Chrome Hearts – Hollywood

Chrome Hearts – Hollywood Poster (1990s)
Title: Chrome Hearts – Hollywood
Published: c. early–mid 1990s
Designer: Tadanori Yokoo (横尾忠則)
Category: Commercial art / fashion poster / Japanese graphic design

Description:
Commissioned by high-end jewelry and fashion house Chrome Hearts, which embodies a gothic aesthetic, this poster was conceived by cult Japanese design master Tadanori Yokoo. Counterculture imagery merges here with surrealist overdrawing. Fragmented Hollywood sign, silhouettes, mythological beasts, and baroque clouds fill the background, drawing on both Buddhist cosmography and Western pop iconography.Yokoo's distorting and collage effects make for a psychedelic, dreamlike ambiance. The combining of American glam-rock defiance and spiritual iconography to the design was well-suited to Chrome Hearts' role as both high-end and outsider brand.

Design Notes:
Features photographic collage with painted embellishments
Gothic serif font (Chrome Hearts logo) used in halo-like form
Uses layered silhouettes, flames, and mythic signs for an apocalyptic look
Vertical format is solid and mimics scroll painting composition

Designer Bio:
Tadanori Yokoo (b. 1936) is a key postwar Japanese graphic designer who is well known for psychedelic posters and cross-cultural icons. His work filled the gap between avant-garde art and fashion branding during the 90s.