Mayuko Fujino is a Japanese paper cut artist with a technique and style that truly is unique. Each form within one of her images is composed of shapes cut from magazine pages, selected for their texture and tone and assembled into something new. Bold, imaginative and colourful, you won’t find another illustrator like her.
Her work is ideal in lifestyle and editorial projects, and features in advertising campaigns and on packaging, garments and even carpet designs. Mayuko creates murals and installations as well. Influences include David Hockney, the Beatles’ film Yellow Submarine and Japanese stencil dying.
Approach
Mayuko’s artwork mimics a stencil or a print but instead of blocks of ink she uses cut out pieces of colored paper or photographs to construct unique graphical images. Paying close attention to her use of white space, she perfectly hones color and contrast to control the overall atmosphere of the piece.
Style
The style imputed to her images very much comes down to the shapes and colors she uses. Nature – including plants, flowers and birds – often comes to the fore and with their organic curves her images have a decorative feel to them. She creates whimsical characters, and abstract or psychological stories that take place in imaginary worlds.
Client list
Some of Mayuko’s clients include McDonald’s, Nokia, Panasonic, NYC Department of Transport, Asahi newspaper and WFMU Radio.
I commissioned Mayuko in order to create an abstract shaped world map which yet had to be accurate enough in order to point out places. Mayuko was very helpful and delivered a beautiful piece of art precisely to the brief. She sent along a number of suggestions, responds to emails quickly and had the final artwork delivered within a few days. It was a pleasure to work with her.
Arijana Zeric - Design Assistant, Baku Magazine
I was a pleasure working with Mayuko! Her illustration style is very unique, I have not seen anything like it. She did a wonderful job illustrating a haiku for Cricket magazine. I am sure our young readers will love her beautiful art work! Mayuko delivered sketches and final art on time. I would like to work with Mayuko again in the future.
Anna Lender - Associate Art Director, Cricket Media
Thank you so much for everything that you did for us. The art is amazing and truly unlike anything else in the book. I hope to be able to work with you again sometime in the future.
Rachael Matthews, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Mayuko, well, you’ve outdone yourself! What stunning work!
Beautiful execution and exactly what my client was looking for.
Your interpretation of the concept was spot-on.
The fact that you were agreeable to working within our budget and that you met the deadline was a bonus. Thanks for being such a pleasure to work with!
"The Indianapolis" is the premiere international violin competition in the world and, like the Olympics, it only happens every 4 years. In 2018 it will be represented by your incredible artistic talent. We couldn’t have picked a better illustrator to commemorate the event.
Thanks for your insight and your gift. It’s been a joy!