2025.04.08

Nippon Kodo Group Announces New Group Identity and Logo

Nippon Kodo Group has announced its new Group Identity and Logo.

Group Identity
Transported by fragrance. Nippon Kodo Group

Logo

The Origin and Philosophy Behind the New GI and CI

We aimed for a design that would be both global and enduring over the long term, and we collaborated with the internationally acclaimed typeface designer, Akira Kobayashi. Mr. Kobayashi’s concept was based on a typeface that retains the vestiges of hand-written scripts from Western Europe around the 6th century. By elevating this typeface into a logo with a generous width, we sought to express the 450-year-long, almost timeless history of Nippon Kodo. The result, we believe, possesses a subtly Oriental impression, fitting for a group whose business is scent.

The logotype is composed entirely of capital letters, with the N and K slightly enlarged. This approach follows the existing design philosophy that Nippon Kodo has employed for many years. Extending from this, the mark is composed of the initials N and K. In the spirit of inheriting tradition, the brand color of Nippon Kodo Co., Ltd. also follows suit: the red and blue used in the former logotype have been combined to create purple (named NK Purple).

This is the first renewal in 60 years. We aimed to inherit the good tradition while introducing a new vitality. We hope that it will be used for a long time.

Kaoru Kasai
Art Director / SunAd

Born in Sapporo in 1949. Joined SunAd Ltd. in 1973 and currently serves as an advisor to the company. His work encompasses advertising production and art direction for clients such as Suntory, United Arrows, and Toraya, as well as a wide range of activities including CI planning, package design, and book design. Recent works include the movie poster for director Junji Sakamoto’s Sekai no Okiku, the book design for Ichiro Yamaguchi’s Kotoba 2: A Notebook for My Own Training (Seidosha), and the photo book K2 by Naoki Ishikawa (Shogakukan). His publications include Zuroku Kaoru Kasai 1968 (ADP).

Akira Kobayashi
Type Director / Monotype

Creative Type Director at Monotype GmbH in Germany. He has twice won the grand prize in the text category of the international typeface competition for Latin typefaces, and has been living in Germany since 2001. Since 2011, he has worked on custom fonts for companies including Sony, Bridgestone, Mitsui & Co., Alibaba, UBS, and Mercari. His publications include Oubun Shotai, Oubun Shotai 2, Font no Fushigi, Machi Moji, Eibun Sign no Design (co-authored with Mari Tashiro), and Oubun Shotai no Tsukurikata.