Japanese category Morisawa Award
Honorable Mention
Suzutake
Designer
Oma Kobayashi
Japan
Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 2002. Selected as one of the second-class scholars for Tokyo University’s ROCKET Program in 2015. Worked on movie titles and logotypes with an aspirations for character design but later dropped out of a correspondence course in lettering. Entered the Kuwasawa Design School in 2022. Currently a third-year student in the daytime Visual Design course at the Kuwasawa Design School, studying under instructors such as Aki Toyoshima.
Judges’ Comments
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Osamu Torinoumi
Let’s call it a freestyle, extra-bold sans serif typeface. It reminded me of other typefaces incorporating the overlapping process (kuikomi) at first glance, but a closer look reveals that the dot strokes are not overlapped; it is a two-dimensional design with dot strokes separated by white lines. Staring at the character “自,” one can be captivated by the confusion of what the character actually is.
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Ryoko Nishizuka
Among the many extra-bold display typefaces at this year’s competition, this typeface was particularly outstanding. It must have been very difficult to design this typeface, as extra-bold typefaces are basically much more difficult than they look. The interesting thing about this typeface is that it has a handwritten, pop lettering style, despite the restrictions on thickness. A radical treatment of the two-stroke composition of the 口 parts in “日,” “国,” and “書,” may have further made the typeface intriguing.
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Issay Kitagawa
The surprise arose from seeing how the typeface, with its characterful appearance at first glance, becomes legible when the types are set. It is amazing that letters such as “ノ,” which look like an Ittan-momen (a roll-of-cotton-looking ghost), are not immediately recognizable on their own, but can be easily read by setting them together. The black areas look like a combination of thick lines, but if you pay attention to the margins, you will notice that it is designed with a very delicate balance. This typeface can be used effectively to express onomatopoeic words in picture books.
Intention of the work
Ever since childhood, I have loved children’s literature and poetry from the Taisho period, and I drew on this sentiment when creating this typeface. The letters were created by combining the parts with a playful spirit, and designed the lines, center of balance, and rhythm.
Though the display type is originally intended for composing short sentences and prose, hopefully its various lines and silhouettes that emerge in different ways give you a sense of enjoyment.
Winner’s Comment
It still seems like a dream that the very first typeface I submitted to the prestigious typeface design competition that I had always dreamed of has won an award.
Typography is a mirror that reflects words. It must reflect both the light and the shadow of words. I hope that this competition will continue to be a place of invention that is open to all, under the banner of the world of typography.