Nintendo Collection
New York, New York
2020
A nostalgia-driven textiles and collection-development project translating Nintendo’s visual language into a contemporary adult wardrobe. Personal memory, brand and character research, color studies, geometric motifs, and repeat patterns informed analog sketches, textile concepts, and final illustrated looks.
I. Abstract
This collection is inspired by the legendary company and brand that is Nintendo. Nintendo is a multinational consumer electronics and video game company, founded in Kyoto, Japan in 1889. The company began as a card company but transitioned into electronics with the coming of the technological evolution that began in the 1970’s. By the 1990’s, Nintendo video games and electronics had gained immense popularity in the U.S., and that was the point at which my exposure began.
Nintendo and their products are a defining part of my childhood. From giant stacks of Pokemon cards, to the gifts of GameBoy and Nintendo video game products each Christmas, to my love for drawing and painting Nintendo Characters, my history of collecting and engaging with Nintendo products runs deep. After reflecting deeply on my “design DNA,” I found myself inspired to create from a place deep in my memory, and it is with that nostalgic period of my childhood and adolescent upbringing in mind that I drew inspiration for a modern collection, designed for adults who grew up in that era.
Please enjoy your exploration of Nintendo (2020).
II. Mood Board
The research returns to the Nintendo imagery embedded in Azani’s own childhood memory, moving through consoles, packaging, games, characters, logos, and adjacent franchises from the era. Together, the references capture the saturated color, geometry, playfulness, and nostalgia that become the collection’s starting visual language.
III. Color Palette
The palette is sampled from recognizable characters, consoles, and game-world references, giving each color its own association within the larger Nintendo archive. Bright primaries sit alongside pink, purple, green, black, and white, creating a flexible system capable of carrying several nostalgic references within one collection.
IV. Visual Motifs and Patterns
Character and game references are abstracted into geometric motifs and repeat patterns, allowing familiar imagery to operate through shape and color. Polka dots, diamonds, and engineered compositions transform recognizable source material into graphic surfaces that can extend beyond direct character illustration and into the collection itself.
V. Sketches and Ideation
Early sketches test how Nintendo’s visual vocabulary might move onto contemporary garments through graphics, proportion, placement, and silhouette. References to Mario, handheld gaming, racing, and character imagery appear across tops, outerwear, accessories, and athletic forms as the collection begins translating memory into clothing.
VI. Selected Flats and Looks
The selected looks bring pattern, character reference, and graphic color into more resolved garments and footwear. The geometric coat, illustrated knitwear, special-edition Triple-8 concepts, and streamlined separates show several ways the same nostalgic source world can be translated through distinct visual treatments.
VII. Collection Presentation
The final lineup assembles the collection as a contemporary wardrobe shaped by a shared visual memory. Character graphics, engineered patterns, vivid color, and game-inspired details move across the looks, presenting nostalgia as a living design resource carried forward through new combinations of image and form.
Nintendo Collection
New York, New York
2020
A nostalgia-driven textiles and collection-development project translating Nintendo’s visual language into a contemporary adult wardrobe. Personal memory, brand and character research, color studies, geometric motifs, and repeat patterns informed analog sketches, textile concepts, and final illustrated looks.