Книги о восточном дизайне

From traditional floral motifs to patterns inspired by natural phenomena, from icons depicting mythical features and deities, to lattices and geometrically constructed elements, Oriental patterns evoke a distinct cultural charm.

This volume shows how various hues can be harmonised to transform these patterns dramatically. Providing hundreds of possibilities for every design project, it takes the appreciation of colour to a new level.

Since the end of the 19th century, our aesthetics have been challenged by various avant-garde artistic ideas, especially astounded by the chaotic visuals. But there are many more stories behind the chaos in art. This book digs into chaotic art heritage in human history, and features the most exciting graphic designs distinguished with chaotic styles, which have been broken down into four different approaches: distortion, redundancy, diversity, and randomness. As a tribute to the chaotic art refined by the courageous predecessors, as well as an applause to the chaotic visuals nourished by our contemporary designers, it serves as a bridge between artistic ideals and graphic communication, between puzzled readers and expressive designers.

One million units shipped worldwide! We'll show you everything behind the scenes of the popular game, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, with one million units sold worldwide!

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is a Japanese-style action role-playing simulation video game (RPG) in which the main character becomes stronger by growing fine rice. The beautiful scenery of ancient Japan, the exhilarating action of battling demons, and the wonderfully authentic rice cultivation have created a huge buzz not only in Japan but also around the world.

This book contains the production storyboards and artworks, featuring not only the designs of the characters that appear in the game but also the design of small gadgets, weapons, and food, along with the background art that is essential to creating the beautiful Japanese world of the game.

An added bonus is detailed explanations from game designer Nal, scenario creator Koichi, and character designer and concept artist Ryota Murayama. This book is a must-have for fans who want to know everything about Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin and for anyone wanting to be a game creator.

About the Authors:

Nal is the director of Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, working on game design, programming, visual effects, sound effects, and display. 

Koichi is the lead artist for Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, working on character modeling, background modeling, planning support, scriptwriting, and title logo design.

Ryota Murayama: Character design, concept art

Twentieth-century Japanese printmaking has come in for relatively little attention up to now. This publication sets out to change that. Shin hanga (new prints) are harmoniously balanced designs, printed on the highest-quality paper using the finest pigments and in small editions. They are the fruit of a traditional yet successful collaboration between artist, publisher, block cutter and printer. It is not so much in their subject matter as through their visual language that shin hanga prints set themselves apart from their traditional precursors.

This book presents a unique selection that lets us explore Japanese printmaking in the 20th century. The prints it reproduces are mostly drawn from two large private collections, supplemented by works from the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels and several exceptional items from the family collection of the publisher Watanabe, the person who started it all.

About the Authors:

Author Chris Uhlenbeck has curated several major exhibitions on Japanese art. He is assisted here by Jim Dwinger, an expert in Japanese art history and specialist in woodcuts, and Philo Ouweleen, a visual artist with a master’s degree in Japanese Studies.

A GIANT 512-page collection of Katsuya Terada's RAKUGAKI sketches and illustrations.

The one and only legendary illustrator Katsuya Terada, a.k.a. RAKUGAKING (The Sketch King), well known as a pioneer who is always seeking new ideas and motifs for his drawings, has finally revealed his RAKUGAKI sketches and illustrations, long kept only in his sketchbook.

Although most illustrations in this collection have appeared in Terada's previous international exhibitions (e.g., Giant Robot in Los Angeles), never before has any book collected so many of his RAKUGAKI. This is the best and most comprehensive collection of Katsuya Terada's pencil sketches, making it a must-have book for both his hardcore fans and also to illustrators in general.

About the Author:

Katsuya Terada, a.k.a. Rakugakingu ("The Sketch King") is a Japanese illustrator who is well known in the US from his work related to Ironman and Hellboy. He likes to sketch a little everywhere he goes and has done many live drawing events where he absorbs himself in drawing on walls. What is amazing is that he does this without doing any rough drafts. Each of his drawings is done in one shot. His drawing style is heavily influenced by Moebius and Katsuhiro Otomo. Terada is a versatile genius who has worked in many fields ranging from manga and anime to live-action film and character design. His notable works in character design are Blood: The Last Vampire and Virtua Fighter.

From rugged Japanese firemen’s ceremonial robes and austere rural workwear to colourful, delicately-patterned cotton kimonos, this lavishly illustrated volume explores Japan’s rich tradition of textiles.

Textiles are an eloquent form of cultural expression and of great importance in the daily life of a people, as well as in their rituals and ceremonies. The traditional clothing and fabrics featured in this book were made and used in the islands of the Japanese archipelago between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. The Thomas Murray collection featured in this book includes daily dress, workwear, and festival garb and follows the Arts and Crafts philosophy of the Mingei Movement, which saw that modernization would leave behind traditional art forms such as the hand-made textiles used by country people, farmers, and fisherman. It presents subtly patterned cotton fabrics, often indigo dyed from the main islands of Honshu and Kyushu, along with garments of the more remote islands: the graphic bark cloth, nettle fiber, and fish skin robes of the aboriginal Ainu in Hokkaido and Sakhalin to the north, and the brilliantly coloured cotton kimonos of Okinawa to the far south. Numerous examples of these fabrics, photographed in exquisite detail, offer insight into Japan’s complex textile history as well as inspiration for today’s designers and artists. This volume explores the range and artistry of the country’s tradition of fiber arts and is an essential resource for anyone captivated by the Japanese aesthetic.

About the Authors:

Thomas Murray is a dealer of Asian and tribal art and has an extensive personal collection of Japanese and Indonesian textiles. He is a past president of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association (ATADA), and served on President Obama's Cultural Property Advisory Committee at the Department of State in Washington, DC. Virginia Soenksen is Associate Director of the Madison Art Collection at James Madison University in Virginia. Anna Jackson is Keeper of the Asian Department at The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where she is responsible for the museum's collection of Japanese textiles and dresses.

Whether it be Cosplay, Rockabilly, HipHop or Gothic: when the Japanese immerse in a subculture, they do it like no other.

The otaku’s passion is all-consuming. Whether it be cosplay, gothic, or rockabilly, when the Japanese embrace a subculture, they do it like no other. From Lolita fashion and latex couture to neon-drenched big-rigs, anime-plastered vans, and chrome-heavy hot rods, subcultures in Japan are as varied as they are fascinating.

Delving into these worlds, The Obsessed reveals the extraordinary passion devotees have for their hobbies and lifestyles. With dazzling photography, on-the-ground interviews, and cultural essays, this book showcases a kaleidoscope of scenes and individuals drawn from Japan’s many countercultural groups.

About the Author:

Irwin Wong is an editorial and commercial photographer based in Tokyo. Originally from Melbourne, Australia, he moved to Japan in 2005. He was Co-editor of gestalten’s Handmade in Japan, published in 2020.

The fantastic collection of artworks by the globally active digital artist wataboku is now available!

This book is a collection of artworks by wataboku, the digital artist who continues attracting attention both in Japan and worldwide. The artist's illustrations of beautiful, yet somewhat shadowy, shojo girls, rendered with a watercolor touch, have been acclaimed on social media not only in Japan but across the world. This book comprehensively covers wataboku's work, from works presented at solo exhibitions around the world to more recent works.

The title VSI means "VS (versus)" "I (myself)," and comes from the wakaboku's desire to "highlight the importance of feelings I had as a teenager, which forms the basis of my work. Or to put it bluntly, to focus on a time when I was 'edgy.'" This book offers a complete archive that condenses five years of evolution since wataboku's first art book was released. Even as the environment around them changed, wataboku continuously protected this sense of self, which has been the central pillar and source of creation for the artist's work.

About the Author:

wataboku is a Japanese digital artist whose fanbase continues to expand all over the world in response to their works based on the original shojo schoolgirl icon, SAI, developed on social media. In 2016, wataboku's first art book, Kan 0, was published by Pony Canyon. Since then, in addition to exhibitions throughout Japan, the artist has held solo exhibitions in various cities, mainly in Asia. More recently, wataboku has been expanding their range of activities as a contemporary artist. Representative works include a collaboration with Yohji Yamamoto, a music video for "Mela!" by Ryokuoushoku Shakai (Ryokushaka), and book design for 12 Suicidal Teens (Bunshun Bunko). The name "wataboku" comes from the Japanese words for "I" "watashi" and "boku."

The first collection of Makura Kurama's art.

The world of Makura Kurama is full of darkness and beauty. The owners, guests, neighbors, and other characters that appear in the antique shop suffer from grief, fear, or pain in their minds. The gothic-style costumes and motifs, such as skeletons, dolls, corpses, taxidermy, natural specimens, and of course love, lends a dark, fantastical atmosphere to the stories. But these stories never become incurable tragedies.

Makura Kurama's refined brushwork and the sense of hope, of finding light in the darkness, always bring a redemptive element to the stories.

This book is the first art collection of Makura Kurama's work and includes short stories, comics, and illustrations. Even those who know Makura Kurama's work will be fascinated by these stories, which are never as despairing and painful as they first seem as they end in happiness. Why not ring the bell of a peculiar antique shop and see for yourself?

About the Author:

Makura Kurama is an up-and-coming creator who became an instant star upon the release of the short story comic The Peculiar Antique Shop: Plague Doctor and Mrs. Antlers on Twitter in 2018.

Beautifully executed illustrations and in-depth commentry are presented in this excellent introduction to the Chinese language and its millieu

Written Chinese can call upon about 40,000 characters, many of which originated some 6,000 years ago as little pictures of everyday objects used by the ancients to communicate with one another. To convey more abstract ideas or concepts, the Chinese stylised and combined their pictographs. For instance, the character for "man" - a straight back above two strong legs - becomes, with the addition of a head and shoulders and arms held sternly akimbo, the character for "official".

This book, modelled after a classic compilation of the Chinese language done in the 18th century, introduces readers to the 214 root pictographs or symbols upon which this writing system, whose rich complexities hold a wealth of cultural meaning, is based. These key characters, called radicals, are all delightfully presented in this volume, with their graphic development traced stage-by-stage to the present representation, where even now (in many of them) one can easily make out what was originally pictured-with the author's guidance.

Centuries ago, when the Japanese took up writing, they also adopted these symbols, though they gave them different names in their own spoken language. Each of the 214 classic radicals is charmingly explored by the author, both for its etymology and for what it reveals about Chinese history and culture. Chinese characters are marvels of graphic design, and this book even shows the proper way to write each radical, stroke by stroke. Finally, there are also samples of each radical combined with other radicals and character elements to demonstrate how new characters are formed-some 8,000 have been added to the language since the 18th century. With all its expertly executed calligraphic illustrations and fascinating commentary, this book serves as an excellent introduction to Chinese writing and its milieu.

About the Author:

Edoardo Fazzioli, who has studied Chinese language and culture at Hong Kong University and is a member of the Italo-Chinese Institute for Economic and Cultural Exchange, has written newspaper articles and scholarly pieces on Chinese life and civilization.

This fantastic book of asian illustration includes a recompilation of work from seventeen renowned artists. Some of those featured are Lokman Lam, Ippei Gyoubu, Beesha, Ryuji Kawano, Erika Yamashiro, Naoshi… who have personally selected a few of their best works. The styles employed from illustration “Kawaii” the illustration “Naif”, to the most primitive, from the highly personal to the intensely conceptual or simply expressive. All of them form part of the vanguard on today’s illustration scene in Asia.

A vibrant record of the Asian theatre puppets in the Lin Liu-Hsin Puppet Theatre Museum in Taipei

Asian puppet theatre is a treasure house of Asian grassroots religion, culture, history, ethics and entertainment. But with the rise of mass entertainment, puppet theatre has been banished to the fringes and performances of this sublime art form are becoming rare.

Theatre performances may have dwindled but the impact of these beautiful puppets has not. Their charm and exquisite craftsmanship leaps out from the pages of this book, which introduces for the first time the beauty of theatre puppets from all major Asian traditions, captured in over 300 colour illustrations.

Taking the reader on an inspiring journey through hundreds of years of creativity, this beautiful book will not only appeal to people with an interest in Asian arts, but will also open up to the general reader a whole new realm of art.

Contents List:

Introduction and essay • Glove • String • Rod • Shadow • Descriptions

About the Authors:

Robin Ruizendaal has been researching puppet theatre throughout Asia for over twenty years. He is director of the Lin Liu-Hsin Puppet Theatre Museum in Taipei and creative director of the Taiynana Puppet Theatre Company.
Wang Hanshun is a photographer, who has been working with the Puppet Theatre Museum in Taipei for over ten years.

Fujoshi, or Yaoi fandom supporters of femme gay media aimed at teenage girls represent an ever-increasing market in Japan. Best of Bishonen presents an up-to-date art collection of beautiful boys popular with Fujoshi or Yaoi girls. 

Seventy-nine artists are featured within, with details in Japanese and English. 

Some of the artworks are actually sought-after illustrations taken from the popular online game Touken Ranbu (in which players control legendary swords anthropomorphized as attractive young men) and Vocaloid PV. 

Best of Bishonen promises to satisfy Fujoshi girls with its unique claim as the complete Yaoi art collection! Best of Bishonen is also an indispensable book for anyone wishing to sample the visual pulse of this exciting trend. Additionally, five artists have created new original works exclusively for this project. 

Featured illustrators include: Shishunnki Suzuki Jiro Naoe Marimo Nao Tsukiji Fuji Mitsuya Toinana Aomiya Kara Shikimi Nagarenaitessyu And more!...

This book presents over 700 Chinese motifs, showcasing 35 outstanding works inspired by Peking Opera, Paper Cutting, Animal Motifs and Auspicious Motifs, etc. Well-known designers were invited to share their design inspiration and experience concerning Chinese motifs to offer an insight into traditional Chinese culture.

Designing Japan presents renowned designer Kenya Hara’s vision of how his industry can support Japan in crafting a future founded on a unique philosophy of beauty as well as crowd-sourced wisdom from around the world. A master collaborator, meticulous organizer, and globally conscious innovator, Hara draws on more than three decades of participations in design work and exhibition curating, as well as deep professional interaction with creators from many fields.

In Designing Japan Hara reveals methods that make publicly accessible aesthetic inquiries of how this island nation will proceed as its population ages, other nations take over manufacturing, and technology develops. Illustrations and examples recognize successful problem-solving through design, proving that it is a living, changing industry that remains relevant not in spite of, but as a partner to, advancing technology.

About the Author:

Kenya Hara (*1958) is considered the most influential designer of present-day Japan. After graduating in design from the Musashino Art University of Kodaira in 1983, he worked as a curator and graphic designer before taking on the role of art director at Muji in 2002. Hara is president of the Nippon Design Center Inc., and head of the department of Science of Design at Musashino Art University. He has published widely on his design theory, including the books Designing Design (2007), White (2009), Designing Japan (2018), and 100 Whites (2019).