Background

Kanazawa High School Sumo Tournament is the longest-running amateur sports tournament in Japan. However, the 2020 tournament was cancelled for the first time since the end of World War II due to COVID-19, and the stage for the final tournament for high school seniors was lost. Club activities were also suspended, and the players spent an unhappy time. In 2021, after two years of headwinds, we were finally able to hold the tournament. Because the Corona disaster was different from the time when the tournament was held every year as a matter of course, a visual was required to strongly affirm and encourage the players who had spent the two lost years. As we waited for the first time in two years, we redesigned the venue visuals (decorations and posters) as well as newspaper ads to affirm the players and the two years of headwinds.

Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)

In order to affirm the players who faced the headwind of COVID-19, we developed a design around a logo that we created in the hope that the headwind would become a tailwind in the future. The logo is a symbol of a tailwind blowing as the players move forward with the fire of fighting spirit. The newspaper advertisements and posters were designed to praise and affirm the players as they face the headwind.

Describe the execution (40% of vote)

The logo was designed to strike a balance between sumo as a traditional Japanese sport and modernity. The symbol mark incorporates the flames of a Japanese painting, and the logotype is a Bauhaus-style design with an organized structure. In posters and newspaper ads, their strong bodies were deformed into huge, steel-like, dramatic contrasts. And we looked up at the players and admired them from a perspective that made them dynamic and fascinating. At the same time, by drawing wildly with charcoal, we expressed the unfinished and wild energy unique to students. The headwind is represented by red, the tournament color, and gold stripes representing victory, designed to emphasize the dynamism of the players. We used paper with a gold leaf texture, and printed white ink on the players' bodies, and then added black ink on top of the white ink to enhance the presence of the players.

List the results (20% of vote)

The revamped logo was transformed into traditional decorations such as banner flags and signs to welcome the athletes. Those were used not only at the event site, but also in the entire city from the train station, helping to boost the morale of the athletes as they took on the challenge of the final tournament. Moreover, on the day of the tournament, many athletes wore towels with new logo. Through posters and newspapers, the strong appearance of the athletes was recognized and favorably accepted by many people. As a result, sumo, with its prevailing image of tradition, was revamped as a "modern sport" through the power of design, contributing to the rebranding of the tournament. The local newspaper took the lead in revamping the tournament, contributing to the community not just as a media outlet but as an urban development company.