Nagano / Japan/ City Branding

Nagano is a Japanese city situated in the North, away from the usual travel destinations of Tokyo and Hokkaido. The design challenge of this project is to highlight the attractions of this city to lure travelers. Nagano has beautiful views of nature and is well known for the local snow monkey. For Nagano’s new city identity, natural colors like green and blue represent for fresh air and the local flora. A stylized illustration of the famed snow monkey is used for a recognizable city identity and to increase tourism. Special event and directional signage use the monkey combined with natural motifs such as leaves and mountains for a variety of icons. In addition to signage applications, apparel and accessories were created to help integrate tourism with the city.