‘Shibui’ was a collaborative university project born from a university trip to Japan. 

Each group was tasked with creating a brand, and producing our own products to sell at a market held at our university. 

‘Shibui’ refers to a particular aesthetic of “simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty.” This was an aesthetic we experienced all across Japan; we fell in love with it.

This was my first experience illustrating a pattern and screen printing. There are challenges I encountered with both tote bag designs. The koi fish pattern required lines thick enough for the ink to pass through, ensuring a legible design. This was achieved quite well, with no fall-out. The antler design had large areas of ink, which required enough pass-throughs to ensure it was fully covered (not patchy). Some designs ended up patchy and deemed un-sellable.

In hindsight, my antler design was not strong - too abstract. The bags did not match each other, with the koi fish design being the strongest design. If I re-visited this project, I would re-design the antler bag to fit the drawing style of the koi fish pattern - creating a strong duo and cohesion between the designs. 

My koi fish tote bags were a hit, selling out at the market. 

I screen printed our packaging and labels to achieve the ‘simple, yet beautiful’ aesthetic synonymous with ‘shibui’.