Daruma

A Daruma is a traditional Japanese luck charm symbolising perseverance. When you buy a Daruma doll, it has no eyes. You fill in one eye when you set a goal and the other once it’s achieved. The dolls are then returned to a temple for ritual burning, releasing the spirit for its service.

For the design, I created stylised typography to spell “Daruma.” I used a dotted technique to form the letters, incorporating a pattern of plants and leaves within the type.

I was pleased with the final design, which features two Daruma dolls I initially sketched and then refined into vector graphics in Illustrator. I combined the Daruma illustrations, stylized typography, and other elements, including the Japanese characters for Daruma (達磨), in a Photoshop artboard. There, I added shadows and effects to create a stylized vintage poster design.