Ninomae Ina'nis
Brand Identity

The Ninomae Ina'nis brand identity project was a comprehensive visual system designed for the hololive English VTuber talent — a priestess of the Ancient Ones whose character merges Lovecraftian horror aesthetics with a gentle, artistic persona. The challenge was to create a brand language that honors both the dark, mythos-driven lore and the warm, approachable personality that defines Ina's presence.

The resulting system spans a custom logotype, bilingual typography hierarchy, a four-color palette derived from the character's visual elements, a repeating pattern system, and a set of symbolic icons extracted from the original character illustration by Kuroboshi Kouhaku.

The logotype was constructed as a geometric, angular custom typeface that reads "INA'NIS" in a vertical orientation — deliberately unconventional, referencing the vertical writing direction of Japanese text. Each glyph was hand-built with sharp, precise cuts that echo the character's dual nature: structured yet otherworldly. The typeface is accompanied by the kanji rendering 伊那尔栖, creating a bilingual lockup that bridges English and Japanese-speaking audiences.

The four-color system is directly extracted from the character's visual identity. Ink Black anchors the brand in weight and contrast. Ika Purple — named after the Japanese word for squid — serves as the primary brand color, present in the character's hair and outfit. Ina Orange provides warmth and accent energy. Inai Purple offers a lighter, softer counterpoint for backgrounds and secondary elements.

The type system pairs Acumin Variable Concept (ExtraCondensed Semibold, tracking 575) for main titles with Montserrat across three weights for supporting copy. Japanese text is set in ラノベPOP v2, covering Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana — a typeface choice that bridges the character's playful personality with readability.

Four core icons were distilled from Kuroboshi Kouhaku's original character illustration: a jar (representing the Ancient Ones' vessels), a four-pointed star (mystical energy), a heart (Ina's gentle nature), and a clover cross (luck and protection). These icons serve dual purpose — as individual brand marks and as the building blocks of a repeating pattern system used across merchandise, stream overlays, and social media.

Two variations of an eye symbol were developed from the character's lore — one naturalistic with an almond-shaped eye inscribed in a circle, and one abstracted into concentric rings suggesting infinite depth. Both reference the Lovecraftian concept of forbidden knowledge and cosmic observation, serving as a secondary brand mark for special applications like limited merchandise and event branding.

The design process began with a deep study of Kuroboshi Kouhaku's original character illustration, deconstructing visual elements into their geometric foundations. The eye symbol went through multiple iterations — from a realistic rendering to increasingly abstract circular forms. The logotype construction explored various angular approaches before arriving at the final geometric system. Each icon was refined from its source illustration through progressive simplification, ensuring legibility at small sizes while maintaining the character's visual DNA.

The brand identity has been adopted across Ninomae Ina'nis's entire digital presence — from YouTube channel art and stream overlays to merchandise design and concert visuals. The pattern system has been particularly embraced by the Tentacult community, appearing in fan-created content and becoming a recognizable visual signature within the hololive ecosystem. The brand was refreshed in January 2021 (Prototype I) and continues to serve as the foundational visual language for all of Ina's creative output.