Gold Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design · 2026
Designtide Tokyo 2024 Brand Identity
by There There - Kazune Watanabe
- A' Design Award 2026 Gold Winner in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Designtide Tokyo Committee
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 91,398
- Verification code ADC2A57866 · Verify this award
About Designtide Tokyo 2024 Brand Identity
Designtide Tokyo is a design event of exhibitions and markets that explores and shares new trends in product design and related fields. Through design, it creates an immersive experience of energy and emotion beyond digital media. Held from 2005 to 2012, it shared design culture from Tokyo with the world. Each year, about 50 invited and selected designers presented works that valued creativity over commerce. In 2024, Designtide Tokyo was revived with a new logo and renewed vision.
Working within the distinguished tradition of systematic visual identity design, this brand identity installation exemplifies the continued vitality of reductive graphic principles applied to contemporary cultural communication. The work demonstrates masterful command of typographic hierarchy and spatial orchestration, positioning itself within a lineage extending from early twentieth-century constructivist experiments through mid-century Swiss rationalism to present-day investigations of typography as both communicative tool and abstract visual experience. The designer appears to engage deliberately with threshold states, employing progressive fragmentation techniques that transform familiar letterforms into oscillating patterns hovering between recognition and pure optical phenomenon. This treatment suggests meditation on the nature of legibility itself, inviting consideration of how meaning emerges from and dissolves into visual pattern. The barcode-like central elements introduce productive ambiguity, simultaneously evoking technological systems of identification and encoding while functioning as abstract compositions of remarkable visual refinement. The installation's integration within its architectural context demonstrates sophisticated understanding of environmental graphics as spatial practice, with the reflective floor surface extending compositional logic into three-dimensional experience. Technical execution reveals precision characteristic of accomplished design practice, with edge relationships, tonal gradations, and typographic details maintaining consistency across substantial scale. The monochromatic restriction, rather than limiting expressive range, amplifies subtle relationships between positive and negative, solid and void, presence and absence. One might observe how the work creates productive tension between the forthright communicative function of event branding and the contemplative qualities of abstract visual art, suggesting that these modes need not be mutually exclusive. Viewers are invited to consider how contemporary visual identity practice might honor both immediate legibility and sustained aesthetic engagement, creating visual environments that reward both glancing recognition and prolonged contemplation.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- "Designtide Tokyo" was originally held from 2005 to 2012 and introduced Tokyo design to the world. It supported many designers who later gained international recognition. In 2024 the event was revived with a new visual identity. In a society driven by trends and empathy, the new identity needed strong impact and interactivity. The graphics change in response to viewer movement such as approaching moving away or sliding. This behavior reflects the motion of tides.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Main Graphic Materials Wood Acrylic Fabric
Size 2 meters 5 centimeters by 10 meters
Printed Materials Poster Paper Plastic Sheet
Size A2
Technical Characteristics Digital expression reproduced through analog methods without electronic components - Tags
- Graphic, Tide, Tokyo, Design, Animation
- Production Technology
- The graphics use scanimation also known as slit animation. Movement appears only when viewers change their position or distance. No digital screens or electronic components are used. By carefully adjusting slit pitch and base imagery the work expands beyond simple animation into a more complex interactive experience. Materials include wood acrylic fabric and paper. Acrylic used at the venue was later reused.
- Design Challenge
- The challenge was to create an interactive identity that changes according to user behavior without using digital technology. Scanimation normally allows only limited frame movement. By refining slit pitch and carefully designing the base imagery we transformed this simple technique into a complex responsive visual system that encourages physical engagement.
- Project Duration
- Venue Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall Chuo ku Tokyo Japan
Dates November 27 to December 1 2024 - Operation Flow
- The project uses scanimation to let visitors experience a major movement in design. Each graphic responds to viewer actions such as approaching moving away or sliding. The image changes depending on distance and motion. This system expresses how individual gestures can create a larger collective flow. Small personal actions combine to form a powerful tide of change.
- Research
- From the 1990s to the early 2000s Tokyo hosted many influential design events. In recent years these opportunities have declined and large collective movements have become rare despite the spread of social media. "Designtide Tokyo 2024" was launched to renew this culture. Held in November 2024 in Tokyo it welcomed more than 6000 visitors and aimed to initiate a new movement in Japanese design.
- Inspiration
- "Designtide" refers to a major movement in design. Tides are created by the gravitational force of the moon. Natural forces alone create only surface movement. The aim of this project was to build a strong movement from the ground up. In an era shaped by social media and individual presentation, this graphics created based on the concept of tides for a major design event in Tokyo.
Colors of Designtide Tokyo 2024 Brand Identity
Design Interview about Designtide Tokyo 2024 Brand Identity
Since it is a design event, we didn’t want to be constrained by a fixed graphic mark. The core idea was to create an interactive visual identity in which every graphic continuously transforms in response to the actions and engagement of the visitors.
Our main focus was exploring how to translate the kind of energy and emotion that can be difficult to convey through digital media alone into something people could physically experience. We wanted to create a three-dimensional, interactive expression that changes depending on the viewer’s position and perspective, allowing people to enjoy the transformation itself while naturally becoming immersed in the experience and discovering something new along the way.
We would like to continue exploring and expanding interactive visual approaches, including scanimation, both in future projects and through our own creative work.
These days, so much of communication happens through social media, but we still believe there are experiences and forms of expression that only exist in a physical space. With this project, we wanted to focus on the kinds of sensations and discoveries that can only happen when you’re actually there. The goal was to create something memorable — something that stays with people because they experienced it in person.
This design was created and used as the official visual identity for DESIGNTIDE TOKYO 2024.
Inspired by the concept of DESIGNTIDE as a “major movement in design,” we were drawn to the idea of tides being formed by the moon’s gravity. We wanted to translate the theme of the “tide” into both a visual and physical experience, creating something dynamic and interactive for viewers. To express this, we designed the graphics to remain in constant motion and change.
Designers, anyone with an interest in design, and the broader public.
What sets this work apart is its use of physical, non-digital materials to create an interactive visual experience. While digital media is now commonly used in event and spatial design, this project takes a different approach, relying entirely on analog materials such as fabric and acrylic. Without any digital technology, it still creates a dynamic experience that shifts depending on the viewer’s distance and perspective, almost as if it were responding in real time.
What makes this work unique is that, as an event visual identity, it goes beyond a fixed symbol, logo, or flat graphic. Instead, it creates an interactive visual experience that changes with the viewer’s distance and perspective. What looks like a static image at first starts to shift as people move around it, revealing different expressions in response to their movement. This responsive system also extends beyond the main graphic, connecting to printed materials like the event book and even smaller signage throughout the venue.
We used scanimation as the basis for this work.
Typically, scanimation is limited to simple motion made up of three to five frames. Here, we explored the slit pitch and the structure of the original program, pushing the technique beyond its usual limitations and turning it into something more complex and interactive.
Typically, scanimation is limited to simple motion made up of three to five frames. Here, we explored the slit pitch and the structure of the original program, pushing the technique beyond its usual limitations and turning it into something more complex and interactive.
One of the main challenges was that it was difficult, due to budget constraints, to implement dynamic signage at a large scale. To address this, we developed a solution using scanimation and UV printing, creating a low-cost, analog material that appears almost like a digital screen without relying on LCDs or other devices.
Another challenge was ensuring that the work looked its best from different viewpoints and in different spatial configurations. We went through countless rounds of testing and adjustments based on how people would see it and how it would be installed in the space.
Another challenge was ensuring that the work looked its best from different viewpoints and in different spatial configurations. We went through countless rounds of testing and adjustments based on how people would see it and how it would be installed in the space.
We wanted to share DESIGNTIDE TOKYO’s work and activities, along with our visual design work, with a wider international audience.
By working with and expanding the principles of scanimation, we were able to explore new types of visual expression that we hadn’t tried before. What we learned from this project is something we are still building on, and we continue to test and apply it in future projects and in our own creative work.
Grand Interview about Designtide Tokyo 2024 Brand Identity
What I believe has not yet been fully recognized is that this project is not merely graphic design utilizing the scanimation technique. Rather, it is designed so that the identity of DESIGNTIDE itself is not a "fixed icon," but a "behavior that shifts in relationship with people."Typically, brand identities are designed to be recognized in a static state, such as through a logo or key visual. In this project, however, the image changes and the experience is realized only through the physical movement of the viewers—such as approaching or moving away. The graphics are not complete on their own; they temporarily emerge through the presence of the viewer.This concept is inherently connected to the name "DESIGNTIDE" and the very nature of the event itself. A tide does not exist from the beginning as a single, completed form. Instead, it gradually takes shape as the small movements and ideas of different people overlap. Therefore, rather than using tides or waves as direct visual motifs, I wanted to turn the very phenomenon of shifting perception through individual action into the expression of "TIDE."During production, instead of simply applying a single visual effect across various media, my team adjusted the design so that the same core concept manifests in different ways depending on the material, scale, viewing distance, and relationship to the space. We sought to establish visual consistency not by repeating the same imagery, but by ensuring that the same underlying principle functions effectively within each unique environment.What I want to convey to the global design community is that this work is not just brand design with an added special visual effect. It is an exploration of how identity manifests when body, time, material, and space are fully integrated. Interaction was not a feature added to a completed graphic; it was the core concept that allowed the identity to exist in the first place.
My choice of an analogue approach was not intended as a countermeasure against digital technology. Rather, through this project, I questioned whether interaction and real-time response are concepts that truly belong only to the digital realm.The graphics shift on the spot in response to physical movement. Although without using sensors, programming, or screens, it functions as a highly direct, real-time system in the sense that different images emerge depending on the viewer’s position, speed, and distance.In digital interfaces, the relationship between input and output is usually controlled by a program running behind the screen. In contrast, within this identity, the viewer's physical body itself becomes the input, and the output is the visual phenomenon generated by the relationship between the slits, the printed image, the light, and the distance. The entire mechanism is laid bare right before one’s eyes, allowing the response to be understood through physical sensation.Furthermore, analogue mechanisms lack the perfect reproducibility found in digital technology. The way the image shifts varies slightly depending on the viewing angle, walking speed, installation environment, and ambient light. I embraced this inconsistency—not as a lack of precision, but as a space where the experience is generated through the relationship between the viewer and the material. Rather than adding complex processing, my team pursued how richly we could connect physical movement with visual change within a set of limited principles.Through this identity, I sought to redefine interaction—not as something tied to a specific technology, but as a relationship that emerges among the body, the material, and the space.
Now that social media has become the primary medium of communication and designers can easily share their work and thoughts individually, I wanted to reconsider the purpose of hosting a physical design event in Tokyo today.A real-life event requires people to physically show up to experience it. Precisely for this reason, I felt there was a need for an experience seen with one’s own eyes and felt with one’s own body—something that cannot be captured by screens or photographs.The graphics I designed for this project shift as viewers approach, walk away, or change their position. Rather than unilaterally presenting information, the visual experience only realizes itself when viewers move and actively discover the changes.While social platforms are vital spaces that connect people and ideas across distances, there are relationships that can only be forged when we place our physical bodies in the same time and space. Just as one person’s movement might prompt another to notice a change in the graphic, individual experiences become gently interconnected within the shared space.Cultural tides do not emerge solely from the broadcasting of completed works or opinions. I believe that the next movement is born from the layering of small, immediate reactions felt on-site,
Looking back at the past iterations of DESIGNTIDE TOKYO, I felt a powerful sense of the energy and enthusiasm of that era. While preserving the core essence of DESIGNTIDE TOKYO that long-time fans have cherished, I wanted to present an expression that we believe is truly new today, more than a decade later.At the same time, the environment surrounding design and how information is received have shifted dramatically between then and now. Therefore, rather than directly referencing past visual expressions, I focused on allowing diverse interpretations to emerge through different positions and perspectives.Instead of anchoring the event with a single, rigid image, the visual state changes depending on the viewer's position, distance, and movement—always remaining slightly in flux. I believed that an identity with this kind of openness and fluid dynamism is what best suits DESIGNTIDE TOKYO today.Furthermore, DESIGNTIDE TOKYO is a platform where each exhibitor challenges new expressions and possibilities. For this reason, I felt that the graphics supporting the event should also demonstrate a willingness to take risks, rather than relying on past achievements or established methods. Instead of crafting an expression that is safely and easily understood, it was essential for us to present new perspectives and experiences through my own process of trial and error.What I inherited from the past is not a specific color or shape, but the attitude of embracing new talent and movements to generate the tide of the times. While keeping that spirit intact, I moved away from past visual styles and built the presentation entirely from scratch through a contemporary lens.
Standard scanimation basic principles typically involve looping a simple, flipbook-like animation by switching between two to five frames of images. In this project, rather than merely shifting the positions of the letterforms, we explored diverse visual expressions where the very skeleton and weight of the typography transform—including variations in condensed, extended, and italic states.Specifically, in addition to shifts along the X and Y axes, I integrated relationships along the Z axis, such as the distance between the slits and the underlying image, as well as the viewer's position relative to them.At the same time, I meticulously calibrated the relationship between the underlying typography and the slits. If I had prioritized only the kinetic effect, the graphic would cease to function as a coherent piece when the slits were removed. Therefore, it was crucial to strike a balance: creating dynamic transformation when viewed through the slits, while ensuring the underlying image itself retained its strength as a compelling, static graphic on its own.To make this function within a three-dimensional space, multiple variables had to be adjusted simultaneously—such as the width and intervals of the slits, the distance from the underlying image, the viewing position and angle, and the overall scale of the piece. A minute variance in the values could result in unintended letterforms or distorted imagery emerging.The greatest uncertainty lay in whether the transformations that succeeded in small-scale mockups would function effectively at the final production size, which stood at approximately 2 meters in height and 10 meters in width. Between a 1/2 scale prototype and the full-scale installation, the field of vision and the optimal viewing distance changed dramatically; simply blowing up the same data did not yield the same experience.Consequently, I iterated through numerous prototypes while altering the scales and slit conditions, verifying what kind of transformations appeared at what distance and speed as a person physically moved through the space. Ultimately, rather than completing the work solely through digital calculations on screen, I sought the most precise calibration by producing physical mockups and validating the visual experience with our own bodies.
My starting point was not to directly depict the shapes of tides or waves, but to question how a tide is generated in the first place. A tide is not composed solely of the waves that appear on the surface; it is born from the interplay of multiple invisible forces. Similarly, I perceived the design tide within DESIGNTIDE not as something created by a single dominant will, but as something formed gradually through the layering of small movements and reactions from different designers, works, and visitors.Therefore, rather than presenting a single image that was completed from the outset, I wanted to create a graphic whose state alters through human engagement. The most natural physical actions—such as a person approaching, moving away, or moving sideways—directly affect how the graphic itself is perceived. It was essential that the viewer does not merely appreciate a completed image from the outside, but that their very presence becomes one of the conditions that allows the image to exist.At the same time, I set a requirement that the design must transform through physical movement within the exhibition space, translate effectively onto social media and the web, and still function seamlessly on a single sheet of paper like an A2 poster. Furthermore, I wanted to focus on typography, shifting the positions, forms, and expressions of the letterforms themselves.During the development process, my team explored various expressive methods involving light, transparency, layering, and shifts in perspective. Among these, we came to realize that the most appropriate approach was to further develop the scanimation technique—which we had explored in previous projects—to fit our specific conditions. Scanimation allows a piece to function as a coherent, static graphic while revealing different images through human movement. It also possessed the potential to deploy the same underlying principle in distinct forms across various media, from physical spaces to printed matter and video.Once this direction was adopted, instead of simply applying scanimation as a single visual effect pasted across all media, we translated it into distinct experiences depending on the material, scale, and viewing distance. With the A2 printed piece, viewers engage with the graphic at a relatively close distance, discovering transformations through their own subtle movements. Conversely, in the large-scale installation at the venue, the time spent walking along the graphic and the shifting distance within the space itself become integral parts of the experience.My choice of wood, acrylic, and fabric was also not intended merely as a variation of materials. I selected the materials best suited to their required roles based on their respective strength, transparency, flexibility, and installation methods. While maintaining the same visual principle, I calibrated how the images manifest and how they relate to people in accordance with the physical conditions of each material.
What struck me most was that many visitors naturally began to move their bodies without any explanation of the mechanism. They would pause, sway from side to side, approach the piece, and then step back to view it once more. Some even pointed out the transformations they discovered to the person standing next to them. Realizing that the physical relationship we intended had emerged without the mediation of verbal explanation was a profound discovery for me.At the same time, the reactions did not converge into a single, predetermined interpretation. Some enjoyed it as animation, others received it as abstract graphics, while others became fascinated by the materials and production methods. Even when looking at the exact same piece, diverse interpretations emerged—shaped not only by the viewer's position and movement but also by their individual backgrounds. I believe this multiplicity was inherently vital to this identity.Receiving recognition through the A’ Design Award and having the work reach individuals who did not experience the physical venue was a deeply rewarding response. By its very nature, this work relies on the relationship between the body and space, meaning it is impossible to convey everything through photographs or video alone. Nevertheless, I find it highly significant that the concept of an identity that shifts through human movement, rather than remaining a fixed graphic, resonated and was valued across different cultures and boundaries.The reactions on-site and international design accolades represent two distinct dimensions. At the venue, visitors moved their bodies and experienced the work first, even before understanding how the mechanism functioned. Conversely, the award evaluated the underlying philosophy, the technique, and the structure as a brand system. The fact that both aspects succeeded reaffirmed for me that sensory experience and logical design are not mutually exclusive.Based on these responses, it is impossible to definitively declare what contemporary audiences are seeking from a single specific standpoint. However, I sense that people are far more open than we might imagine to having space for discovery through their own bodies and actions, rather than merely consuming a completed image or a readily understandable message unilaterally.Furthermore, perhaps what audiences seek in design is not just absolute perfection, but the experimental quality born from trial and error, and an attitude that dares to challenge the unseen. DESIGNTIDE is a platform where exhibitors present new possibilities. I believe that the graphic identity should not remain a mere background supporting the event; it must be an active participant that continues to push boundaries alongside the exhibitors.In that sense, the 2024 identity is not a final, completed form, but a single step in an ongoing process. Embracing the feedback and reactions from this iteration, it is essential to sustain this philosophy and develop it into our next expression.
In selecting the materials, my primary focus was not merely on the visual impression, but on the specific role each material played within the principles of this identity.This graphic experience is realized through the interplay among the viewer's physical body, the distance between the slits and the underlying image, the light, and the thickness and transparency of the materials. Therefore, the choices of wood, acrylic, and fabric were not decorative decisions meant to simply display the same motif on different surfaces. I selected them because each possesses distinct physical properties that alter how the images manifest and how the space is experienced.At the same time, when producing large-scale spatial graphics, it is impossible to entirely avoid environmental impact. Because events are brief by nature, it is easy to fall into a structure where vast amounts of materials are utilized to generate a powerful short-term visual effect, only to be immediately discarded. I feel this is an issue that must be confronted every time we engage in physical design.My decision to repurpose the acrylic used at the venue after the event concluded stemmed from a desire to integrate the after-life of the materials into the production requirements themselves. While reusing materials does not eliminate environmental impact altogether, I believed it was meaningful to secure their subsequent use in advance, rather than treating them as short-lived display items to be thrown away after a brief exhibition period.Personally, I believe that physical experiences possess a value that cannot be completely replicated by digital means. Having people actually walk through the space, shift their distance from the materials, and discover visual transformations through their own bodies was the absolute core of this identity. Photographs and videos alone cannot convey that experience in the same form.However, I do not believe that any physical production can be justified solely on the grounds that "physical experience has value." What is essential is to critically examine each element: whether the experience truly cannot exist without that specific scale or material, whether consumption can be reduced, whether components can be converted to other uses, and whether the production has become excessive relative to its short-term effect.Physical production should be pursued only when a scale itself is not the ultimate goal, but rather when that scale is essential to generating a unique physical relationship. Beyond that, the scope of design must encompass durability, repurposing, and the fate of the materials after disassembly. While we do not yet possess a perfect solution, we believe it is necessary to accept these contradictions as inherent conditions of production, rather than rendering them invisible.
When observing an object, people naturally alter their way of seeing depending on its scale and the context in which it is placed. If it is a small object, they hold it in their hands and change its angle. If it is large, they approach, step back, or shift their eye level to inspect both the whole and its details. Even with the exact same visual expression, the way people interact with it and how it is perceived differ fundamentally between printed matter and physical space.Within this identity, my team consciously designed the experience so that distinct images emerge in response to these natural physical movements. However, instead of guiding the viewer toward a single "correct" way of seeing, our goal was to create a state where individuals can discover transformations in their own way, as they explore their own distance and position.In an era where diverse values coexist, rather than presenting a single, fixed vision, I wondered if the very "way of seeing" or "mode of perception" appropriate to the subject and medium could itself be treated as the medium of design.I believe that brand identity is not merely about consolidating complex entities into a single, simplified image. It is about deeply confronting the context in which the subject is situated and its relationship with people, unraveling what should remain fixed and what should be left open to change. Through this project, I felt that identity is not just about the imagery we display, but about designing how people perceive it and forge a relationship with it.
From a technical standpoint, the greatest innovation was integrating relationships along the depth dimension, moving beyond the two-dimensional shifts typical of standard scanimation.While designing the kinetic typography and structural transformations—such as condensed, extended, and italic states—along the X and Y axes, I introduced a physical distance between the slits and the underlying image along the Z axis. By carefully calibrating the distance between the slits and the graphic, alongside the viewer's position and eye level relative to it, entirely different letterforms and images emerge. This mechanism transforms the work from a simple, unidirectional animation into a structure where multiple visual expressions can be discovered through the viewer's physical positioning.What I want to convey to students and young designers is the importance of first determining the core experience you wish to create, rather than chasing the novelty of a technique from the outset. From there, you can treat not only the graphics but also the properties of the materials, the way of seeing, and the distance to the subject as a singular, unified design. The craft of this project lay not in demonstrating complex technology, but in developing a simple principle into a comprehensive experience that encompasses both the body and the space.