Poster Edits

The Japanese translations have been made a lighter font to help balance the composition. 

Poster ad for Nikke Clothing by Gihachiro Okayama, 1931

The outlined type has taken inspiration from the typographic treatment of the posters from the period which results in a more dynamic and engaging visual for the poster.

  
The high contrast between the black background against the bold red triangles heighten the posters impact. Combined with the outlined Japanese in gold, the overall colour scheme has heavy association to Eastern culture, making the poster feel 'Japanese'. 

In this poster, using a black background better represents a literal 'dark' period for Japan.  The angular red triangles connote Japan's aggressive conquests through its shape and colour. 

Despite not having perfect legibility, "1912-1952, Impermanence Changing" set in orange is meant to replicate transience through it having illegibility and legibility at the same time by being half way on and off the triangles. 

Out of the two, people preferred the black version. 

With the second poster going through a change in background colour, the third poster has to be altered to keep the series engaging. Instead of depicting an uncertain future for Japan, the neutral grey promotes an optimistic Japan, a clean slate. 

The combination of the grey background with the gold sphere produces an unusual yet desirable effect. The contrast between the two makes the sphere look more pronounced as its shape is better highlighted. In some ways the colour scheme is reminiscent of Kazumasa Nagai's work, which demonstrates the Japanese sensitivity with colour that had made their designs inherently unique. 

These are therefore the proposed three posters for the practical outcome. 

Colour codes for each are as follows

These colours have been chosen based on the book 'Dictionary of Colour Combinations' by Sanzo Wada who was "ahead of his time in developing traditional and Western influenced colour combinations, helping to lay the foundations for contemporary colour research".