Tokyo (SCCIJ) – The two Tokyo-based Swiss designers Julien Mercier and Julien Wulff are about to complete half of their ambitious art project to present two individual posters for each of the 29 Yamanote Line train stations. After starting in July 2016 with Akihabara station on the Eastern side of the JR East ring railroad, they are now already working on posters for Harajuku station. Each art piece is supposed to present the designers’ vision of the neighborhood of one Yamanote station. Accordingly, one-time exhibitions are held in a venue in close vicinity of the station.
Two posters for each station
The idea of the “YamanoteYamanote” project is to take the spectators on a unique journey along all the stations of the famous Yamanote loop line of the Japanese capital to present parallel visions each showing connections with the respective surroundings.
In the past 20 months, the two young designers from Switzerland have staged 13 exhibitions. The 14th show stop of their design journey will probably be held at the beginning of March and will feature their two poster visions of Harajuku. SCCIJ is presenting photos of the two designers with some of their YamanoteYamanote posters.
About Julien Mercier
Julien Mercier is a Swiss graphic designer living and working in Tokyo. After studying Graphic Design Communication in Geneva, he moved to Japan in order to explore a new design and mix Swiss typography with Japanese kanji. Among his services are graphic design, art direction, brand identity, publication design, typography design, packaging and website design.
About Julien Wulff
Julien Wulff is a Swiss graphic designer based in Tokyo since 2014. After graduating Design School in Lausanne, he developed his design sense through professional experiences in Switzerland and Berlin. The experimentation combined with minimal design could define his projects. Currently working as freelancer and developing brand design, illustration, print design and website design.
You can follow their project in the web, on Facebook and on Instagram.
Text: Martin Fritz for SCCIJ; Photos: Courtesy of the artists