@jeanxcrj
The Oki Sato poster laid over spreads from the booklet
  • Design Hero
  • Poster
  • Booklet
  • Motion
  • Typography

Small moments,
larger systems.

A semester-long study of Oki Sato, founder of NENDO:
his playfulness, his modularity and his eye for everyday moments,
translated into a poster, a booklet and a motion piece
that grow small, simple forms into larger systems.

Read the full process: Poster ↗
Read the full process: Booklet ↗

CourseDesign Hero
TimelineSpring 2026, 12 weeks
RoleVisual and motion design,
sole designer
ToolsFigma, Illustrator,
Photoshop, After Effects

Poster

The Oki Sato poster: isometric type and line drawings in black and white
Poster detail: the extruded letterforms
Poster detail: the corner curling up off the table

Type built like one of NENDO’s objects: simple strokes extruded into space, small marks adding up to one large form.

Booklet

The booklet’s front and back covers: OKI SATO and The Quiet Exclamation
Every spread of the fifteen-page booklet laid out flat

A fifteen-page booklet on Oki Sato’s life and practice.

System

Everything is set in greyscale: one typeface, Satoshi, with isometric line drawings and seven patterns. The only colour on any page comes from his own work, so his objects are what bring colour to the system.

Chocolatexture by Nendo: nine chocolates, each a different texture

Every pattern starts as one of Nendo’s Chocolatexture shapes (2015). Each repeats until it fills a square, and the squares turn isometric to become surfaces in the booklet.

Hand-drawn vector isometric chairs, inspired by his 50 Manga Chairs series, carried across the poster, booklet and motion as part of the system.

The timeline spread, 1977 to 2025, drawn as one isometric landscape
The In Practice spread: his work from everyday objects to cultural landmarks

Motion

Clips from the motion piece, animated in After Effects.

The full motion piece.

Process

Five iterations of the final poster, from rough sketch to isometric type

Refining one direction, from a rough sketch to the final isometric poster.

Oki Sato’s work sorted on two axes: physical scale, and a grey-to-colour bar
Categorising his work, by scale and by colour.
Ten early poster explorations in greyscale
First poster explorations: ten directions, all in greyscale.
Designing for the Ordinary, exploration 1Designing for the Ordinary, exploration 2Designing for the Ordinary, exploration 3Designing for the Ordinary, exploration 4Designing for the Ordinary, exploration 5Designing for the Ordinary, exploration 6
“Designing for the Ordinary”: the Tokyo 2020 cauldron rebuilt from lines and modular patterns.

Reflection

What became most meaningful to me throughout the process was recognizing how consistent Oki Sato’s philosophy is across everything he says and designs. His emphasis on simplicity, warmth, functionality, play, and “pleasant mistakes” really shaped the way I approached the work. I liked the idea that design does not need to be loud or overly complex to feel meaningful, and I grew to appreciate the monotone nature of the design system paired with sparks of colour from his work.

Most importantly, this project reminded me how much design lives in details. Good design is rarely about one huge idea alone, but about carefully shaping hundreds of subtle decisions that collectively create a feeling.