Carol is the owner of the Japanese Cafe Kohi Yatta. Kohi Yatta is a Japanese fusion cafe situated at Sungai Besi.

They have been operating for 6 months till the date of this post. Business is good, customers are constant. Their food is good! (Especially their salmon rice.)

There was a big plain white wall outside the Cafe and things was pretty dull. So Carol decided to engage us to think of ideas to decorate the wall.

 

Understanding and empathy

One of the hardest part of delivering a mural is to turn a person’s thought into reality. Art is an abstract, therefore the challenge is to turn the blur into the clear.

Carol came to us with only 2 criterias. She wants her daughter drawn and she wants it to be instagram-able. With only this 2 criterias in mind, we came out with 3 rough drafts, each designed by artist.

Each draft took 2 days, and we did it all for free. We have to pay close attention to the details of her words to actually understood what the image in her mind was.

Using empathy and close hearing, her true inner criteria was actually; Family and Happiness.

 

Immediately we came up with the last draft and Carol was impress! She love it! The yellow kokeshi doll symbolizes her daughter, on the right, symbolizes her son.

 

Meaning and purposeful work

Torri (The red arch structure in the middle) is the representation of her business Kohi Yatta, and the japanese words (ハッピー) means happiness.

Feng sui or metaphysics play an important element in drawing murals. Notice the white cat on the right? It symbolizes the cat of prosperity that is walking towards the direction of the door of the cafe on the right; As it brings good luck and fortune to the business.

Be reminded to take all this into consideration. We advise our clients all the followings before proceeding. We believe that a mural will become part of their daily lives, and it is important we get all elements right from the beginning.

To deliver harmony, we choose the right colour combination of red blue yellow and green. These colours are basic colours of harmony and positivity.

The pink sakura background gives a sense of peace, calm and serenity. Giving the customers a subconscious feeling of relaxation and happiness.

Together, all elements combine into a single important and meaningful symbol, more than a work of art.

To validate our idea and draw with confidence

We had to be sure that things will work out as request.

Before proceeding with the mural, we surveyed at least 10 people (7 girls and 3 boys) about whether a not they would take a photo with it. 8/10 of them said yes (The other 2 are mainly photo shy). We are now confident it will be ‘Instagram-able’.

We rushed day and night 12 hours a day even during the Christmas holidays to get it done before the new years. We understand that their business will benefit from this mural during the new year. Eventually, everything was much better than expected. The dolls are human size and people are able to take a photo in the middle.

Along the way, we also talked to walked-in customers of what they thought about it as a whole. Feedbacks were cute, beautiful and yes, they would take a photo with it once it is done!

Comparison

We drew the red and blue kokeshi doll slightly wider to fit the size of all the dolls.

The happy family

Source: https://www.facebook.com/KohiYatta/photos/rpp.311801709238396/401167776968455/?type=3&theater

The above is the Kohi Yatta Family. Carol was so satisfied with our work, they also offered us to paint the other walls within their cafe as well. Do check out their cafe from this address :4, Jalan Sungai Besi, Pudu, 57100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur

We are so touch and proud of our work knowing we made a huge difference for them and their customers. Good luck to Kohi Yatta. Thank you for giving us the opportunity.

We hope that this step by step post would give you better in-sights into picking the perfect mural and drawing murals for your own wall.

If you would like to speak to us into helping you draw your mural, kindly talk to us and see how can we help you with!

You may reach me personally at 0166850069 (Han)

Happy mural-ing!