Nagi Noda (1973 – 2008)

Dancing eyeballs, fitness-video-exercising poodles, half pandas/half other animals, and singing merchandise in a boutique store are only a few of the vivid, perplexing imaginings of Nagi Noda, the talented, eccentric and boundary-pushing artist, art director and fashion designer from Tokyo. Unfettered from any discipline or industry limits, Noda's work extends from book design and music packaging, to short films, to music videos and commercials — including a hypnotic ad for Coca-Cola, with music by the White Stripes' Jack White, commissioned by London agency Mother — and even to clothing design. Noda is signed with Partizan, a leading agency that represents cutting-edge directors, photographers and artists.

Excerpt from Women of Design

Spread and single page from WoD. Click on each image for bigger view.

When Bryony and I first started working on Women of Design sometime back in early 2007, we consulted with other designers to get their thoughts about possible designers to include, specially those that would fall outside the realm of the usual suspects. Within a comprehensive and generous list, Stefan Sagmeister recommended Nagi Noda. We were smitten, even if a tad apprehensive of including someone who had limited work in the specific niche of graphic design — a self-imposed boundary we set for the book — but what won us over was simply Noda's creative spirit and what she represents: A new generation of designer that is truly unbound from any given discipline that can segue from one venture, medium and challenge to another.

Noda passed away this past Sunday, September 7, 2008, at age 35 — although the exact cause was not specified, she had had complications stemming from a previous car accident. Daniell Hinde, Head of Sales at Partizan Entertainment and friend of Noda, offered this, "I can tell you that she went well. She was dressed in her Mark Ryden Dress, Chanel boots, perfect make up, Viktor and Rolf black lace eyelashes." Our brief interaction with Noda was, well, brief but it was clear that she cared about her work and took the time from her evidently busy life to contribute to our book and we remain grateful for that, as well as for the opportunity to showcase her work.

To her friends and family, our best wishes are with you.

Shopping bags for Laforet.

Book covers.

One of her most recent projects, an album cover for Japanese singer MEG.

Commercial for Coca-Cola through Mother, London. This is the same technique Noda used for Yuki's "Sentimental Journey".

Music video for Ogiyahagi's "I Love your Face."

Short film, "Fitness Video for Being Appraised as an 'Ex-Fat Girl'."

The very best thing about creative work like Nagi Noda's is the positive unboundedness of her imagination. Wherever she is right now, she's moving forward - elsewhere - and it's for the rest of us to appreciate and move into unexpected frontiers ourselves. Nagi, goodbye.

My heart is broken today.

This woman was amazing. She accomplished a lot in a short life. All of it was fun and inventive. She was truly a great, innovative artist.