Greetings! I'm Kaori, a Japan-born New York City-based creative director and designer. Armed with over two decades of design leadership across advertising, entertainment, and media, I've gathered a collection of awards, recognitions, and publications throughout my career.
As an accomplished creative leader, I have broad skills spanning marketing, branding, strategy, editorial, design, animation, live-action, and post-production. I relish tackling complex creative challenges across diverse genres and have built a track record of delivering unique and impactful results. I am skilled at managing high-performing in-house teams and excel at functioning as an internal creative agency to drive exceptional outcomes.
Passion and vision are my driving forces, and I thrive in environments where good design and compelling stories matter. With a belief in the transformative power of design, I've dedicated my career to showcasing its potential.
My work fuses the souls of design legends like Muller Brockmann, Saul Bass, and William Eggleston. I find joy in expressing complex emotions through timelessness, distilling them into simple geometric forms, light, and movement. There's also a subtle dance between my Japanese heritage, philosophy, and aesthetics, harmoniously interwoven with American pop culture.
"Kaori is an imperfect perfectionist who cherishes and expresses momentary simplicity in all its zen-like wonder." - Travis Spangler, Say the Magic Words.
Currently, I am active as a freelance creative in New York City and looking for a new adventure - whether it's an exciting project or a full-time position. Let's connect!
Areas of Expertise
360 Campaign
Creative & Design Direction
Brand & Identity Development
Design System
Creative Strategy and Marketing
Visual Storytelling
Original Content
Budget allocation and oversight
Cross-Function Collaboration
C-Suite & Client presentations
Key Art
Motion graphics & Animation
Graphic design
Video / Post Production
On-Set direction
Project Management
Team Leadership & Development
Hiring and Coaching
Adobe CS Applications
Team Mentoring
Trend analysis
Honors, Awards & Recognitions
Promax / BDA : Gold, Silver and Bronze winner
The One Club for Creativity / ADC Awards : Motion & Film Craft Juror
Le Book : Juror
International Color Photography Awards : Juror
Ideas in Motion hosted by Fable App : Guest Speaker
SVA MFA Fine Arts / Women in Animation : Guest speaker
FIT Communication Design : Final review guest critic
Pratt Institute of Design : Guest Speaker
AIGA Design Archives : The N Rebrand, Logo Design
Press/ Publications
Daily Brief / Promax BDA
Spoon Tamago
Shoot Online, USA
Motionographer.com
CMYK Magazine, USA
Design Is Kinky : Semi-Permanent 04 Australia
Jeremyville Sketchel : Artist bag design collection
Contributing writer for Elle, Japan
8X8, Japan
H Magazine, Spain
Exhibitions, Festivals & Screenings
One Day on Earth, screened at United Nations: Film contributor
A Rift of Sunshine for you in the Head - Maxalot Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
BDA/Promax 20/120 “Chance”: New York City
Smilefacuet video collections: New York City 2003-2008
Group Show, te + te: New Handmade Co-curated with Spoon & Tamago: Brooklyn, NY
Apparel for Graniph: Tokyo, Japan
Naked - Gallery Show: New York City
Apparel for As Know As Tokyo, Japan