Karimoku Furniture
Karimoku Case Study
A Sense of Serenity
In close collaboration with Norm Architects and the Keiji Ashizawa Design team, we developed a bespoke typeface, booklet, website and brand identity for the contemporary lifestyle brand, Karimoku Case Study.
Project
Client: Karimoku Furniture
Year: 2019
Industry: Furniture & lifestyle
Deliverables
Brand Identity
Bespoke Typeface
Corporate Website
Unfolding design narratives
Karimoku Case Study is based in Japan and born out of admiration and love for serene beauty, material richness and timeless appeal. The Case Study collections are brought to life by the world’s leading architects through individual cases, and the story of each collection is told through its native setting.
Please touch
Throughout the pages, tactile and editorial references, are sensed in the Case Study booklet. Brand elements like abstract watercolour maps, differentiating with each collection, ads a poetic sense of ‘somewhereness’. On the cover, a small circular mark, is a subtle introduction to the booklet.
The core brand typeface, Case Study Sans, is the heart of the Case Study identity - distinctive and legible; its simplicity of form allows it applied in various ways. A secondary typeface, Sabon, is used complementary to Case Study Sans, adding a subtle sense of contrast to the brand.
A Serene Typeface
Karimoku Sans
The name Karimoku comes from the Japanese words - ‘Kariya’ the town in which the company was founded, and ‘Mokuzai’ meaning ‘wood’ in Japanese.
Ligatures are made to imbue a high level of craftmanship
Making the intangible tangible
The website is a direct ode to the Karimoku mindset of honest design - simple, thoughtful and refined. It was essential to have a strong connection, between the website and booklet, through the same editorial references and tactility. This cohesion creates a seamless transition from print to web.
Tomoe Hamaguchiya
Japan Representative Director
Reach out to Tomoe to learn more about this project or how we can help you.