Simone Legno

Simone Legno (born June 16, 1977) is an Italian artist best known for the creation of the tokidoki brand. Legno's designs are influenced by his interest in Japan and its culture, as well as street art and graffiti.

Education

Before art school Simone Legno studied Political Science. Legno dropped out of Political Science, because he really liked the nature of design. He did small jobs to pay for design school in Rome; and at the beginning he did advertisement, which he liked very much. He did design school and then specialized in graphic design. After design school Legno started a company with a friend, mostly doing things like web design. Then Legno built tokidoki as a personal website, not a company website, around 2002. Later, he was approached due to his interesting design approach.^[1]

Career

Legno's portfolio website was listed as one of the top ten websites of the week by The Independent in 2003.^[2] This caught the attention of Hard Candy co-founder Pooneh Mohajer and her husband Ivan Arnold. The two contacted him and after meeting, they formed the tokidoki business venture.

In June 2009 it was announced that Legno would release a line of young punk rock inspired characters that would sell at the US-based retailer Target.

Why Tokidoki?

When Legno was in school, he wanted his own website and was into Japanese art and culture. He would go to Japanese cultural institutes and all of his art works were inspired by books from Lonely Planet, prints, Japanese art books and posters, everything was about Japan.^[1] So he wanted a Japanese word and really liked the word "tokidoki", which means "sometimes".^[3]

"tokidoki is the hope, the hidden energy that everyone has inside. It gives us the strength to face a new day and dream about something positive and the hope that something magical will happen to us".^[3]

Artistic medium

It starts as an illustration or a sketch and then he scans it. If he's too lazy to scan it, he takes a photo with his laptop camera. Sometimes he just shoots it with his phone and sends it to his email. His works are then computer generated. His other works are created with acrylic or pencil and canvas.^[4]

Biography

Background

Simone Legno is an Italian artist and designer who is inspired by Japanese culture. Growing up in Rome, Legno was always drawn to the Japanese culture, and his work reflects this passion. Simone Legno is a classically trained Italian illustrator and "a world renowned artist that could illustrate just about anything beautifully because he has exceptional talent".^[5] Legno's artistic empire started when he was still in school in [Italy], where he created a website as a "visual diary and platform to showcase his portfolio of works".^[6] With this website he created various illustrations, advertisements, designs, and other freelance media for clients.^[3] He was then discovered and presented a partnership by Pooneh Mohajer and her husband Ivan Arnold — co-founders of the American cosmetics brand Hard Candy.^[6] In 2004, Simone Legno moved to Los Angeles to develop his tokidoki merchandise and art, where he launched his artistic career with the help of his 2 business partners (Ivan Arnold and Pooneh Mohajer Arnold).^[3] Simone Legno has definitely surprised the contemporary world with an art collection which is "cute, playful and pure, yet provocative, [and] sophisticated. . .".^[3]

Subject

Legno's most popular work consists of a compilation of sassy yet lovable characters such as the "Moofia", "Cocomando", "Wild Boys", "'Til Death Do Us Part", and "Cactus Friends".^[5] These characters have been designed with a quirky energy which is responsible for their popularity, appeal, and connection with the viewer. All of these artworks feature personified cows, tigers, and monkeys, or Japanese inspired characters in cheerily clad outfits of upbeat color and intention. Even the most morbid of these creations – "'Til Death Do Us Part", which features the grim reaper and his sweetheart, hosts optimism and cuteness which could only be created by an avid follower of Japanese anime and manga. Legno also creates striking acrylic on canvas works featuring "more modern, fashionable versions of the women found on classic Japanese woodblock prints".^[7] These works show the sweet elegance which has been handed down from the classically portrayed Japanese women to their modern counterparts, while also granting contemporary sex appeal and edginess.^[7] These paintings are much different from anime or manga works as the women reject the usual characteristics of big eyes and bigger breasts; instead, the ladies presented are graceful, natural, and enigmatic. Although Legno has explored many types of artistic media, the focus of his work has been illustration and painting.

Meaning

Simone Legno has sought to create a fanciful world filled with kawaii (Japanese for "cute") characters that are both playful and provocative.^[3] Some of his characters are dressed up "to point out in a symbolic way the wrong things of the world we live in".^[3] Works such as the Moofia and Cactus Friends illustrate the combination of protective elements and vulnerable characters.^[3] These adorably disconcerting characters lead the viewer to wonder how violence has become such an integrated part of our society. His paintings also hold a suggestion of social remark: featuring half-clothed cosmopolitan women in urban settings, everything seems beautiful until one takes in the burning city, the dancing skeletons, or the other allusions to death and destruction. Tokidoki, Legno's official brand, gets its name from the Japanese word for "sometimes", which Legno chose because, as he stated in an interview with Katie Maltby: "everyone waits for moments that change one's destiny…by chance or by meeting a new person…tokidoki is the hope, the hidden energy that everyone has inside, giving us the strength to face a new day and dream about something positive [and] that something magical will happen to us".^[3] By this explanation, tokidoki fulfills its purpose by hosting sweet and inspiring characters filled with energy, mystery, hope, and humor.

Style

Simone Legno's style is unique and whimsical. His tokidoki illustrations are highly charged with the energy and charisma of Japanese pop-culture, while his paintings are subtle and sweet – lending homage to the art of early Japan. His work shows the unique understanding of Japanese art through the eyes of a classically trained Italian artist.^{[citation needed]} Tokidoki is "[a] mixture of "visual inputs, cultures and perfect blending of opposites living together".^[3] Tokidoki is a combination of Legno's Italian background, love for Japanese culture, and the urban glamour of his current LA residence. His blend of diverse cultural and artistic styles has led to undeniably interesting works, which are rousing as well as refined.^{[citation needed]}

Emerging recognition

Since relocating from Rome to Los Angeles, Legno's art has become prominent in the [pop culture] scene.^[8] Legno's work draws in the viewer with exuberant colors and fantasies; and then holds the viewers' attention with sweet and sultry charisma, a juxtaposition of unique flair and timeworn tradition, as well as undertones of social commentary.^{[citation needed]} With his many inspirations and resources, Legno has created enchanting works of art which have taken hold of the contemporary art and design consciousness.^{[citation needed]} As stated by Legno: "Tokidoki is a happy world... that I imagine, live and dream of".^[3] Thanks to Simone Legno, a new era of [multicultural] artistic expression is slowly permeating not only the fine art sphere – but the pop culture sphere as well.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery representation

*Hong Kong, K11 Art Mall.^[6]

• Vinyl Toys, art-skateboards, pin badges, jewelry, watches, knitwear, sportswear, accessories, shoes, stationery and more to come.^[9]
• tokidoki distributes its products to Nordstrom, Macys, Fred Segal, Karmaloop and approximately 1000 boutiques in more than 60 countries worldwide.^[10]

Current projects

• Plus 44 bus
• Project Fox

*Volkswagen selected 21 young artists to create the Hotel Fox, an exclusive hotel based in Copenhagen

• Simone designed 2 rooms, the Japanese garden and the tokidoki room.
• [Mercedes Benz] Fashion Week^[5]

Previous collaborations

The list of Legno's past clients includes Volkswagen, MTV, John Galliano, Champion, Toyota, Renault, Daihatsu, BenQ, Microsoft, Narcotic Bureau of Singapore, Telecom Italia, Karl Lagerfeld, LeSportsac, Onitsuka Tiger, Marvel Entertainment, New Era, Hello Kitty, Fujitsu, Levi's, Smashbox cosmetics, Xbox, T-mobile, Fornarina, Skullcandy, Mattel and Medicom Toy.^[5]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simone Legno.