KODANSHA｜HERALBONY Project

Artists of HERALBONY add color to the Kodansha symbol

The symbol, designed with the initial “K” of Kodansha, was decorated in collaboration with HERALBONY Co., Ltd.

Each of the ten corporate colors representing diversity features a creation by an artist with disability. Through these original artworks, we will share stories with the world.

We hope that the stories we weave together with HERALBONY will transcend all boundaries to reach many people and contribute to the spread of free and diverse values.

Concept Movie

News

Symbol

White - marina

White

This white symbol was created using the typography of unique characters written in a notebook.
It brings together distinctive features from multiple works.

Featured work

marina

Artist

Tokyo Prefecture

About the artist

Marina began creating art at the age of 12 and among the various creative methods she uses, her favorite is a technique that looks like letters written all over a notebook. Only she knows the true nature of this typography, which is written in a fluid, running style.

Instagram (Video)

Black - Hiroyuki Ukai

Black

This symbol is presented in a black circle motif symbolizing the artist’s style whose many works feature pages covered in drawings done in a black ballpoint pen.

Featured work

Hiroyuki Ukai

Artist

Atelier Yamanami, Shiga Prefecture

About the artist

Hiroyuki Ukai fills pieces of paper with numerous circles using a black ballpoint pen. Watching him at work, it seems that he repeats these countless circles of various sizes at random, but before long, the circles become neatly balanced and arranged in rows, as if he had planned it out from the beginning.

Instagram (Video)

Pink - Misaki Oya

Pink

The organic triangles and squares that form this symbol are from an artwork that is meticulously composed and vividly colored akin to castles from anime.

Featured work

Misaki Oya

Artist

Atelier Yamanami, Shiga Prefecture

About the artist

Misaki Oya’s artworks are usually centered around castles reflecting those that appear [A7] in girls’ anime depicted in coloring books. She mainly uses pink, yellow, and light blue, which are the colors of the main characters in the anime she uses as inspiration.[A8]

Instagram (Video)

Red - Yukihito Okabe

Red

Created by one of HERALBONY’s representative artists, this symbol reflects the red hues found in richly colored paintings produced as byproducts of the creative process.

Featured work

Yukihito Okabe

Artist

THE GARDEN OF HOPE, Mie Prefecture

About the artist

Yukihito Okabe begins by coloring a surface using crayons. He then scrapes off that color with a needle and collects the leftover crayon shavings, which he plays with like clay as he creates his work. In fact, the mass of crayon shavings (which he calls koroichi ) is his true work, and he is not interested in the resulting painting.

Instagram (Video)

Orange - Masahiro Fukui

Orange

This symbol combines two paintings—one of rudbeckia and one of hibiscus—by an artist who paints rows of flowers in acrylic paint.

Featured work

Masahiro Fukui

Artist

Artspace Colorful Institute, Tottori Prefecture

About the artist

Masahiro Fukui creates art by looking at motifs and painting with acrylic paint. He has been painting flowers as motifs for many years, recently focusing on one flower, sometimes painting it continuously for months.

Instagram (Video)

Yellow - fuco:

Yellow

This symbol is a recreation, pulling out the finest parts from pieces that feature colorful square motifs born from the artist’s unique point of view and meticulous attention to detail.

Featured work

fuco:

Artist

Saga Prefecture

About the artist

fuco: started creating art after her mother handed her a pen and paper and asked her to draw some circles. It has been five years since she started drawing circles. Recently, she has also branched out into different motifs, continuing to take joy in drawing circles, triangles and squares on a large canvas daily.

Instagram (Video)

Green - Hiroo Suzuki

Green

This symbol combines two artworks featuring a prominent use of green.
It leverages a unique touch created by painting with paint applied directly to both hands.

Featured work

『Ambition: The Challenge Begins - A New Venture for the Man of the Year』

Hiroo Suzuki

Artist

Nozomi-no-ie, Tokyo Prefecture

About the artist

Hiroo Suzuki begins by covering both hands with lots of paint. He then faces the canvas, spreads out his fingers, and paints as if he’s beating a drum . He loves music, so when he hears a song with a good rhythm, moving his whole body as he paints.

Instagram (Video)

Sky - Kaoru Iga

Sky

This symbol is a rearrangement of the colors employed by an artist who uses diverse blue tones.
The texture derived from painting with painting knives has been preserved.

Featured work

Kaoru Iga

Artist

Tokyo Prefecture

About the artist

Kaoru Iga uses various artistic materials such as colored pencils, pastels, and paints. When painting, he particularly enjoys using painting knives. Recently, he has expanded his repertoire to include abstract and representational (still life) paintings. Alongside his passion for painting, he has also spent two decades learning the cello, and his focused gaze while playing leaves a lasting impression.

Instagram (Video)

Navy - Midori Kudo

Navy

This symbol is a collaboration with one of HERALBONY’s iconic works.
It combines pointillism with the accumulation of fine lines drawn with a blue felt-tip pen.

Featured work

Midori Kudo

Artist

Lumbini Museum of Art, Iwate Prefecture

About the artist

When Midori Kudo draws, she does not have an end product in mind. Instead, she finds something in the accumulation of dots and short lines that she draws to her heart’s content and becomes endlessly immersed in that world.

Instagram (Video)

Purple - Yasutaka Minami

Purple

This symbol, made up of countless small motifs, was created by an artist who draws to fill an entire piece of paper.

Featured work

Yasutaka Minami

Artist

Atelier Yoohoo!!, Kyoto Prefecture

About the artist

Yasutaka Minami fills the paper with drawings of his face and the faces of those close to him. He values the act of filling the page over several months until there are no more gaps.

Instagram (Video)