Japan 2017Yugawara Fukiya Ryokan
This project was a “re-branding” of an old luxury inn, located in Yugawara, one of the most popular hot spring regions in Japan. Fuki, the name of this inn, comes from the plant which is also known as Japanese Butterbur, or sweet-coltsfoot. Our approach was to make use of the plant to develop a more coherent image for the inn. We first focused on the Fuki’s leaf as the prototype, developing it into various patterns – forming a circular trefoil, expressing an arabesque, using it as a motif for the interior, or as a singular graphic. Centering on Fuki, we were able to produce both original products as well as materials for the inn, including a shop curtain with persimmon varnish, dying of Yukata, and a piece of Wilton-woven rug. For its size and slender stem, Fuki has a great deal of iterative potential and matches well with our design process.
