“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Monday March 24th — —

I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Monday March 24th — —

The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Monday March 24th — —

Kolmio+LIM

Yet another amazing project by Yusuke Seki. This time situated in Japan’s second largest city Osaka, the inspirational designer created a immaculate store for nail salon Kolmio+LIM. Completed in September 2013 as an expansion of the popular Less Is More (LIM) hair salon, Seki incorporates elements inspired by the services and name: ‘kolmio’ means triangle in Finnish. The first element in this approach is the color palette: based directly on the tones of human skin and nails. Other design features are inspired by the layering process of painting nails: an opening in the impressive wooden zigzag wall; a pattern used regularly on nails, lets natural light into the main space, while groups of three stools, three mirrors and three beauty chairs are all direct references to the salon’s name. The beautiful space evokes a sentiment of relaxation through its overall serene, minimal aesthetic which fits a salon perfectly.

The designer got inspired to use the various tones of skin color and the color of natural human nails in his design by the Japanese proverb “Diverse men, diverse minds”, which directly translates as “ten people have ten different colors.” Every person has their own skin color as a base for coloring, which can be enhanced with ‘new personality’ by adding layer upon layer, which is the key in the process of nail art and the fascinating central theme in the aesthetically appealing design of the Kolmio+LIM store.

Inspirational designer Yusuke Seki was born in 1978 and has worked for the Interior Design Office in Tokyo, as well as a number of corporate clients such as AU, Sony. The designer has also worked independently on design products and architectural space design, of which many have been exhibited at the Milan Salone, Designer’s block, the Tokyo Style Exhibition, Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair. After establishing his own studio in 2008, he has designed for a variety of spaces, from shops, to candy stores and salons like Kolmio+LIM.

Photography by Takumi Ota.

For more information on the work of Yusuke Seki see here.