STUDIO BYCOLOR is a Japanese design studio that derives its name from colors and materials and is dedicated to researching the meaning and effects that colors have on people.

Omori, a district of Tokyo where STUDIO BYCOLOR is headquartered, is where the cultivation of NORI seaweed, used for sushi preparation, began, so much so that many producers still operate there today. Nori is a type of seaweed vulnerable to rising water temperatures of ocean currents and transformations in ecosystems due to climate change in recent years. STUDIO BYCOLOR is concerned with capturing NORI seaweed’s deep and beautiful black pigment and breaking it down into textural colors.

NORI is the Blackest Containing many nutrients such as red algae, green algae, and cyanobacteria. The blacker it is, the better it tastes. Specifically, the components are divided into phycoerythrin, chlorophyll, phycocyanin and carotenoids. 

Through experiments to extract the color, STUDIO BYCOLOR has glimpsed that phycoerythrin plays an important role in photosynthesis in the ocean, where sunlight is difficult to reach, in the same way as in forests. To emphasize the existence of the red color behind the black NORI, STUDIO BYCOLOR created works using cotton, silk and wool as media, as well as Japanese paper making, which led to the creation of NORI sheet.