Each project that we undertake is also an education; and none more so that the rebranding of Dejima Asset Management.
My knowledge of Japanese history can’t even be passed off as rusty – non-existent would be more accurate. However, I do know that the superb 1961 samurai film, Yojimbo, was remade as A Fistful of Dollars in 1964…
The history of the artificial island of Dejima, however, is fascinating. In 1634, the shōgun Iemitsu ordered the construction of the artificial island in order to accommodate the Portuguese traders living in Nagasaki – and prevent the propagation of their religion to the mainland.
Dejima thus became a trading post with the west. The name was well suited therefore for Dejima Asset Management, which is a London based LLP that manages the Japan Synthetic Warrant Fund (JSW), a synthetic warrant fund investing in Japan.
Tinstar Design was approached with a brief to redesign the logo and suite of stationery and marketing material, as well as create visuals for a new-look website.
The brief required that the logo contained strong references both to Dejima itself (a crescent shaped island) and the trading ships of the period; specifically the East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company. A number of concepts and visuals were created and developed before the client settled on the final design.
Some initial rough sketches created for in-house reference. These scamps determine which designs merit refinement and subsequently submission to the client for consideration.
Refined visuals are submitted for consideration
This visual is very close to the final design
Some initial rough sketches for the website design
