In Memoriam: Keiji Nakamura

by Matt Hall on Larva Labs /

I am deeply saddened to report the passing of talented designer and friend Keiji Nakamura. In addition to being a deeply patient and kind person, Keiji was the main designer of SlideScreen and one of the most talented designers we’ve worked with. He took a crude sketch of ours and rapidly transformed it into the remarkable design that you know from the finished product. I couldn’t really think of a better way to illustrate the beautiful precision of his work than showing you the first crude drawing I made of SlideScreen (click for large version):

And then to contrast that with the quick first versions that he did:

He likely wouldn’t have been happy with me sharing these early designs as he considered them too rough, but I can still remember being amazed and excited. It was everything I had poorly articulated, while at the same time bringing refinement and important new ideas. We went through a few more iterations and debated many of the details, but the final version isn’t far off of those initial designs. To my eye it still looks as fresh and exciting as when we first saw it:

A great deal of the interest in SlideScreen was due to Keiji’s work, and we quite literally wouldn’t be doing the things we’re doing now if we hadn’t worked with him. It’s tragic and unfair to lose someone so young with so much left to do, he will be missed.