Collaborative illustration for a periodical celebrating difference in the creative community
Rare with Google/Semi PermanentYear
2020
Created with
Masa Tanaka
Editor/ADKumi Tominaga
RARE with Google 2021 Annual
"is confinement killing our creativity?
Or is it fueling it because we have more time to imagine?"
Our friend Kumi Tominaga asked Masa and I to create an illustration for the chapter she was editing in the Rare with Google 2020 Annual. The chapter's theme is "Locked Down"—Tokyo was finally starting to see a spike in cases and was joining the rest of the world in taking measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. Even so, it's possible to find a silver lining—working from home means no commute and so more time for hobbies (new and old), and being denied the normal outlets for letting off some steam means finding new avenues in which to channel our energies.
With Kumi as editor and AD, we created an illustration of a (suspiciously familiar...) woman standing up to stretch in a nest of in-progress activities. We tried to show that the blurring between work and leisure-work can be a good thing, when it's voluntary and self-directed; this very much reflected our approach to the lockdown time as well. In Kumi’s words, "Locked down, but we're not beat down"
The final book, produced by Semi Permanent, is a treat, and it was an honor to have our work appear alongside insights from a truly diverse assortment of contributors.