Tamotsu Yagi Design
Graphics and Branding
Tamotsu Yagi has had a long and distinguished career in graphic design and branding. Yet, he seems to get along fine without his own brand. The entry to his San Francisco studio office is a non-descript steel door without a name that opens directly onto the street. His website, consisting of almost nothing, intentionally reads, “under construction.”
A native of Japan, Yagi first came to California in 1984 to become the in-house art director for Esprit where his graphic designs were enormously influential on the company’s success. Seven years later, internationally celebrated and named as one of the youngest inductees to the Alliance Graphique International (AGI), Yagi left Esprit to establish his own independent multi-disciplinary design studio, Tamotsu Yagi Design (TYG).
Of the many ways that Yagi’s design’s blend with the Bardessono vision, his studio’s attentiveness to ecologically responsible business is paramount. It may seem obvious to say, but finding the environment inspiring is often inspiration enough to preserve it. The office motto at TYD, “good design is in the nature of things,” says it all.
Trusted Bardessono tastemaker and source specialist, Cristina Salas-Porras, brought Yagi in to work on the project during the final phases of development. Yagi and his staff put together a palette of colors, finishes and materials that gave off an organic reflection of the Bardessono property. His design work is seen in the hotel’s signage, website, and collateral materials. Developer and visionary Phil Sherburne admires Yagi when he says, “his reputation is so strong, business just comes to him.” But Sherburne celebrates him in claiming, “Yagi’s able to express the essence of things simply and directly, which is one of the most difficult things to do”.
