We commissioned the logo for tho from Hiroshi Tateno, a picture book author and biological illustrator.
Tateno is known for creating his works through an extraordinary investment of time in research, observation, and reflection. Not only are insects, plants, and landscapes depicted with astonishing precision, but every element that appears in his images carries meaning, relating to and resonating with one another.
His work reaches a realm that can only be expressed through what he has truly “seen” with his own eyes.
For this project, we shared tho’s central theme: to engage directly—through physical, on-the-ground exploration—with a range of phenomena, particularly those related to nature, history, and culture, and to express them in music.
Below is Tateno’s own comment on the logo:
“The theme is ‘life—all living things.’ My thinking began with the question: what is life? This work contains, in essence, all origins.
As for where life began, the most widely supported hypothesis today is that organic compounds were formed around hydrothermal vents approximately 3.8 billion years ago.
The conditions necessary to give shape to life—
heat, seawater, and sediment
— are what this work seeks to evoke.”
A logo is not simply a mark, but an expression of a philosophy.
Thank you sincerely for creating a logo that will serve as a guiding compass for tho.
舘野さんは、膨大な時間をかけた徹底的な取材・観察・考察をもとに作品を制作することで知られています。虫や植物、風景は驚くほど緻密に描かれているだけでなく、画面に現れるすべての要素が意味を持ち、互いに関係し合い、響き合っています。それらは、自らの目で実際に「観てきた」ものにしか到達し得ない表現です。
今回の制作にあたっては、thoの中心的なテーマである「さまざまな現象、特に自然・歴史・文化関わるものを、自らの足を使って、音楽として表していく」という考えをお伝えしました。以下は、ロゴについての舘野さんご自身のコメントです。
"テーマは「命、生きとし生けるもの」
命とはなんだろう、というところから思考が始まっています。この作品はまさにすべての根源を含みます。
生命の誕生はどこから、という仮説で今一番有力なのは38億年前に熱水噴出孔で有機物が生成されたとされています。
生命を形作るために必要な環境
熱
海水
泥
そのありさまを示したものです”
ロゴは単なる記号ではなく、思想を表すものです。