Rumors began swirling earlier this month that Apple was going to be moving in to Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital. At first it was job postings. Then came a building facade with a roundish logo hidden behind a canvas. It could only be one thing: an apple. The company confirmed those rumors today with an official opening date of August 25, 2018. We’ve got a sneak peek of the branding behind Apple’s new Kyoto store, and the inspiration they saw in Kyoto’s tradition of creativity.
But first, head over to this official Kyoto playlist for some tunes while you browse the images.
Apple’s new Kyoto location will be located in the Shijo district. Here’s a map with the exact location. The overall identity of the store appears to draw inspiration from the traditional latticework found around Kyoto. “Since ancient times, ideas and creativity have intertwined like latticework” reads one campaign. Art and design; photography and video; programming and music. Apples calls this store an intersection of ideas and creativity.
August 14, 2018 at 2:25 pm
My reading is that they are referring to the lattice-like shape of the street layout.
The lattice-ified versions of the characters 京都 are illegible and muddled.
August 15, 2018 at 11:35 pm
I agree I thought apple + Kyoto would be a little classier.
September 12, 2018 at 7:39 pm
what do the other 2 symbols mean?
September 16, 2018 at 8:24 am
It’s the apple logo, followed by the 2 kanji for Kyoto: 京都