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DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

Tabineko Illustration Illustration Calendar by Toshinori Mori Receives the Bronze A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design

The international grand jury of the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Toshinori Mori for graphics, illustration and visual communication design

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 22, 2020 /DesignNewswire/ Tabineko Illustration Illustration Calendar by Toshinori Mori has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The result belongs to the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

About the Bronze A' Design Award

The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.

About Tabineko Illustration Illustration Calendar

This series of illustrations was drawn by a Japanese illustrator, Toshinori Mori, for a calendar. Cats traveling are drawn with gentle colors and simple touches against the background of the four seasons of Japan. Illustrations are drawn in Adobe Illustrator. Although it is a digital illustration, it is designed to give a natural feel by adding fine irregularities to the contours and adding a texture like paper scraps on the surface.

About Toshinori Mori

He is a freelance illustrator in Japan. He was born in Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture and now live in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture. He draws the "Tabineko" illustration series, which is modeled on the domestic cat "Guri" (10-year-old tabby cat) and an outside cat coming to the garden. The "Tabineko" illustration series depicts beautiful Japanese four seasons and a cat that travels, starting with the 12 pieces exhibited at the "Calendar Exhibition" in 2011, and has drawn 42 pieces to date. He sells calendars, postcards, art prints, etc. based on this illustration online at handmade marketplaces such as Etsy, pinkoi, minne, and Creema.

Award Record

This recognition makes Toshinori Mori a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award

The A' Graphic Design Award is an international graphic design competition recognizing good graphic designs by best creative agencies and designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to graphic designers, communication designers, graphic artists and illustrators from all countries. Typical entries include logos, posters, infographics, brochures, packaging designs and business cards. The awarded graphic designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/graphics

About A' Design Award & Competition

Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project
Tabineko Illustration Illustration Calendar
Function
Illustration Calendar
Category
Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
Discipline
Communication Design
Industry
Branding & Advertising and Arts
Colors
Powder Blue, Yellow Green, Olive Drab, Beige and Dark Sea Green
Images
5

The Recognition

Laureate
Toshinori Mori
Country
Japan
Recognition
Bronze A' Design Award
Edition
2019 - 2020
Design ID
#100878

Credits

Team
Me alone
Image Credits
Illustrator Toshinori Mori, Green wind, 2015.; Illustrator Toshinori Mori, Hanami at the station, 2014.; Illustrator Toshinori Mori, Snow sake brewery, 2020.; Illustrator Toshinori Mori, Autumn color patchwork, 2018.; Illustrator Toshinori Mori, Christmas song, 2018.

Design Details

Unique Properties
Tabineko illustration calendar allows cats to travel in an ordinary and ubiquitous landscape. Viewers are more likely to empathize as if their cat is traveling freely in the neighborhood. In addition, flowers, mountain scenery, roadside plants, weather, etc. are drawn according to the season, so viewers can feel the wind of each season in the house
Inspiration
I like riding a bicycle through the four seasons. When I decided to make a calendar, I decided to make an illustration of the landscape I saw on a bicycle. However, I thought that the landscape alone was a bit lonely, so I added the cat I had at that time to the landscape. The result is the "Tabneko" illustration series.
Research
Digital illustration using Adobe Illustrator. I take a picture of my favorite scenery on a bicycle walk and draw it based on it. Cats model their own cats as models. Because it is for calendars, colors and plants are selected to give the seasonal feeling of each month. In addition, I am thinking about the combination of colors that can reproduce the images of the beautiful four seasons I felt. In order to eliminate digital slipperiness, paper shading is added.
Challenge
Because it is digital, what you print is what you actually see. So I try to adjust the saturation and color many times to get the desired color. I sometimes print dozens of sheets until I get the color I like. The problem was that the ink on my printer (a very old printer) was out of print, and I couldn't get the same color. New printers have low saturation and do not produce beautiful colors.
Realization and Technology
Calendars are handmade. The designer cuts the output from the printer by month and attaches it to the backing paper with a stopper. The prints, adjusted and output many times until the designer is satisfied, entertain the viewer with vivid colors. The material of the calendar (including the stopper) is made of paper and can be discarded as burning garbage.In addition to being usable as a wall calendar, it can also be used as a desk calendar by standing on the attached stand.
Operation and Interaction
Postcards, calendars, art posters, etc. are sold at marketplaces such as Etsy, and are sold at private exhibition venues in Tokyo and Nagaoka using Tabineko illustrations.
Project Duration and Location
The illustration series was first exhibited at a group exhibition held in Tokyo, Japan in 2011, and has been produced continuously at my home in Nagaoka, Japan until March 2020.
Specifications
Wall Calendar :18cm x 25cm (B5) Art Poster:A4.A3.A2
Keywords
Tabineko, Toshinori Mori, Illustration, Japan, Japanese, Cat, Landscape, Art, travel, Happiness

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