Snow Machine Japan

For Snow Machine Japan 2025, the brief was to create festival merchandise design that people would actually want to keep wearing after the festival was over. The illustration and apparel design drew from Japanese culture and contemporary merchandise trends, deliberately moving beyond traditional festival souvenir graphics while retaining a subtle connection to the Snow Machine brand.

Two illustrated concepts were developed for a long-sleeve tee and hoodie design. One pairs a playful Japanese cat with a Suntory-inspired drink can and sushi nigiri. The second turns a ramen bowl into a graphic treatment of the festival name, with noodles forming the lettering.

The existing Snow Machine identity provided the starting point, but the merchandise design was given more freedom to develop its own visual language. The signature red was retained as a connection to both the brand and the Japanese setting, while the typography and illustration moved into a more contemporary, wearable direction.

The illustration style tapped into the visual language of contemporary festival and streetwear merchandise while keeping enough connection to Snow Machine to feel part of the wider world.

The range was produced for the 2025 festival and reportedly sold out.