IC4Design Visits 3x3

Hirofumi Kamigaki and Daisuke Matsubara from IC4Design and designer Ryuji Mizuoka dropped by the studio on Friday along with their translator. They were all on their way to the opening of National Train Day in Washington D.C. IC4Design is an illustration design firm in Hiroshima and has done work in America for The New York Times Magazine and the recent poster for National Train Day as well as numerous other projects in Japan.

Their work is highly complex renderings of people and buildings and very unlike what we commonly think of as Japanese illustration—it has a very universal look. Their renderings always include bits of humor with the additions of superheroes or monsters walking along the street or hidden in an alley.

This was their first trip to the city and were interested in learning more about American illustrators and working in the US as well as soaking up our urban landscape. Unfortunately they were only here for a couple of days so instead of full-blown sketches they are relying on their camera to capture the sites and scenes of New York City.

Left to right: Ryuji Mizuoka, Daisuke Matsubara, Hirofumi Kamigaki