Our client was a professional animator and anime enthusiast who dreamed of opening a collectibles store to cater to people who shared her passion for toys, collectibles and the culture they engender. She asked us to create a memorable brand which could be classy and fun at the same time.

Our approach found its inspiration in the bubbly, positive style of toy branding and culture. The anime and collectibles scene is characterized by vibrant colour and hyperreal textures and symbolism. We created an iconic wordmark that stands boldly in the black and gold favoured by our client - which is seen in all the core materials - but still maintains the flexibility to appear in a seemingly endless variety of colours and textures when required. We also developed a comprehensive style guide to maintain the integrity of the core mark, while allowing a “long leash” for different applications to make use of the brand in diverse and creative ways.

In addition, the brief specified we incorporate a representation of the octopus, a symbol important to our client. We developed a stylized octopus glyph which could be used on supporting materials as a subtle, almost subversive secondary brand mark.

The client loved our approach and used the logomark in dozens of applications from gift cards to apparel. SOJI brand and the SOJI octoglyph quickly became one of the most recognizable retail marks in the collectibles industry.