Turn yourself into an Avatar!
I think of Groovisions as Japan’s answer to Julian Opie. Perhaps it’s mainly because I discovered Julian Opie’s work around the same time I started seeing Chappie everywhere (the characters / portraits designed by Groovisions studio), in the late 90s. There is a undeniable similarity in their colourful, icon like vector portraits that reduce facial features to simple, bold graphics.
The two founding members of Groovisions started out as a DJ duo called Groove Quest in the early nineties. Hiroshi Ito was an artist and University lecturer too. He was starting to feel exposed and exhausted by the constant need to self express and put yourself out there as an Artist. He realised that working on design projects for clients, where the focus is on the project and clients was much better suited to him.
They launched their design studio in the mid nineties, and moved from Kyoto, to Tokyo in 1997. Since then, Chappie, and the Groovisions fun vector style have become a Japanese design staple, gracing everything from CD covers to TV advertisements. You can even find Chappie mannequins in department stores!
They also exhibit art shows, and in 2001 were part of the Superflat Exhibition curated by Takashi Murakami.
You can download the “Make your own Chappie” app here. Look I made my face!
The Groovisions studio has now grown to 10 or so Designers. They aren’t making a particular effort to keep it at that size but coincidentally, it’s the size that works best for them. I’ve read many interviews with them (clearly I’m a big fan of both their style and ethos) and a few things stuck out for me.
The principals of the founding Designers’ have not changed. It’s still all about being pragmatic and creating fun and effective designs to meet their clients needs. Some Graphic Designers create designs to impress other Graphic Designers, but their focus will always be to look at things from they viewpoint of the general public. I think this is super important and constantly keep it in mind too. Thank you Groovisions for continuing to inspire me over all these years. Check out their website here.
About Natalie Ex Design Studio
Hello, my name is Nat. I’m a qualified and experienced Illustrator and Graphic Designer in Melbourne. I have a Bachelor of Visual Communication Design and over 18 years of industry experience in illustration, graphic design and digital marketing.
The trademark Natalie Ex aesthetic is a playful and polished clean line style, inspired by my half Japanese upbringing.