Nagi Noda facts for kids

Nagi Noda (野田 凪, Noda Nagi, November 18, 1973 – September 7, 2008) was a super creative Japanese artist and art director from Tokyo. She was known for her unique and imaginative style.

Nagi Noda spent most of her career as a freelance art director. This means she helped create advertisements and visual designs for many different companies. She worked on campaigns for big brands like Nike, Laforet, and Panasonic.

Besides her work for companies, Nagi Noda was also a very busy artist. She created many of her own special projects. These included her famous half-panda sculptures, called Hanpanda. She also made a clothing brand with American artist Mark Ryden called Broken Label. Another one of her unique ideas was creating "hair hats."

Noda had many art shows during her life. After she passed away, another show was held in 2011 to celebrate her amazing work. This shows how much people admired her as a designer. Her art often looked very imaginative and dream-like. She was great at mixing art with commercial projects, always being very creative and different. She also started her own design company called "Uchuu Country."

Early Career and Big Projects

Noda started her career by directing advertisements for the Laforet shopping mall in Harajuku, Tokyo. She quickly became known for her fresh and exciting ideas.

Famous Works and Videos

Some of her most well-known projects include a short film called Mariko Takahashi's Fitness Video for Being Appraised as an "Ex-fat Girl". She also created the life-sized Hanpanda figures, which were half-panda and half-something else!

Nagi Noda directed music videos for popular singers too. She made the video for Japanese singer Yuki's song "Sentimental Journey." Later, in 2005, she worked with Yuki again to direct the opening song for the anime show Honey & Clover. This was her only time working on a regular story-based project.

Other Creative Collaborations

Noda also directed a television advertisement for Coca-Cola, which featured music by Jack White. She even teamed up with Medicom Toy to create special Nagi Noda Be@rbricks toys.

Her talent extended to international music videos as well. She directed the video for the Scissor Sisters song "She's My Man" and the video for "Hearts On Fire by Cut Copy. The "Hearts On Fire" video was the last music video she ever made.

Noda's Unique Style

Nagi Noda's works often made a surprising impression, with a style that could be dream-like, strange, or very artistic. She said that her unusual childhood greatly influenced her art.

In an interview from 2003, she remembered how her parents would take her to look for UFOs. They even made her watch TV in black and white so she would learn to imagine colors! These experiences helped her develop her unique and imaginative way of seeing the world.

Nagi Noda's Legacy

Nagi Noda sadly passed away on September 7, 2008, at the age of 34. She had health problems after an accident the year before. Even though she passed away young, her creative work continues to inspire artists and designers around the world.