Daily Book Graphics #52 / Japanese Family Crests

These are designs based on Japanese family crests from the somewhat insufficiently titled, Handbook of Designs and Motifs (published: 1950). The book is presented as "an invaluable idea and reference handbook for artists, designers, craftsmen and hobbyists in all fields." There are close to 7000 crests in the book and almost all of them are brilliant in one way or another. According to the book, many of the designs started as family crests in the Heian Period (794-1185), but over time they lost their function as family symbols and became decorative motifs.