‘design nori’, developed by creative agency I&S BBDO for the umino seaweed shop

developed by international ad agency I&S BBDO for the umino seaweed shop, ‘design nori’ is a series of intricately laser-cut seaweed for rolling sushi. each sheet of five designs– ‘sakura’ (‘cherry blossoms’), ‘mizutama’ (‘water drops’), ‘asanoha’ (‘hemp’), ‘kikkou’ (‘turtle shell’), and ‘kumikkou’ (‘tortoise shell’)– is based on an element of japanese history or symbology, meant to bring beauty, good fortune, growth, happiness, and longevity.

because of the precision required in the cutting process, the seaweed itself is a thicker variety from the sanriku region of miyagi. umino plans to use the leftover clippings to sell as furikake topping or recompile into other sheets.

the project was commissioned to respark the sale of nori following the tsunami in japan of 2011, at a time when umino director hiroyuki umino notes that japanese are eating less seaweed than in the past.

‘design nori’ s on exhibition through may 27th, 2012, at ‘katagami style’ of 19th century japanese stencil artwork, at the mitsubishi ichigokan museum in tokyo. the pieces themselves are available for sale only through the retail location in ibaraki prefacture and at the exhibition, currently for the price of 840 yen (approx. 10 USD) each. in the future, umino hopes to produce the nori on a larger scale and at lower cost.

from left to right: ‘sakura’ (‘cherry blossoms’), ‘asanoha’ (‘hemp’), and ‘kikkou’ (‘turtle shell’)

closer view, ‘kumikkou’ (‘tortoise shell’)

the complete line of ‘design nori’ currently in production

one-off special seaweed designs, on exhibition at the ‘katagmi style’ show in tokyo image courtesy rocketnews24

via gizmodo / LA weekly, via dvice