Ben Mingo, Abraham Campillo, Mouthwash and Tim Roussilhe combine to brand Waka Waka

Operating under the name Waka Waka, Los Angeles-based Japanese designer Shin Okuda demonstrates simplicity in form, subtle detailing and a unique interpretation of proportion through the production of seating concepts, utilitarian objects and interiors. Having covered the identities and websites for Waka Waka’s limited-edition ‘N.01’ and ‘N.02’ collections, we return to Okuda with his work now culminated into a singular and scalable permanence.

With the familiar team of designer Ben Mingo, photographer Abraham Campillo and Mouthwash Studio onboard, as well as developer Tim Roussilhe, Okuda tasked them with creating a functional yet playful e-commerce experience to house his full range of products. The result smoothly aligns with Okuda’s philosophy of ‘minimum design, conscious proportion’ through a uniquely structured grid system that allows for discovery through organic and random moments of interaction.

The identity and website are a characteristic evolution rather than revolution of the previous, smaller iterations, which Mingo explains came from “Shin wanting to carry the personality and playfulness from the first two collections into the full shop”. With its muted colours, contemporary typography and fluid transitions, the website represents an unusual combination of past and present. “A lot of the graphic solutions we came up with were inspired by print media, which when we transitioned over to the web, creating a unique contrast between the two mediums”, Mingo tells us of the design team’s direction.

Chosen as “workhorses for the site”, Waka Waka’s typography consists of the contrasting yet complementary pairing of Untitled Sans and Domaine Text from Klim Type Foundry. “We needed two typefaces that would balance with each other and be flexible enough to live in both worlds as well as resemble the simplicity in form found in Shin’s work”, Mingo explains.

Each iteration of Waka Waka is a prime example of successful, organic collaboration between multiple disciplines, with “photography, visual design, motion design and development playing off each other and reacting in real-time” to form a distinctive and joyfully interactive solution.

Mouthwash Studio

Waka Waka