Tenugui

Purpose

This project was a cooperative venture between a local market in Kyoto, Japan and the students at Kyoto Institute of Technology. I had the honor of designing the brand logo, which was called a Tenugui, for one of the shops. I participated in its public display at the event. The purpose of our eorts was to come up with a design and produce a Tenugui that each shopkeeper would be proud to use, and could display in their shop and online.

Activities

During this one-week design project, I observed both successful and problematic communication between designers and clients. The ultimate result we aimed for was being able to demonstrate the characteristics of the brand and the business product, which is tea.

Background

For my part, I worked with a tea-selling business called Yamadashi Ya, which is located inside the Kyo traditional market. This shop emphasises providing customers (mainly local residents) freshly harvested tea that is transported straight from its origin, a mountain where the tea is planted. In Japanese, “Yama” has the meaning of “mountain”; “da-shi” represents the action of transporting something out from a place, and nally “Ya” has the meaning of “shop.” The teashop was originally named after these words.

Design Process

Several different design proposals were made on the basis of each meeting with the tea business owner. The client wished to express their central commitment to delivering fresh tea through the image of their tenugui; this was the basis of my design work. The design was to be kept simple and direct so that people can understand it when they first see the tenugui from a distance. Three colours with clear graphics were mainly used to illustrate the concept of Yamadashi Ya. By experimenting with variations and finding a balance to suit the owner’s needs, I successfully performed my role in the beginning of this event. Overall, I am still thankful for the unforgettable experience of participating in this event.

Overall Event

This event consisted of the exhibition of a number of tenugui designs that were made by the students in the Design Department of Kyoto Institute of Technology. The final stage was to print out and display all the final designs at the Kyo market. After the event was over, the tenugui were returned to the business shops. There were a variety of local businesses such as fish-mongers, clothing shops, fruit markets, ower shops, and other retailers of traditional Japanese food items. It was delightful to see how each student designer cooperated with their assigned business owner and eventually created a final pattern. This project was overseen by Professor Nakano and the Kyo Market. The event was written up for the local newspaper afterwards.

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Event Information

Photo Footage

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Name

Email

Message

Email

bb11951195v10@gmail.com

Cell

((+44) 77-515-80914

Address

17 Forteath St.,
Elgin Moray, Scotland IV30 1PN