Minji Cosmetics
Minji is a small Hungarian company that imports and sells Asian cosmetics. The task was to incorporate Asian elements into the design in a way that it doesn’t look too foreign to European customers.
We needed a symbol that somewhat represents Asia and is still recognizable for European customers.
The symbol is a geisha since it is a well-known thing even in European pop culture. It also represents femininity, which is an important aspect of a cosmetics company.
The typography of the logo is based on Japanese katakana. The goal was to keep the Japanese vibe, while also making it readable in Latin letters. Both the typography and the icon show the same square visual, which represents the webshop element of the company.
You can't just invert a face symbol.
Since the Minji icon is a drawing of a face, simply inverting the colors would not be enough. We are used to the skin being lighter than the eyes and the mouth, so the inverted version needed some adjustments to the symbol.
Two kinds of products, two styles.
What makes Minji special is that it’s not just a webshop. They also have a subscription-based service called MinjiBOX, where subscribers get a box full of their best-selling and new products.
During the strategic meetings, we outlined two directions to follow: one is the more conventional, well-known products such as general makeup, and the other is something new and progressive, such as creams infused with snail mucin. Therefore, we created two lines for Minji: Classic and Tokyo Style.
Korean forests meet traditional Japanese art.
The Classic Style was inspired by the foliage of Korean forests. The colors of the brand were chosen based on traditional Japanese prints.
