The Graffiti
Ryo Orikasa
The Graffiti
Ryo Orikasa
- Hook
- A four-panel monochrome board of photographic documentation: two flat surfaces covered in dense handwriting and two views of stacked, scattered blocks bearing characters.
- Hierarchy
- The 2×2 structure is read first, then the few high-contrast large marks, then the fine textural writing that rewards close viewing.
- Energy
- All lettering is hand-drawn or physically inscribed at wildly varying scales and angles, from a few large gestural characters to fields of tiny marks; no typeset text appears anywhere.
- Transfer
- Document one idea at several distances in a fixed grid so scale contrast alone builds the narrative, and strip colour when the material texture is already doing the work.
Why it works
Repetition of one subject at four distances turns individual marks into a single texture, and holding everything greyscale keeps a chaotic surface readable as one field.
What to borrow
Document one idea at several distances in a fixed grid so scale contrast alone builds the narrative, and strip colour when the material texture is already doing the work.
Look closer
CompositionOpenClose
A four-panel monochrome board of photographic documentation: two flat surfaces covered in dense handwriting and two views of stacked, scattered blocks bearing characters. The panels sit in an even 2×2 grid with thin white gutters and no type of their own.
TypographyOpenClose
All lettering is hand-drawn or physically inscribed at wildly varying scales and angles, from a few large gestural characters to fields of tiny marks; no typeset text appears anywhere.
HierarchyOpenClose
The 2×2 structure is read first, then the few high-contrast large marks, then the fine textural writing that rewards close viewing.
Image strategyOpenClose
Photography records a physical, three-dimensional object system in situ; depth of field and raking light are used to make the accumulation of marks tangible.
Color strategyOpenClose
Entirely greyscale with strong black-on-white and white-on-black inversions between panels, so tonal reversal rather than hue creates the contrast.
Still to be written: Concept · Negative space · Texture · Production
Notes by POSTER INDEX — observational analysis from official Tokyo TDC asset
Source + details
- Year
- 2026
- Source
- Tokyo Type Directors Club
- Edition
- Tokyo TDC Annual Awards 2026
- Competition
- Video
- Award
- RGB Prize
- Country
- Not recorded
- Type
- Not recorded
- Theme
- Not recorded
- Style
- Hand rendered, Photographic
- Typography
- Not analyzed yet
- Colour
- Not analyzed yet
- Density
- Not analyzed yet
- Imagery
- Not analyzed yet
- Provenance
- Verified · official source
- Source note
- Client: The Yanai Initiative at UCLA + Waseda University · Category: Video
- Image
- External hotlink
- Image note
- Official Tokyo TDC asset · external hotlink · not owned by POSTER INDEX
- Image credit
- Tokyo Type Directors Club
- Record ID
- tdc-2026-004-the-graffiti
Source URL: https://tokyotypedirectorsclub.org/en/news/tdc2026-results/
Image source: https://tokyotypedirectorsclub.org/en/news/tdc2026-results/
Designers: Ryo Orikasa
Also in Tokyo TDC Annual Awards 2026
- Futura®100 MultiscriptVeronika Burian, José ScaglioneGrand Prize
- A Meaningful OrderOK-RM (Oliver Knight and Rory McGrath)Book Design Prize
- MomochidoriRyoko Nishizuka, Frank GrießhammerType Design Prize
- Tsuguya Inoue Graphics +81 ExhibitionTsuguya InoueSpecial Prize
- cosmo-typesetting automatonYoichi AzegamiTDC Prize
- Cosmoscow International Contemporary Art FairOxana Paley, Jane BerezhnaTDC Prize