Graphic Design That Works

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Job:12-84823 Title:RP-Graphic Design That Works

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joel nakamura paintings & illustrations

Spiritual Icons

Illustrator Joel Nakamura needed a way to introduce a

new style to his repertoire of work while still maintaining

the promotion of his signature style that he had become

well-known for doing. “I wanted a promotion that

showed different projects and would function in two

ways—one, as a vehicle for prospecting illustration

clients; and two, as catalog for collectors who buy paintings,”

shares Nakamura. The biggest challenge for the artist

was trying to edit his vast collection of work into a

cohesive yet diverse sampling. “Making the right

selections was important,” notes Nakamura. “I wanted

to show work that would be interesting to a variety of

clients, from record companies and corporations to

galleries. I also wanted to show my ability to think

and solve problems.”

CLIENT:

Joel Nakamura is an illustrator

and fine artist working in

Santa Fe, New Mexico.

FIRM:

Joel Nakamura

Paintings & Illustrations

ART DIRECTOR:

Joel Nakamura

DESIGNER:

Greg Hally, Hally O’Toole Design

ILLUSTRATOR:

Joel Nakamura

ABOVE: The handsome brochure

contains Nakamura’s well-known

mythological and spiritual illus-

trations. Each piece is subtly

identified on a small sheet, which

can be flipped back and forth on

the spiral binding. The highly

textural cover features the

artist’s logo, and the solid pages

highlight the images and show off

the patterns that appear within

Nakamura’s work.

Graphic Design That Works

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Text (DS)

Job:12-84823 Title:RP-Graphic Design That Works

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175# Dtp:22 Page:247

NEW)

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What Works

The promotional duo not only helped the artist to

maintain his current market presence but also opened

doors for a new body of work to flourish. Because the

slide viewer was such a novel item, it captured the

attention of buyers, who held onto the promotional

piece for just the right assignment. “So many illustra-

tion promotions go into the round file, the trash can. I

feel pretty good that about 95% of the time, people

have kept these promotions and shared them with

other designers,” says Nakamura. “Both the catalog

and slide box have brought in a lot of work for me.”

The promotion ended up in the hands of the Olympic

Organizing Committee—landing work for the artist

with the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. “If you

can put good things out there, they will always pay

off down the road,” he concludes.

To capture a new and unexplored audience, Nakamura

created an interesting package that highlighted his

new creative endeavors. “It is what I call my primitive

work. It’s about line, color, and pattern—more distilled

down than my illustration work. A lot of people respond

to it, and it has allowed me to venture into different

areas,” says Nakamura. “Because it’s interactive, it was

a great way to debut a different wrinkle to what I do.”

The slide promotion, although complex, was quite easy

for Nakamura to produce. “I went to an ad specialty

company. They printed the viewer, duped the slides,

printed the stickers, and put everything together in

a box,” he shares. The artist finds that advertising

specialty catalogs are a great way to get ideas for

interesting promotions, especially ones not typically

seen in the illustration or fine arts industries. “It’s the

kind of promotion that someone is going to get curious

about sooner or later, and they are not going to throw

it away,” Nakamura adds. To maintain market presence

in his signature style, a brochure was also created to

beautifully display Nakamura’s mythological and

spiritual illustrations.

ABOVE AND LEFT: The customized

promotional package contains a

viewer, slides of the artist’s new

primitive work, and a business

card. It is flexible enough to be

sent as a self-mailer or as part

of another promotion.

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