Delightful editorial illustration for Japanese magazines by Ryo Takemasa

Date
9 February 2015

We in the studio are the first to admit that if you slap a foreign script onto something it instantly becomes approximately 200% more exciting from a design point of view. In the case of Ryo Takemasa, however, the text is kind of just the cherry on the cake. Editorial illustration for newspaper and magazine covers is his bread and butter – so much so that his portfolio site looks something like the wall of a Japanese newsagents – but with his soft style and witty observations about urban life it’s little wonder he’s stacking up commissions. Based in Tokyo, Ryo works across books, magazines and advertising, producing imagery which looks born for covers but here’s a selection of proof, if any was needed, that his work speaks for itself too.

Above

Ryo Takemasa: Cover illustration for Quarterly Magazine Musashino

Above

Ryo Takemasa: Cover illustration for Quarterly Magazine Musashino, Winter 2014

Above

Ryo Takemasa: Cover illustration for Quarterly Magazine Musashino, Autumn 2014

Above

Ryo Takemasa: Cover illustration for NON magazine, October 2014

Above

Ryo Takemasa: Cover illustration for Quarterly Magazine Musashino, Summer 2014

Above

Ryo Takemasa: Cover illustration for Quarterly Magazine Musashino, Spring 2014

Above

Ryo Takemasa: Cover illustration for Squet Magazine

Above

Ryo Takemasa: Cover illustration for Quarterly Magazine Musashino

Share Article

About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.