Concept
Tokyo: Scent and the City
A visual feature produced for a special on Tokyo in the fashion magazine WWD Japan.
The Brief
The brief form WWD Japan, publisher of the fashion periodical WWD Magazine, was to produce a ten-page spread for a special issue dedicated to Tokyo. In the special, they wanted to capture a magical side of Tokyo no one had ever seen.
The Solution
We decided to depict Tokyo through the medium of scent.
Our aim was to create a surreal effect with fragrances virtually emanating from the page.
Tokyo is voracious. It readily absorbs cultures from all over the globe. Amble its streets, and the aromas of New York and Paris and a myriad of other cities caress your nose. To capture that aspect of its charm, we laid out a vast number of perfume bottles gathered from all over the world to represent the buildings of the city, and thus produced several fanciful cityscapes.
The Result
The response from readers was so incredible that the client decided to produce a set of posters using the visuals from the magazine. The posters were displayed at the party held in honor of the issue's appearance, the publisher's gallery space, and certain bookstores. The magazine kept selling until it was completely sold out — a first in the magazine's history.