Simple & Thoughtfully
Designed Strategy
Design begins with direction.
From strategy and planning,
to logo and web design, to multilingual and operational systems.
One team, from start to finish.
01Approach
Strategy, design and systems —
as one continuous whole.
Polishing the surface alone won't move a business forward. Deciding what to deliver and to whom, giving it form, and making sure it keeps reaching people — HELM. takes on all three without splitting them apart.
01
Strategy
Strategy — deciding what to deliver
To whom, what, and why.
We study your current site, materials and competitors, and put your strengths and challenges into words. Only after deciding what to bring forward — and what to stop doing — do we start designing.
- Audit and competitor research
- Positioning and copywriting
- Site structure and wireframes
02
Design
Design — giving it form
Forms that don't fade with the times.
With the logo at the core, we create CI, websites and print in one consistent tone — lasting design, refined through work recognized by the Good Design Award and the JCD Design Award.
- Logo, CI and branding
- Website design and development
- Business cards, special printing, spaces and film
03
System
Systems — keep reaching people
So it keeps reaching people, long after launch.
Using AI, we build multilingual sites that carry your design to the world intact, and systems that take the effort out of updates. We also help design teams bring AI into their work.
- Multilingual websites (automatic translation)
- Automated updates and operations
- AI adoption for design teams
02Works
Works
Projects that began with strategy, projects where we led the design, and projects where we built the systems too. Each one notes where we came in.
Strategy · Design · System
Tokyo Knit Wholesalers Association
A site designed to compound: launch day is the starting line, and its value grows the longer it runs. Member interviews, a learning archive and activity records feed each other — and reach an English site automatically.
Strategy · Design
Satoshi Furuno, Japan National Ski Cross Team
An official site that conveys the thrill of ski cross to people who have never seen it. We directed everything from the athlete's own guide to the sport and his story of overcoming injury, to the path into his supporters' club and donations.
Strategy · Design
NOCO Building, Ginza
We joined the development of a mixed-use building in Ginza from the concept stage. The timber facade became the building's face and drew tenants who wanted that space, helping its leasing. Logo and signage too. Good Design Award; JCD Design Award, Silver.
Design
The Tokyo Ballet
A logo renewal, and projection mapping for The Nutcracker — which went on a national tour in its second year.
Design
Asia Pacific Initiative 10th Anniversary
An anniversary gala at Hotel Okura. Art direction from the logo to the venue, film and website.
Design
APIF International Conference
An international conference bringing together business leaders from Japan and Asia. Art direction for the logo, venue design and film.
03Logo / CI
Logo design
The logo is the axis of a brand, and its most important element. Once the direction is set, we test everything down to letter spacing, size and the roundness of corners, then build 100–200 variations. Only the one that remains is delivered, as a logo made to last. Click to enlarge.
04Process
How we work
We don't jump straight into making things. We start by sorting out the challenge.
01
Listening and research
We hear your story, study your current site and competitors, and clarify the challenge.
02
Strategy proposal
We propose the challenge, the direction and the structure — and move on only once you're convinced.
03
Design and production
We create the logo, website, print and more, assembling photo, film and 3DCG teams as needed.
04
Systems and operation
We set up multilingual and update systems, and stay with you after launch.
Logical presentations, from an engineering background
We don't decide on instinct alone. We explain, step by step, why a design takes the form it does — with proposals that are easy to share inside your company.
A team built for each project
Fashion photographers, TV film and sound crews — we put together the right team for the content and the timeline.
No compromise, down to what people hold
A business card or printed piece is often the first touch of a brand. From paper selection to special printing, we create textures online printing can't. We pre-print card stock with special techniques and add names later, so reorders of 100 and cards for new staff keep exactly the same quality.
Designers who build the systems
The same team handles design, implementation and operations, so the look stays intact and updates take less effort.
Tested firsthand, with real results
A personal blog, built through trial and error with SEO and article writing, reached 500,000 page views a month in 2016. A product born from it reached 720% of its goal on the crowdfunding platform Makuake in 2020. That hands-on experience — from attracting an audience to making the sale — feeds directly into our strategy and branding.
Proposals everyone can see
We can deliver research and strategy as a web page your whole team can revisit anytime, so the people who decide and the people who make stay on the same page.
05About
About HELM.
Because my family ran a yacht-building business, I named the company “HELM.” — the word for steering a yacht.
We don't stop at delivering a design. We set the course together with you and travel with you all the way to the destination. That is HELM.'s work.
Yasusuke Murai
HELM.INC. CEO / Creative Director / Art Director / Founder
Born in Kobe in 1976. After graduating from Kobe City College of Technology and Nagaoka University of Technology, he moved to the US and graduated from DH Institute Media Arts in Santa Monica. He spent seven years at STOIQUE on corporate branding and advertising, went independent in 2008, and founded HELM.INC. in 2023.
AWARDSGood Design Award; JCD Design Award, Silver
ProfileContact
Talk to us before it takes shape.
A renewal, a logo, a multilingual site, bringing AI into your team. Even if your ideas are still loose, we'd be glad to hear from you.
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