When i joined the Creative Agency; ichi in 2010, one of the first things the Creative DIrector and I connected on was the idea of a mascot for the company. Something or someone with a mischievous sense of fun; loveable and friendly but also a force of nature. We hit upon the idea of Oni - which also fit with the borrowings from Japan that have become part of the company's tone of voice.
Oni is a demon of Japanese folklore.
Our Oni specialises in giving people not what they think they need, but the surprise that helps them out even more. He's furry, with a pronounced overbite, two slightly blunt horns and deep inquisitiveness about the human world in which he finds himself.
Oni is found as a logo, walking through the offices of ichi, painted on the walls and he even has his own blog, which mainly shows off the various incarnations of the little scamp!
Above: An orthographic projection of a proposed Oni toy... this is one of the things that delights me most about Oni's simple body-shape- he lends himself readily to all manner of physical manifestations; toys, prints, ballons, chocolates! The possibilities are endless.
Based on the previous orthographic projection, the talented Henry Gray was able to create a delicious 3D model of Oni (seen here with his companion Gilbert) .... of course once you have a 3D model....
you get it 3D printed and then you spend ages just marvelling at the beauty of such a thing!
Oni is also real... well he's a 7' tall hairy suit with articulated mouth and eyebrows (created by myself and A & L St.Leger - problem solvers to the stars!) that we often take out into the streets. People spontaneously hug him, the ladies seems to want to stay wrapped up in his hirsute embrace for long stretches, kids marvel at him and he usually has to battle paparazzi to get back into the office. The Oni suit also featured in several ichi Crhistmas Messages.
Oni seems to work well almost everywhere- he's been a cake, a t-shirt and a keyfob (the price of being irresistably gorgeous I suppose) .
Above is Oni's selfie which he took (though photobombed by Gilbert) and submitted to the Pictoplasma 10th Anniversary Character Selfie competition. His work was displayed on the Pictoplasma selfie wall during their Berlin and Mexico retrospectives. Good work Oni (and Gilbert)
Here Oni reminds you to always look at the bigger picture.
'A man's gotta know his limpetations'
Oni features heavily on ichi's social media, when he's not eating it of course. He makes special appearances for:
halloween...
...halloween (!)...
And valentine's day awwwww!