crayons made from recycled japanese trees and wood uncover different hues found in forests

the pigments of the crayons are extracted from different tree species such as cedar, cypress, and magnolia, to name a few.

matthew burgos July 2, 2024 4 min

Playfool’s Forest crayons are made of recycled wood

Tokyo-based design studio Playfool has presented and restocked the retail version of its Forest Crayons, a set of naturally colored crayons made entirely from recycled and wasted Japanese trees and wood. First introduced in 2021, the studio has set forth to make the crayons commercially available for purchase. Brown isn’t the only color of wood, and Playfool’s Forest Crayons double as a revelation of this truth.

Each coloring material has its distinct shade, determined by both the species of the recycled Japanese tree it comes from and the conditions in which it was cultivated and grown. The light green of magnolia and the deep turquoise of fungus-stained wood are all chalked up into pigments, brewed into crayons that stem from what could have been discarded and wasted wood and parts of trees.

playfool forest crayons recycled wood — all photos by Shot by Kusk, courtesy of Studio Playfool

Pigments from tree species like cedar, cypress, and magnolia

Playfool’s goal is to recycle Japanese forest trees and wood into a palette of colored and natural crayons. No matter the shape, composition, or defect, any piece of wood from the lumber yard is transformed into a coloring material. The Tokyo-based design studio has the support of the Japanese Forestry Agency in their project, which they developed as part of the agency’s program as well.

‘We hope to not only breathe new life into Japanese wood, but also ignite a new appreciation for the country’s forests like never before,’ says the design team. Pigments from different tree species such as cedar, cypress, and magnolia are extracted; mixed with wood, rice wax, and rice oil; and turned into a set of ten crayons, named Cypress, Hazenoki, Magnolia, Katsura, Cedar, Kaizuka, Zelkova, Bayberry, Chinaberry, and Bogwood.

Breathing new life into the forest one crayon at a time

Daniel Coppen and Saki Maruyama, the masterminds behind Playfool, once took on a residency program in Hida, funded by the Japanese Ministry of Forestry and Fishery. It was here that they discovered that two-thirds of Japan is covered with trees, but the nation’s decline in import costs affected the harvest and maintenance of the forestry. The duo wanted to breathe new life into the forest and linked their desire with unraveling the spectrum of shades hidden in the woods and the wood. Playfool’s Forest Crayons made of recycled wood are up for purchase.