![\"1672679-slide-750-tenrei-121011\"](\"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/1672679-slide-750-tenrei-121011.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFuneral homes employ a similar aesthetic in design and brand identity wherever you go. Their colors are muted, dark, and the walls are generally decorated, like those in hospitals, with opaque watercolors (or dorm-room Matisse reproductions). This culture of design is particularly pronounced in Japan, where funeral homes strictly follow the unwritten black-and-white design rule. A new advertisement for Nishinihon Tenrei funeral home, however, is breaking this rule in dramatic, colorful fashion.<\/p>\n
Mari Nishimura, creative director at ad agency I&S BBDO, developed the idea for this life-size poster of a human skeleton made from a collage of colorful flowers and plant life. Recently, it won a One Show Design Merit Award.<\/p>\n
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While the work produced is certainly beautiful, and perhaps marketable, the logic behind its creation seems questionable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the funeral is an occasion to show your gratitude to those you are leaving behind, you\u2019d want it to be colorful and festive,\u201d Nishimura explained in an interview.<\/p>\n
The tempting response to this statement is: \u201cIt\u2019s not. A funeral is an occasion for the family and friends of the dead to get together, say goodbye, and pay their respects.\u201d<\/p>\n
That said, Nishimura didn\u2019t position her statement in this fashion by accident. What she probably suspected was that the living customers of funeral homes would probably enjoy a livelier setting, but might also feel guilty about having such an experience in a time of mourning. By saying a colorful celebration is what the dead want, she can give it to the living customers while protecting them from self-judgment.<\/p>\n
Regardless of the thought process, this bold, beautifully-executed rebranding campaign could easily take off, and change the way funeral homes present themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Funeral homes employ a similar aesthetic in design and brand identity wherever you go. Their colors are muted, dark, and the walls are generally decorated, like those in hospitals, with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-branding","category-marketing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t