Who We Are

SOAR NY is a graphic design studio founded by Masaki Hanahara in Brooklyn, New York in 2022. With members in New York and Tokyo, the studio pursues brand collaborations, brand identity, spatial graphics, public art, and creative direction for brands worldwide. Through every project, we push at what graphic design can be, exploring its potential across new mediums, contexts, and creative partnerships.

Our Philosophy

We believe that beauty already exists within every subject, waiting to be found. Before anything else, there is a single question: where is the most essential and beautiful point in this subject? We engage with every subject as a structure first, understanding how it is built, how it moves, how it exists in its environment. The goal is never to impose beauty, but to draw out what was already there.

When expression and subject are truly aligned, the result feels inevitable. Dynamic, full of momentum, and always elegant. As if the design could only ever have existed in that form, for that subject, and no other. "I have seen this subject a thousand times. I have never seen it like this."

What We Do

Collaboration

Graphic design as creative collaboration. We bring our own visual language into products, spaces, and experiences, in partnership with brands who value graphic design as a creative force in its own right.

Brand

Brand Strategy, Brand Architecture, Naming, Copywriting, Brand Identity, Logo Design, Typography, Packaging Design, Brand Guidelines, Campaign & Key Visual, Film, Motion Graphics, Interior Design

Art Projects

Mural, Painting, Spatial Installation, Exhibition

　　　

Our Branding Process

1. Briefing / Hearing

Interviews with Executives and Stakeholders, Competitive Research, Customer Insight

2. Brand Strategy

Brand Purpose, Value, Personality, Positioning, Target Audience

3. Verbal Identity

Brand Name, Philosophy, Narrative, Tagline, Tone of Voice

4. Visual Identity

Logo & Symbol Mark, Typography, Color Palette, Brand Guidelines

5. Design Execution

Product/Package Design, Key Visual, Website, App, Motion Graphics, Social Media Asset

Our Clients

ISSEY MIYAKE / SHISEIDO / Dumbo Improvement District / NYC DOT Art / NEW BALANCE / Mori Building / Panasonic / NTT DATA / TEIJIN

About Masaki

Masaki Hanahara（花原正基）

Founder & Creative Director

Masaki spent 14 years at SHISEIDO, one of the world's top beauty companies, as Art Director and Creative Director, followed by three years as Creative Director for SHISEIDO's global brand across 90 countries. In 2022, he founded SOAR NY in Brooklyn, NY.

His work has received three Gold Pencils at The One Show, a Gold Pencil at the ADC, and recognition from D&AD, Clio, New York Festivals, and JAGDA New Designer Award. He has served as a juror for awards such as ADC and London D&AD.

Recognition

  1. 2018 Named among the top four Creative Directors in the design category worldwide by The One Show, the world’s most prestigious award show in advertising, design, and digital marketing.
  2. 2019 The National Museum in Poland selected his 10 artworks, a series of posters, as part of its official collection.
  3. 2025 Commissioned by the City of New York, a 42-foot public mural was created in Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood, marking the first time a Japanese designer had done so in the district.

Awards Jury

  1. 2019 World's Top 10 Still Life Photographers, Platinum Originality International University
  2. 2020 SPOTLIGHT AWARDS
  3. 2021 D&AD, LE BOOK
  4. 2023 ADC, GDC
  5. 2025 TOP AWARDS ASIA

Keynote
Presentation

  1. 2018 Macao Design Week Asia, Macau
  2. 2020 International experience Design Committee, China
  3. 2023 GDC, China

Exhibition

  1. 2018 JAGDA New Designer Award Exhibition (Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi, Niigata, Kumamoto and Shiga, Japan)
  2. 2018 Macao Design Week
  3. 2019-2021 Japan Graphic Design Exhibition (Shanghai, Chengdu and Sichuan, China)