capturing transient shades of leaves, shion ito's crayons fuse multiple hues into one 

leaves crayons look to the rich hues found in nature

LEAVES is a crayon set designed by Shion Ito that provokes us to rethink our conventional understanding of colors. Drawing inspiration from the symphony of rich hues found in nature, LEAVES features a palette encompassing purple, red, orange, yellow, and yellow-green, creating intricate and captivating tones that diverge from simple human classifications. Despite the advent of ‘convenient’ coloring tools, colors are not everlasting but rather compositions of various shades that can evolve over time. Drawing on this, alongside the transient qualities of nature, each crayon in the set is a blend of multiple hues, inviting users to discover new ways of creating and revelling in their surprising, unpredictable nature.

all images courtesy of Shion Ito

shion ito rethinks conventional views of colormaking

Shion Ito’s concept for LEAVES originates from insights found in the Japanese book ‘Cosmic Tree’ by Shinichi Takemura, delving into the intricate relationship between humans and plants. Takemura challenges the traditional view of color, emphasizing its inherent dynamism and transformative nature in contrast to the entrenched belief that colors are eternal and unchanging. Inspired by this perspective, Shion Ito set out to design a functional object that integrates into daily life while symbolizing the often-overlooked dynamic nature of colors.‘In doing so, I aimed to subtly prompt individuals to reconsider their perceptions of colors in a non-obvious manner,’ notes the designer.

The creation process involves a specially designed plastic mold that casts melted crayons, with randomly added fragments resulting in intricate mixed colors. A rectangular form was chosen to allow for alignment, creating a captivating gradation effect when placed together.

LEAVES features a palette encompassing purple, red, orange, yellow, and yellow-green

a rectangular form allows for alignment, creating a captivating gradation effect when placed together

each individual crayon is a blend of multiple hues

the process involves a plastic mold that casts melted crayons, with randomly added fragments

Shion Ito looks to the rich hues of nature

project info:

name: LEAVES
designer: Shion Ito 

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: ravail khan | designboom