MEI EGOSHI

I am a graphic designer based in Laurel, Maryland with a passion for print design, books, and illustration.

Pleasantville

Infographic ⬩ Research

Process

Research

To begin this project, I created a thesis statement connecting the film's plot and characters to Asian American discrimination. Then, I listed relevant statistics I found while researching articles. I also brainstormed graphics and elements needed in the infographic to convey the information effectively.

Colorways

I explored three different color palettes for this project. The goal was to match the aesthetic of the film Pleasantville (1998). In the film, many of the iconic scenes are black and white with a touch of color. I tried to include shades of grey and one or two accent colors in my color palettes. For the first draft, I used the second palette.

Icons and Graphs (Draft)

I created graphs and icons with Adobe Illustrator to support the statistics, quotes, and facts that will be shown in the infographic.

First Draft

I combined the information from my research and supporting graphics in a long Adobe InDesign document. Unfortunately, the greys were too close in value to be legible in text. My next and final step was to fix this problem.

Final

After revising the colors to be more legible and appealing, this was the final result.

Ascend at Aspen Institute

Submark ⬩ Icons

Submark

Original Logo

At the time, this (left) was the current logo used for Aspen. The organization was looking to update their logo along with their new color palette (right).

Sketch

I digitally sketched a simplified version of their current logo to use as a base for my design. I changed the angle of the leaves slightly to better communicate that it was ascending.

Drafts

Using the sketch and the provided color palette, I create a few variations of the submark.

Final

I cleaned up my drafts and these were the final concepts for the submark.

Icons

Original Icons

These were the current icons provided to me at the time. I was tasked to create concepts for new ones using the updated color palette.

Final

I added more curves to the icons in order to match the style of my submark concepts.

Ocean City Travel Posters

Posters

Process

First, I started out with brainstorming words related to the location. Then, I made thumbnail sketches using pencil and paper. Finally, I used Adobe Illustrator and Fresco to create the illustrations and add text.

Final

Retriever Arts Exhibition

The Colonized and the Colonizer Within Me — Chinen Aimi

Book ⬩ Typography

Process

I designed the pages in Adobe InDesign. Below are initial layouts for the book.

Final

In the end, I delivered a 128 page book.

Can You See That? — Two Birds

Book ⬩ Documentation

Process

Introduction

Photograph by Daizy Rose Frazier

I introduced teachers and Pre-K children to the I Spy book series by having them read and complete the picture riddles. This book series served as the inspiration for this project. Children read from small board books while teachers solved from the classic I Spy books.

Creating

Photograph by Daizy Rose Frazier

Teachers and children arranged loose parts (marbles, feathers, clothespins, dice, fabric scraps, etc) inside 8" x 10" picture frames. They were allowed to arrange the parts however they liked, but were told to hide things for readers to spy. Some people created words and pictures, while others placed the objects randomly to resemble classic I Spy pages. Daizy Rose Frazier (Studio Director) and I photographed their finished works.

Captioning

Photograph by Daizy Rose Frazier

I printed out the photos and had Pre-K children look at them. They were tasked with listing objects they "spy" in the pictures. I jotted down their words on the margins of the paper. I later selected the most interesting words and wrote them as I Spy style captions.

Designing

In Adobe InDesign, I compiled the photographs and captions into a 48 page book for the school. I used master pages and rulers to make the pages uniform. I made the decision to use a large sans-serif font for the captions because it would be easier for young children to read.

Final

Shown below are samples of the spreads in the book.

UMBC Student Events Board

Social Media ⬩ Print Design

Style Guide

In order to have some uniformity in our work, I designed a style guide for the designers on our team. This was a crucial piece to transitioning the newly recruited designers into their positions. It included everything from information about our workflow, document sizes, template use, typeface, how we write dates, etc. Keeping in mind that the incoming designers are young college-age women, I designed the style guide to be simple but friendly by using organic shapes and warm colors.

Process

Before starting any design, I first thoroughly read the criterias and descriptions for the designs being requested by the event programmers. Then, I took their ideas and sketched out the general layout or imagery of the design. Sometimes this was done with pencil and paper, and other times it was done digitally. Finally, I fleshed out the design using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign.

In the example above, the event programmer was planning a giveaway related to the five senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste). I quickly sketched out the key elements I wanted to include in the design for the social media advertisement: an eyecatching title, space for the description, the organization's logo, and graphics representing the five senses. I used a pink color scheme because there were Valentine's Day themed events that week.The posts were exported as 1080 x 1080 pixel digital images to market events on instagram @umbcseb.

Gallery

UMBC Bonsai Club

Logos ⬩ Print Design

Logo Design

The client first wanted a logo that resembled a Japanese "mon" (or crest) and incorporated Japanese maple leaves. However, this idea was quickly scrapped after the first round of revisions when they realized that the maple leaves could look like marijuana leaves to college students. This would not be a good impression for a school organization. We decided that it would be safer to depict a whole bonsai tree instead of leaves.

For the final logo design, I combined the circular design of a "mon", the silhouette of a pine bonsai tree, and the red sun from the Japanese flag. Even without any knowledge of bonsai, the imagery and colors in the logo allows the audience to quickly understand that it is related to Japan and trees.

Gallery

Using the logo, I created various marketing materials and documents for the club, including button badges, stickers, keychains, business cards, and booklets. I also had the opportunity to create illustrations of various bonsai trees as part of the merchandise designs.

Restructuring Eckmann Schrift

Book ⬩ Research ⬩ Typography

Process

Research
To learn more about Eckmann Schrift, I wrote a paper called "The Building Blocks and Legacy of Eckmann Schrift".

Sketches

I made sketches for four types of glyohs: diagonal square forms, diagonal forms, rounded forms, and rounded square forms. I first studied the letters in the typeface. I noticed the little curves and unique characteristics of each letter. Then, I sketched my glyphs with pencil and paper, keeping in mind the other forms.

Final Glyph Sets

From the sketches, I created 5 sets of glyphs in Adobe Illustrator. Each set has an uppercase and lowercase variation.

Book

The research and glyphs were combined into a book called "Restructuring Eckmann Schrift." I briefly described the history and designer behind the typeface. Then, I included my glyphs and showed how they fit into the alphabet.

Quadmania 2023

Logos ⬩ Branding ⬩ Print Design

Logo Design Process

Moodboard

Because the festival is space themed, I first began my design process by researching posters, illustrations, photographs, album covers, and book covers related to space. I specifically looked for appealing compositions, color palettes, and font choices that represented the theme well.I noticed that a lot of designs used gradients on planets, dark purples and blues for the background, and bold fonts. I also thought depicting stars as sparkles will be appealing to the younger audience. These are characteristics I kept in mind while designing the logo.

Exploration

I used Adobe Illustrator to make many variations of QM and Quadmania. I explored different ways of incorporating the "space" theme, including turning the Q into Saturn or adding star motifs. I also explored various color palettes using inspiration from the mood board, but generally stuck with the blue-purple-magenta gradient for a bright and vibrant appearance.

Final Picks

After showing my team the explorations, we chose three different choices to present to the Student Events Board. The board did a majority vote and decided on design #3. After tweaking the colors to be more print-friendly, I created a style guide using the logo.

Style Guide

For the style guide, I prepared an Adobe Illustrator file that the other designs on the team could take components from directly. I included everything they'd need including the logo, icons, colors, typeface, and an example to follow. This made the designing process easier for everyone.

Booklet

Using Adobe InDesign and Illustrator, I designed a booklet to guide festival goers through the different activities and events. The guide was also available to view on mobile through a pdf.I kept the inner pages black and white to reduce printing costs for the Student Events Board. Without color, I relied on heavy font weight to make information stand out.I made the decision to make titles all lowercase because the Student Event's Board refers to themselves as (seb) with all lowercase.

Gallery

After I made and shared the style guide, my team and I created print, social media, and merchandise designs for the event. Shown below is a gallery of my designs. Designs which are not made by me are specified.

About

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Contact me:
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Hi, my name is Mei.

I am a Japanese American graphic designer based in Laurel, Maryland. Art and design is something I have always been passionate about. I am currently the Marketing and Design Coordinator at Concord Hill School. In my free time, I like to rollerskate, draw digitally, and design merchandise for my Etsy shop!Please feel free to contact me for inquiries about working together!

Education

University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Graphic Design B.F.A
Print Media Minor
Japanese Minor

Softwares/Skills

• Adobe Illustrator

• Adobe Photoshop

• Adobe InDesign

• Illustration

• Print Design

• Motion Design

Resume

• PDF Link

Contact

Interested in working together? Contact me!

[email protected]

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• Email
• CV