Lastnightstony

CMY(W)K

When you walk into the Lobby of WK Portland at the moment, you see four huge painted panels. Cyan, magenta, yellow and black. This is a call for submissions for a exhibition of what was the orginal piece of inspiration for all of the creative department folks. Writers, Art Directors and Designers at WK, are all invited to submit a piece of print work that has inspired us at some point in our lives.

My friend Frazer is leading the charge in putting this together with the culmination of all the submissions being a show at a gallery space. This is a great chance to create a dialogue between lots of different people who all share a common interest: Cool Print Shit.

This is such a good question to ask that I find it hard to give it just one answer. Over the next few posts I am going to share some of the more interesting pieces of design that inspired me to choose this pursuit of making cool. Tadanori YokooYokoo’s work is largely biographical and very distinctive. This particular poster is about the notorious Japanese organized crime mob, the Yakuza. The removal of a finger is a signature calling card of their dedication as well as the samurai. This poster struck me because I could not understand the text, but I could figure out the story. The composition and style is so unique that his style is highly recognizable.

This is one possible submission. I want to dig a bit more before I give just one. Here are some more Tadanori Yokoo posters.