Friday Fun: Tokidoki for Smashbox

Graphic artist and creator of Tokidoki, Simone Legno, collaborated with Smashbox in the spring of 2007 and came up with a whimsical, playful collection for the company. All of the limited-edition items featured Tokidoki's signature illustrations as well as Italian names such as Bella (the cream blush stick), Stellina (the mirror outfitted with small silver stars) and Modella (one of the eye shadow palettes.) In this way it fuses Japanese and Italian cultures.

Here's the Modella eye shadow quad:

Here's the compact opened – a nice little surprise awaits on the lower-left corner of the mirror:

Tokidoki means "sometimes" or "from time to time" in Japanese. But what is exactly is Legno's artistic vision? I went to the tokidoki website to find out. Simply put, the art is Legno's "unique interpretation of Japan". He chose the word that means sometimes because "everyone waits for moments that change one's destiny…tokidoki is the hope, the hidden energy everyone has inside that gives us the strength to face a new day and dream something positive, that something magical will happen to us." How does this artist's statement get translated into his illustrations? I'd say that the overall feeling of his work truly is "positive" and "magical" – although his portfolio includes traditionally foreboding images such as a skull and crossbones, they're not threatening in the slightest, and there are some "magical" characters like angels and smiling stars. His work also represents a difference from some other forms of Japanese design. In one interview, he noted, "People tell me I draw
anime or manga, but I don't think I do. I identify with the kawai culture of
Japan. My girls are different from the manga girls with their big eyes and big
breasts."¹ Indeed, if we look at the girls on the Smashbox items, they're not overtly sexy like some Japanese characters. The girls also tend to include tattoos of koi fish and other Japanese iconography which makes them seem a bit edgier than some female anime figures. If you look closely, you can see the full sleeve tattoo of koi fish on the girl on the eyeshadow compact. Kudos to Legno for producing purely fun, non-sexual images of women.

The little angels and stars on the Smashbox collection, along with the rest of the Tokidoki brood, clearly represents Legno's desire to present happy, friendly images to the world.

¹"Designs Reveal Artist's Personality", Nadine Kam, January 11, 2007. https://starbulletin.com/2007/01/11/features/story02.html. To watch an interview with Legno, click here.

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