Last year marked G-SHOCKS' 25th anniversary. Eric Haze, the renowned New York graphic designer who works on projects around the world, designed the logo for this milestone anniversary. Haze has a longstanding relationship with G-SHOCK, and we asked him to talk about some of the projects he's worked on with us.
The logo has to feel right for 25 years ago and it has to feel right for now. So it can't be so much a period piece. It has to be a little more timeless. So, while it's an anniversary project, at the same time it's also a new beginning. That's why I wanted an image that was universal, something that represented both the beginning and the now. G-SHOCK has that universality, but as a sports watch the technology is constantly evolving. I guess you could say that makes G-SHOCK a leader as a sports watch and as a culture item.
It's been 10 years since I started my collaboration with G-SHOCK. When you come up with a design for a classic product like G-SHOCK, you never throw out the old idea. Instead, you take the classic idea and you try to push it even further. And then for me, I always try to find the way to make it just a little personal. So there's a little bit of my fingerprints. One of the things about doing a collaboration with a major corporation is finding the balance between the company's identity and your own. If you do small projects you can go crazy with different styles and different ideas. But when it's something like this project, it represents the whole CASIO company worldwide with a lot of history, so sometimes you need to stay a little conservative in terms of the whole identity.
Doing projects with G-SHOCK is really easy . Maybe after all this time CASIO trusts me now (smiles). There aren't as many limitations. The first project was kind of conservative, just the logo and little graphics. But gradually they've given me more freedom. Especially with the last model we did. I was given a lot more freedom to do the band, box and packaging. So each project gets juicier I think. Looking to the future for G-SHOCK, or some collaboration , it's the same basic vibe, just with slightly different materials and adding some new techniques. It's probably more of a question of, "What am I going to do new?" It's a classic item so it's more a matter of adding just a little bit of twist. In that sense, we're always challenging each other with new things. Working with G-SHOCK is fun for me now that we've developed that sort of relationship.
- 25th Anniversary Logo
- Original Package
- Creative Office
- PROFILE
- Born in Manhattan in 1961, Haze began writing graffiti in 1972, creating his first graffiti name in 1973. Later, he became a member of the two graffiti crews, "The Soul Artists" and "The Rebels". In the 70s, he continued to tag trains and public spaces throughout the city as part of what is now considered to be the start of a graffiti movement that came to symbolize New York. During the 80s, Haze began doing work for lots of magazines and advertising matter, including "Zoo York Magazine". Thus, New York's downtown came to flourish as an art and fashion cultural center. Later, Haze went on to do countless pieces of legendary artwork for Def Jam, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J. From the 1990s until today, Haze's work has made the jump to the world stage. Street culture developed around Haze. It's impossible to talk about the current street culture movement without mentioning him. http://www.interhaze.com/
