KDI TATSUO KANNAMI

I am proud to say that CARTE, cosmetics brand, was the most impressive project for me, ever since starting my own design office in 1985. This project started in 1988, more than 30 years ago from now, and I believe this turned out to be the milestone for the future brand business, both for my client and myself. When KOSE told me that they were eager to create a department store brand to newly enter the market, I felt we would need a completely fresh approach. Although it was my first cosmetics branding in full scale, since I was allowed to cover a wide range of creative directions, such as product development, ad production and store development, I decided to hire Mark Kostabi, a New-York-based modern artist. Traditionally, cosmetics visuals had focused on things like women's facial expressions, their looks and skin quality, but I took a chance by using his inorganic human figure and expressionless face. KOSE was already a major company, although not as successful as now, so I have no..