Ikigai Labs is a Tokyo-based innovation studio specializing in experimental product design, emerging technologies, and interactive experiences for brands and startups.
Company
Self-initiated
Timeline
2023
—
Role
Concept, 3D, Art Direction
Project overview
Ikigai Labs wanted a digital platform that mirrored the experimental nature of their work. Their previous website lacked the visual energy and interactivity necessary to reflect their innovative approach. Elliot’s goal was to craft a site that captured the studio’s forward-thinking ethos, showcasing their portfolio of experimental projects while maintaining usability and clarity. The platform had to feel immersive, offering users an experience that reflected the studio’s creativity and technological prowess.
Challenges
The main challenge was conveying complex, experimental projects in a way that was visually exciting but not confusing. Ikigai Labs’ work often combined multiple disciplines—physical products, AR experiences, and web apps—which demanded a flexible design system capable of handling diverse content types. Another difficulty was creating interactive elements that felt innovative without compromising performance across devices. Balancing bold, experimental aesthetics with a structured navigation system required careful planning and repeated iteration to ensure users could explore the content effortlessly.
Results
The new Ikigai Labs website launched as an immersive and visually striking platform, successfully capturing the spirit of experimentation. Interactive previews, animated case studies, and a modular layout allowed the studio to showcase its diverse portfolio dynamically. Users could explore projects intuitively, and the site’s responsiveness ensured smooth experiences across devices. Feedback from the client highlighted how effectively the platform communicated their identity, helping attract collaborations with forward-thinking brands and startups. The project positioned Ikigai Labs as a leader in experimental design and interactive innovation, while giving them a scalable, adaptable digital home for future projects.
Project overview
Ikigai Labs wanted a digital platform that mirrored the experimental nature of their work. Their previous website lacked the visual energy and interactivity necessary to reflect their innovative approach. Elliot’s goal was to craft a site that captured the studio’s forward-thinking ethos, showcasing their portfolio of experimental projects while maintaining usability and clarity. The platform had to feel immersive, offering users an experience that reflected the studio’s creativity and technological prowess.
Challenges
The main challenge was conveying complex, experimental projects in a way that was visually exciting but not confusing. Ikigai Labs’ work often combined multiple disciplines—physical products, AR experiences, and web apps—which demanded a flexible design system capable of handling diverse content types. Another difficulty was creating interactive elements that felt innovative without compromising performance across devices. Balancing bold, experimental aesthetics with a structured navigation system required careful planning and repeated iteration to ensure users could explore the content effortlessly.
Further Information
The new Ikigai Labs website launched as an immersive and visually striking platform, successfully capturing the spirit of experimentation. Interactive previews, animated case studies, and a modular layout allowed the studio to showcase its diverse portfolio dynamically. Users could explore projects intuitively, and the site’s responsiveness ensured smooth experiences across devices. Feedback from the client highlighted how effectively the platform communicated their identity, helping attract collaborations with forward-thinking brands and startups. The project positioned Ikigai Labs as a leader in experimental design and interactive innovation, while giving them a scalable, adaptable digital home for future projects.
Further Information 2
Clay states, work-in-progress renders, the model before it became an image. Seeing the geometry raw is part of the story: it shows how much of the final result comes from lighting and surfacing work, and how the shape was pushed and corrected over many passes until every proportion landed.
Further Information 3
Around the car sit the component studies — parts pulled out and treated as objects in their own right. The tyres became their own experiment: tread and rubber sculpted and rendered as near-abstract forms, labelled "Test 01", pushed until they read less like a car part and more like a black material study. It's the kind of detail nobody asks for, and exactly the kind of detail the whole project is built on.
Further Information 4
The new Ikigai Labs website launched as an immersive and visually striking platform, successfully capturing the spirit of experimentation. Interactive previews, animated case studies, and a modular layout allowed the studio to showcase its diverse portfolio dynamically. Users could explore projects intuitively, and the site’s responsiveness ensured smooth experiences across devices. Feedback from the client highlighted how effectively the platform communicated their identity, helping attract collaborations with forward-thinking brands and startups. The project positioned Ikigai Labs as a leader in experimental design and interactive innovation, while giving them a scalable, adaptable digital home for future projects.
Work in Progress
The original plan was to reveal the car inside a SAS Store. But the deeper I got, the more I was pulled toward the experimental and graphical worlds instead — abstract sets, bold backdrops, the car treated as a sculptural object rather than a product in a showroom. That detour became the visual signature of the project: less car commercial, more art direction, the G-Class reframed as something closer to a gallery piece.
Work in Progress II
The new Ikigai Labs website launched as an immersive and visually striking platform, successfully capturing the spirit of experimentation. Interactive previews, animated case studies, and a modular layout allowed the studio to showcase its diverse portfolio dynamically. Users could explore projects intuitively, and the site’s responsiveness ensured smooth experiences across devices. Feedback from the client highlighted how effectively the platform communicated their identity, helping attract collaborations with forward-thinking brands and startups. The project positioned Ikigai Labs as a leader in experimental design and interactive innovation, while giving them a scalable, adaptable digital home for future projects.
Results
The new Ikigai Labs website launched as an immersive and visually striking platform, successfully capturing the spirit of experimentation. Interactive previews, animated case studies, and a modular layout allowed the studio to showcase its diverse portfolio dynamically. Users could explore projects intuitively, and the site’s responsiveness ensured smooth experiences across devices. Feedback from the client highlighted how effectively the platform communicated their identity, helping attract collaborations with forward-thinking brands and startups. The project positioned Ikigai Labs as a leader in experimental design and interactive innovation, while giving them a scalable, adaptable digital home for future projects.