Illustrations of the Everyday by Takeda Yoshifumi

A carton of fruit juice, plants, shoes, or figures like Mother Theresa, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, or Martin Luther King… The creations produced by Takeda Yoshifumi, an illustrator born in 1982, are many and varied. 

The artist, who works mainly using pencil or ink, has been sketching out his graphic universe for some years now. A graduate of Osaka University of Arts, he first took an interest in film posters and title animation. ‘The work of Saul Bass and Pablo Ferro had a considerable influence on me. But I wanted to return to drawing, which I’d been passionate about since childhood’, the illustrator explains in an interview with Pen. 

Counterculture, science fiction, and comic books

After a quick detour via motion design, Takeda Yoshifumi threw himself fully into illustration, notably for the Japanese fashion magazine Popeye that launched his career. ‘I work on personal creations, but also for brands for whom I am charged with creating an artistic expression that reflects the client’s wishes, without betraying my style’, explains Takeda Yoshifumi.

The style in question is sober, made up of fine lines, mainly in black and white. Some of his creations leave more room for colour, with flat tints of pastel tones, added using either digital tools or watercolours. 

The Tokyo-based artist takes inspiration from multiple sources, as varied as science fiction films, the American counterculture magazine Whole Earth Catalog, French comic book author Jean Giraud, and Japanese artist Hisamitsu Noguchi, the creator of numerous film posters.

Takeda Yoshifumi’s creations can be found on his website.