Studio Yamaguchi
Photography


Em Yamaguchi (Studio Yamaguchi) is a graphic designer and (concert) photographer currently based in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Having grown up in the Southern California music scene, her interests in alternative culture, the DIY-ethos, and collaboration has influenced much of her work which is mostly focused on editorial design and photography. In recent years, she has also gained an interest in fiber arts and feminist practice. She is currently in her fourth year of the ArtEZ University of the Arts Graphic Design Bachelor program in Arnhem and will graduate in the upcoming spring. This past fall, she completed her internship at Framer Framed in Amsterdam. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, writing, and making music with her friends.


GIVING CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE
In collaboration with Sara Pothof, “Giving Credit Where It’s Due” is a small riso-printed publication which is a part of our larger research project “On the Unraveling of Fiber Arts”. This small publication contains an essay regarding the history of fiber arts and its effects on fiber arts today, as well as part of an interview with Alexa Kari, the founder of Material Grrrlz, a quarterly fiber arts magazine aimed at the younger generation.


FRAMER FRAMED EXHIBITION HANDOUTS
From September until December 2025, I completed my internship at Framer Framed, a political art space in Amsterdam. Throughout my time there, I worked on design tasks for exhibitions such as Lawan (2025), Remembering Otherwise (2025), Shapeshifters (2025-2026), and Srefidensi (2025-2026). Above is the exhibition handout designed to accompany Framer Framed visitors as they navigate the Shapeshifters exhibition.


SDS RECORDS WEBSITE (IN PROGRESS)
SDS Records is a small independent record label from San Diego, California. Rooted in their love for their local music scene and the hope to bring back physical media into the mainstream, SDS does all they can for the seven bands currently under their label. They do things the old school way, and they wanted their website to be reminiscent of something you’d find from 20 years ago on wayback machine. This project has been coded from an empty Cargo page using HTML, CSS, and Javascript, and it is still in progress.


EDITORIAL DESIGN
With photography being such a large part of my practice as a maker, I am always looking for ways to encorporate it with graphic design and also with my writing. Using images that I have shot and edited at concerts along with editorial writing about the performance, the spreads above convey my experience at these events. 


SAN DIEGO BURRITOS A-Z
Being so close to the border, San Diego’s food culture is strongly influenced by Mexico. Burritos are a staple of a good night out, a day at Pacific Beach, or after a good hike in Torrey Pines. This book organizes data from a spreadsheet created by a UCSD masters student on burritos around San Diego County based on a 1-5 rating scale for each aspect of the burrito. 




MORNING STAR MENDING
When does the life cycle of a piece of clothing end? Does it need to have an end? This project challenges the idea of when a piece of clothing “dies”. This skirt was created from unworn denim collected from friends that was mended together with traditional Japanese sashiko mending methods. This garment is intended to encourage more reuse of clothing that is no longer being worn or encourage thought about how garments and materials can be reimagined into new items.




PRACTICAL TAXIDERMY NEWSPAPER
Taxidermy is an dynamic art form, and the book Practical Taxidermy by Montagu Browne serves as a step by step guide to the beginning taxidermist about everything that they may need to know. While this book is full of intriguingly detailed illustrations and descriptions, its form truly does not do this form of art justice. The Practical Taxidermy newspaper holds the same information and images, but in a new form that serves to be a guttural visual representation of everything that this book holds.


LOCAL MUSIC SCENEZINE
Music creates community. Local music scenes can create such a wonderfully diverse culture of musicians and other artists alike who are all drawn together through their love of music. Studio Yamaguchi got its start in the San Diego local scene, and is now still heavily involved in and inspired by the Dutch local music scenes in Amsterdam and the surrounding cities. This zine contains photos collected from local shows that were shot, edited, printed, and produced by Studio Yamaguchi.



HEART TO HEART
Heart to Heart is a game all about conversations around interpersonal connections and personal values. This game is meant to spark conversations around certain topics that can be difficult to bring up unprompted, whether that’s between you and a friend, or a partner, or anyone else you have an important personal connection to.