Yokai Masks

A personal surface pattern design project with the theme of yokai: creatures from Japanese myth and folklore.

Role: Graphic Designer

Tools used: CLIP STUDIO PAINT, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo

The Problem

I like decorating my spaces with things that appeal to my aesthetic tastes and express who I am. Unfortunately, there's a dearth of items that fulfill those wants in my vicinity. I look for quirky, busy, and/or punchy designs, but shops tend to sell minimalist, muted, and generic designs (And florals. Too many florals). There are just not enough prints that are ME enough.

The Solution

Simple! If I wasn't happy with what I could find on the market, then I’d try my hand at designing what I wanted to see in my living spaces myself!

The Target Audience

PRIMARY - First and foremost, I was my own primary target audience. The pattern definitely had to be something I would want to buy. 😆

SECONDARY - My secondary target audience was people aged 15-30 who share a similar interest in yokai, Japanese culture, and graphic art styles. They could also see themselves as being different from the crowd somehow and want to celebrate that rather than hide.

TERTIARY - The tertiary audience for the project was brands who view my portfolio and are potential licensors of my work. They'd ideally be brands that sell apparel, stationery or home & living products aimed at the secondary audience, gamers, sneakerheads, artists, and/or designers.

The Pattern

For this surface pattern's theme, I picked yokai - creatures commonly found in Japanese myth, folklore, horror, and urban legends - because I'm a big fan of the stuff (just look at a list of my favorite stories, games, and shows, and you’ll see). There are many of them, so I limited the selection to my favourite kinds of yokai.

So! The theme was very me? Check. Products sporting yokai designs are practically a myth themselves in my city? Check. This was the perfect theme for a custom surface pattern!

In addition to the pattern's theme, I made several other design choices to come up with something that really celebrated my aesthetic preferences:

Illustration Style - I'm used to illustrating based on clients’ needs and wants, but for this project, I decided it was necessary that I use my personal style. So, the illustrations were graphic, linework-heavy, and detailed!

Angle - I illustrated the masks in a ¾ position and angle them in diagonal rows to add energy to the pattern, because I felt that flat lay masks, and horizontal or vertical rows would look too subdued and still.

Spacing - In order to make the pattern look busy and feel more chaotic (just the kinds of energy I love), I arranged the masks close together since having them far apart would look too calm and peaceful.

Colourways - Colour is definitely an aspect of a product I look at when deciding which variation to buy (I steer clear from anything in blue, for example). For this pattern, I picked colourways that had high contrast and were composed of colours I liked. I also made “light” and “dark” versions to have more options.

Product Selection - In selecting product mockups, I thought about what kinds of products I’d like to see the pattern on, and actually use in my life. I also thought about what the secondary and tertiary audiences would want to buy. These are some of them:

The result of the yokai theme selection and my various design decisions was a surface pattern that expressed me. It was quirky, busy, and, punchy, and just the kind of thing I wanted to see on products I use in my life, like my comforter, mousepad, and mobile phone case. I felt excited to have it printed on products and use them in my personal space, and it would also give visitors who see the pattern a feel of who I am.

Moving Forward

Critiquing the project after its completion, I can say that the pattern can improve in colourway development. Having a wider variety of palettes to choose from would increase the chances of target buyers making a purchase since even within those groups, colour preferences are varied!

In a market saturated with minimalist, muted, and generic surface patterns (at least in my part of the world), I welcome opportunities to help other (awesomely) weird individuals express themselves by designing patterns that truly cater to their aesthetic needs.