2025.01.07

Illustrator Yusuke Nakamura – Known for Collaborations with "graniph" & Artwork for ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION – Explores the Evolution of Women's Fashion & Hairstyles.

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Yusuke Nakamura is an illustrator known for his unique style that combines delicate motifs with bold coloring, often creating an inorganic impression of women. His work spans a variety of fields, including CD artwork for artists like ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, book cover illustrations, character design for anime, and collaborations with apparel brands.

In this interview, we delve into his 20-plus years of experience in depicting women across various domains. As he describes his focus on "realistic women," we trace the changes in women's fashion and hairstyles through his distinctive lens.

PROFILE

Yusuke Nakamura

Illustrator. Born in 1978 in Hyogo Prefecture, graduated from the Design Department of Osaka University of Arts. He has illustrated numerous works, including CD covers for ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION and Masashi Sada, illustrations for "夜は短し歩けよ乙女," "謎解きはディナーのあとで," music textbooks, and packaging for Asadaame candy and Lotte's Choco Pie. His expressions also extend to collaborations with the apparel brand Graniph, character design, video distribution, and writing. His touring exhibitions across Japan have received great acclaim. His art books "Blue" and "NOW" (both published by Asuka Shinsha) have recorded sales of 130,000 copies. Additionally, the instructional book "Everyone's Illustration Classroom" and the complete collection of CD jacket designs "PLAY" (both published by Asuka Shinsha), as well as the mook "イラストノート Premium 中村佑介のワークスタイル" (Seibundo Shinkosha) are currently well-received.
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The Reason for Depicting "Realistic Women"

Women depicted by Nakamura often have uncolored skin and dark hair. What led to this current style?

Just before graduating from university, the boom of moe games and anime hit, where girls with red or pink hair wore revealing clothing and smiled widely as the norm.

However, in reality, especially back then, not many people dyed their hair red or pink, and I found it jarring to see women always smiling in illustrations.