Creating Tami

From Page to Tatami: Creating Tami

Most of my creative work has lived on the page — characters, stories, and illustrations developed primarily for children’s books. I’ve always been interested in how simple shapes, expressions, and colour can communicate personality and emotion, often with very little detail.

Over time, that curiosity began to extend beyond books. I started wondering what would happen if a character wasn’t tied to a single story, but instead designed to exist in the real world — something recognisable, adaptable, and able to sit comfortably in different environments without losing its identity.

That idea eventually became Tami.

Tami began as a simple visual concept inspired by the geometry and colour blocks of a martial arts tatami. The face design deliberately mirrors the mat itself — familiar to anyone involved in martial arts, but abstract enough to work as a standalone character. The goal wasn’t aggression or action, but approachability, confidence, and clarity.

What interested me most during development was restraint. Keeping the design minimal, ensuring it remained instantly recognisable, and resisting the temptation to overcomplicate it. Those same principles guide much of my illustration and character work elsewhere.

Tami has since grown into its own project, exploring mascots, collectibles, and customisable pieces connected to martial arts culture and competition memories. While it’s very different from children’s publishing on the surface, creatively it comes from the same place — careful character design, visual storytelling, and respect for the audience.

If you’re curious to see how the project has evolved, you can explore it here.