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In the Studio: Yuko Shimizu

August 06, 2025

From her perfectly located New York studio, Yuko Shimizu has been exploring the darker side of The Great Gatsby for Folio’s new version of the modern classic.

Yuko Shimizu’s studio in the busy Garment District of New York City is too hot in summer, too cold in winter, too loud all year round and surrounded by nothing but offices. But, when she and two friends moved into the small old industrial building after art school 20 years ago, ‘we hit the jackpot!’ she says. ‘It’s in a central location near Madison Square Garden, I’ve now got the best room on the floor, the landlord trusts me, and he doesn’t put my rent up – that’s gold dust in New York!’

With its large floor-to-ceiling windows, the studio is light and airy, and features Yuko’s favourite colours: red, white and black. ‘The walls were bare brick but have been painted over many times – one is red, the others white.’ Having initially made do with old furniture thrown out from the art school and dragged by the three friends into the building, Yuko has since splashed out on a Herman Miller Aaron chair. ‘I get stiff shoulders but never lower back pain,’ she says proudly.

Another investment was in her L-shaped work area, ‘two cool, stainless steel tables that I always wanted because I often see graphic designers I admire with them,’ says Yuko. ‘As well as my laptop, I have a big, 23-inch Apple monitor on one table. I need plenty of space because I draw with black ink on watercolour paper. I put the ink brush water on the table I’m not working on, so if I knock it over it spills on the floor, not on my drawing!’

Other essentials? Well, pride of place goes to a dog bed for her chihuahua Iskander (the Arabic name for Alexander the Great), and while she prefers not to have distractions in the studio, she has found room for a microwave, fridge and lots of art books. And it was books on cars, fashion and art deco of the 1920s that she added when Folio asked her to work on its new edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (she’d previously teamed up with Folio on its Japanese Tales).

At first, she says, she was daunted by the prospect, ‘because while the British have Shakespeare, Americans have F. Scott Fitzgerald.’ But she became interested in the darker side of Gatsby, away from the more common impression of romance and glamour.

‘The more I read it, the more it became a different book. I saw the darkness and death and graphic violence. I thought, other people have seen this, or maybe they will if I draw it. So I said to Folio: “What’s the point of making something that has already been done?” And they were totally game.’