ART DIRECTION | IDENTITY DESIGN
Working with PLINTH AGENCY, I provided art direction for the Japantown Cultural District. San Francisco Japantown is the oldest and largest of three remaining Japantowns in the nation. Formed in 2018, Japantown Cultural District (JCD), is the first of eight San Francisco Cultural Districts funded by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development to address cultural heritage preservation and work with City agencies “to celebrate and strengthen the unique cultural identities of San Francisco’s neighborhoods; to preserve and promote diverse communities cultural assets and to ensure that residents and institutions thrive and, to formalize partnerships between the City and communities.”
Drawing inspiration from the traditional Japanese “MON” or family crest, I designed a circular mark inspired by the marks of concentric circles of a zen sand garden. Revealed in the negative shape in the center of the glyph is the symbol “HITO” meaning PEOPLE. This symbol was meant to represent not only those businesses and residents in the official borders of Japantown, but those who might have moved on but still support all of the district’s efforts to preserve and uplift Japanese American culture.
