Koi Tokyo may be produced in Japan, but it was born in İstanbul. When the client approached us,

they had high end products, but not a brand. They were a manufacturer from Japan, which sold

no-name products and also was an OEM provider for leading global cosmetic brands. Along with their Turkish partner, they wanted to enter the Turkish cosmetic market. And so, Koi Tokyo was born… From the naming of the brand to the visual identity of the stores, Koi Tokyo was an A to Z brand-building project. 

 

The project started with the naming of the brand. We had to find something, which is easy to pronounce, understand and write in both Japanese and Turkish. At the same time, we wanted to emphasize the brand’s Japanese origin. Koi was among our favorites because of the word’s Japanese sound and its legibility in Turkish. The word’s meaning, which is “love”, was suited well
to the product range as well. After the name was decided, a logo influenced by Japanese brush strokes was designed. 

 

The second phase was the packaging. Inspired by the natural ingredients of the product lines and minimalistic Japanese design culture, a simple green packaging was chosen. The visual design
language of the brand was created in this phase as well, using traditional Japanese style
illustration elements. 

 

At this point products and brand’s visual character was set, next step was the stores and printed corporate materials. Business cards, shopping bags, invoices, wrapping paper, wall graphics and posters were designed. The last but not the least phase was the communication. The brand’s
tone of voice was constructed around the concepts such as: Japanese origins, purity, naturalness and high quality. The project was finalized with the production of leaflets, brochures, coupons, posters, banners, a web site and the ongoing communication materials.