Open Hand is a non-profit academy aimed at teaching classical karate and self defense. This brand has several somewhat unseen influences that helped drive its direction.
The Open Hand brand is based on the tatami proportion of 2:1. Tatami mats used to floor buildings such as karate dojos or Japanese homes. Because of their unique ratio, there are layouts dervied from their arrangement. The Open Hand brand uses these layouts as grids, and the 2:1 ratio for sizing of visual elements and typography.
The Open Hand mark carries two Japanese cultural allusions to honor the birthplace of karate. The mark itself (left) is based on a hanko stamp, a red seal used to sign official and personal documents. Elements of the mark are constructed using tatami proportion (right), used here to shape letterforms.
One of the challenges with Open Hand was that the majority of martial arts branding focuses on combat and is loud, aggressive, and in-your-face. Since this is the opposite of Open Hand's philosophy, we aimed at something that was quiet, fresh, and directly alluded to the history of what is being taught.
The tatami ratio affects everything in the brand, from uniforms to window lettering.
The Open Hand style guide uses tatami grids as a basis for layout. Inside are color definitions, an overview of the tatami grid system, and lessons on color and logo usage.
