Interview about Richard III Poster, winner of the A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award 2022
This poster represents strong human emotions such as despair, desire and screaming. Richard III is a fascinating villain. He is noble and also fragile, like a Japanese castle wall. These stones in the poster seems the fragments his broken castle and heart. The blue background and embossing print emphasizes fluctuations undulates like a coral reef. Richard's ambition have sunk into there. The typography of his name are entwined with these stones. As if his complicated fate.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsThere are wars and conflicts all over the world, and both Japan and the United Kingdom have been involved in them. This participation reflects the inherent foolishness of humanity—a foolishness that, of course, includes the Japanese as well. This foolishness gives rise to sorrow. Sorrow, in this case, represents the way the rocks that people have carefully piled up can be so easily toppled by those who stand above. This is what I wanted to depict in the poster for Richard III.
I wanted to depict the sinking of a Japanese warship, a symbol of our involvement in the war, and the crumbling stones of the wall, the remnants of a foolish conflict, sinking into the beautiful sea. To achieve this, I used the embossing technique to create the ups and downs.
When attempting to convey a message, if English serves as the common language for multiple nations, then blending Japanese and English allows us to reach and be understood by more people around the world. As I mentioned before, both Japan and the UK were involved in the war, and so, for atonement and to honor those who lost their lives, the languages of both nations are significant elements in this expression.
Richard III also waged war. War itself is nonsensical—where people kill each other, seize land, and ultimately destroy what they have built. For Richard III, it was equally absurd to dismantle his own kingdom. This reflects not only the foolishness of Japan’s military leadership or Richard III himself, but also the foolishness of the people led by them. This is symbolized by the image of ruins and shattered stones returning to the sea.
The more I delve into Shakespeare, the more I see reflections of the frustrations and burdens that individuals in today’s society carry. The challenge is how to clear away some of that weight through a single poster. My approach evolved to focus not just on the technical aspects, but on making the message strikingly clear—so that the viewer can vividly remember their own shared foolishness. This clarity in the poster’s expression aims to leave a lasting impact on those who see it.
This blue color expresses Shakespeare's “blue” emotion. In Japan, a pale complexion is described as a blue face. Blue is not a simple color. It is a color that signifies complex emotions such as irritation, heightened emotions, discouragement, and melancholy.
Three versions are available: one for embossed areas, one for black ink, and a conventional four-color version. In order to create the embossed and black ink versions, complex paths had to be combined and separated, which was a very difficult task and took a lot of time here.
I’m not necessarily aiming to influence the future of performing arts advertising, but in Japan, attendance for theater, film, opera, and similar arts is declining. Because of this, I believe that if we don’t capture attention through bold, striking approaches—something glamorous, vibrant, deeply sorrowful, or wildly intense—people may stop coming to the theater. In that sense, perhaps this project serves as an experiment that leaves an impact, a stone cast into the water to spark change.
The foolishness, envy, anger, and desires of humanity are indeed quite absurd. That said, I am a very foolish person myself, and when I reflect on this, I am left with pain, fear, and a faint glimmer of hope. As I immerse myself in the works left behind by those who came before me—music, novels, films—I feel as though I’ve learned a philosophy from my self-study when I see, hear, and eventually articulate these ideas myself.
Just like with King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King, I sometimes buy records based on their covers before even listening to the music. I’m drawn to books with stunning bindings, or titles that catch my eye. The impactful visuals of artists like Billie Eilish and Ed Sheeran blend poetry and music seamlessly, incorporating elements that attract young audiences. From this perspective, I aimed to create a poster design that uses a mix of distorted and emotionally resonant typefaces to create an expression that bursts with emotion.
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