants, supermarkets and shops, is the vibrant center of the city’s Japanese cultural life.
This project was to create an identity that would give the district a strong and independent voice. By mixing traditional elements of Japanese culture such as the ‚mani-neko‘ (wlcoming cat) or the ‚onigiri‘ (rice balls) with typical Rhineland icons like the ‚Altbier‘ (old beer) or Flönz (blood suasage), the identity reflects the unique cultural fusion that is so characteristic of the district. With the use of a bold colour palette and strong typographic elements, the identity is playful yet respectful with the heritage and culture. In that way it speaks as much of the city as it does about the Japanese community.“

From Chois Gallery Magazin: „A billingual map designed for Düsseldorf’s Japanese quarter. Including all the go-to places as well as some agency’s recommendation, the map was designed to be fun yet informative. The playful and ‚kawaii‘ cover illustration contrasts with the neatly typed and gridded map details."

From Chois Gallery Magazin: „ ‚In between client project, we love to take some time to explore new styles and develop our own langauge.‘ This project, created by design agency KittoKatsu is a self-initiated exploration of new visual language. The motifs and colour palettes chosen for the notebook styling is a visual expression of summer-time ease, as a way to brighten up German summer days. In paring bold primary colours with crisp outlines and simple shapes the designers created patterns that tell simple little stories through different illustrations.“