Kirin Beer Giraffe - Vintage Japanese Art

About the Art

Kirin Beer is named after the kirin, a mythological creature from Chinese and Japanese folklore, part dragon, part deer, said to appear only in ages of peace. The problem with building a brand around a creature from legend is that nobody quite agrees what it looks like.

A giraffe, on the other hand, is immediately recognisable. Exotic enough to feel premium. Tall enough to feel significant. And if you squint at the folklore, not entirely wrong.

This vintage Japanese print, produced by the Sankyo printer, is that creative logic taken to its most confident extreme. A bold orange field. The giraffe's spotted neck cropped at a diagonal that fills the entire frame. The Kirin name running vertically in katakana down the right side. Three colours. Zero hesitation. The SANKYO printer's mark sits quietly at the bottom left, the only modest thing about it.

Most contemporary design would kill for this kind of restraint. Restored from an original archival label and available exclusively as a retro Japanese wall art print through Cool Prints.

For spaces that appreciate things made well before anyone called it design.