LogoArchive Akogare

In the words of Richard Baird, the idea behind the latest issue of his LogoArchive zine is, “to evoke — through materials, processes, form, content and ‘atmosphere and ceremony’ — ‘akogare,’ a deep feeling of respect and admiration for those I look up to, and a feeling of never being able to reach the same level.

Japanese publications such as IDEA and ‘Graphic Design,’ and the works of Japanese designers Issey Miyake, Ikko Tanaka, and Kazumasa Nagai were key inspirations for this new issue.

“Hugh internationally used show-through to complete the picture, thus the booklet becomes a layered object that can be unfolded, deconstructed and understood in different ways.”

The booklet is formed using three A3 sheets of Takeo Tela 80gsm paper, printed both sides, folded down and collated into an A5 booklet. The issue also features an insert where, using a heated die, Takeo Pachica is rendered semi-transparent to tell the story of the Mitsubishi logo.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Yataro Iwasaki
Automotive Industry

三菱自動車工業株式会社岩崎弥太郎
自動車産業
1870

One of the few symbols to have remained in place and largely unchanged for over one and a half centuries is the three-diamond logo of Mitsubishi. Yet, having been around for so long, and now operating in an international market, its origins are not widely known.

The logo chosen by Mitsubishi founder Yataro Iwasaki speaks of the history of Japan and its visual language of “mon,” a word that covers the crests, emblems and symbols that were used to communicate clan allegiances and family associations before there was widespread literacy.

The logo weaves together the forms of the three-leaf crest of the Tosa Clan, Iwasaki’s first employer, and the three stacked rhombuses of the Iwasaki family. It is a unique and unusual intersection of two crests and elegant in the simplicity of its form. The Mitsubishi logo sits comfortably and distinctively amongst the corporate symbols of the 20th and 21st century.