Illustration everywhere

Tuesday 3 November 2015


It was after my first inspiring trip to Japan that I started Anzu, which means apricot in Japanese. I found the Japanese aesthetic, textiles and love of illustration incredibly inspiring. In particular seeing the geisha go their appointments at dusk in their incredible kimonos, and also just the sheer quantity of illustration that you see everywhere. Above, a detail from a Japanese screen.


In Japan, you see illustrations just far more in everyday life. Above, a large illustrated wall in the hairdressers,


a fun sign for a restaurant (I love how they have both turned into little piggies!),


a sign at the hot spring baths,


another beautifully painted screen,


posters that line the outside of a new Studio Ghibli shop in Fukuoka. So sad I missed it before it opened, it looked magical when I peaked in.