Bronze Graphic · 2023

Spectrum Illustration

by Arata Yokoyama

Bronze A' Design Award 2023 in Graphic
CLIENT: Arata Yokoyama
Estimated Number of Design Views: 12,235
Verification code 897F4B25F0 · Verify this award

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release

Colors

About Spectrum Illustration

Spectrum is a digital illustration that depicts Japanese street fashion in the style of Japanese anime. The work avoids photorealism and applies vivid colors in a flat manner that still appears optically natural. The background represents the neon lights of Tokyo, with forms boldly simplified for a sharp, flat and luminous effect. Elements of Western graphic design are combined with Japanese character illustration. Spectrum was drawn with Adobe Photoshop CC. The intent is to make the style clear to audiences inside and outside Japan.

About the Bronze A' Design Award

Spectrum Illustration is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Spectrum Illustration is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Spectrum Illustration splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.

Press Kit

Unique Properties: This work depicts Japanese street fashion in the style of Japanese anime.

Such motifs are popular in Japanese illustration, but this work is unique in that it defies photorealism and uses vivid colors in a flat, yet optically natural-looking manner.

The background represents the neon lights of Tokyo, and here, too, the form is boldly deformed in pursuit of a sharp, flat, yet luminous expression.
Dimensions & Packaging: 8000 x 5678 pixel, 400dpi, RGB
Tags: street fashion, anime, character design, japanese illustration, vivid color
Production Technology: Drawing with Adobe Photoshop CC
Design Challenge: In order to convey the goodness of a particular thing, I must first like it myself.
In order to use street fashion as my subject matter, I focused on improving my sense of style by experiencing and wearing it myself.

I also devoted myself to researching painting styles that would convey the good looks equally to both Japanese and foreign audiences.
To compose the picture with flat surfaces, not lines. He used vivid colors, but kept the entire picture in harmony. And at the same time, to make the characters look cool and cute in a Japanese way.
Research: A study of street fashion in Japan and abroad. Collect snapshots, purchase actual items, and wear them myrself to deepen understanding of function and design.

Research on drawing techniques. Challenged to fuse Western graphic design with Japanese character illustration. Strived to find a balance between deforming the form and color of objects while maintaining the cool, cute, and liveliness of the characters.
Inspiration: Today, fashion based on techwear and designs using vivid colors are global trends.

Japanese street fashion and illustrations are also in that trend, but they also have their own unique characteristics.

I analyzed the coincidences and differences between them and aimed to visualize them.

Japanese people will find this illustration foreign. Foreigners may feel it is Japanese.

This in-between state is the expression I pursued.
Project Duration: This work was created in 10 hours on September 20, 2020, and published on Twitter, pixiv, and other social networking sites that day.
Operation Flow: Suggestions about the affinity between street fashion and the neon streets of Tokyo and how cool it can be.

Especially in Japan, when proposing a fashion style to an audience, it is more effective to use characters, deformed and idealized visuals rather than photo-realistic ones.

And it is also effective when introducing Japanese culture to people outside of Japan. By incorporating elements of Western graphic design, we aimed to create visuals that would be easy for them to understand.
Image Credits: #1: Illustrator NaBaBa, Private Work, 2020.