Ichiban Kuji Poster Generator
Generating print-ready Illustrator posters straight from the back end, cutting production time to a fifth.
What is Ichiban Kuji?
Ichiban Kuji is a Japanese lottery format you'll find in almost any anime merchandise store: you pay once, draw a ticket, and receive a prize according to its tier. Every set comes with a poster, and players stick their used tickets back onto it so other customers can see how many prizes are left in each tier. The poster isn't just marketing — it has to be remade for every new set and kept up to date as the draw progresses.
Overview
A system that generates Ichiban Kuji posters automatically: it reads product data from the database, drops it into one of four layouts, and uses Adobe Script to output a print-ready .ai file.
Why it was needed
Every new set meant someone hand-building a poster in Illustrator — slow and easy to get wrong. All the product data was already in the database, so redrawing it by hand was pure waste.
My role
I built the front-end fine-tuning interface, the back-end system, and the Adobe Illustrator Script integration that generates the files.
Technical challenge
Injecting data dynamically inside Adobe Script — a constrained, unusual runtime — is nothing like normal web development. Producing files that reliably meet print requirements was the hard part.
Implementation
The back end reads the product data, then Adobe Script injects it into the chosen layout and exports a print-ready .ai file. The front end provides a drag-to-adjust interface for image size and position.
Result
Poster production time dropped by around 80%. A public demo is available, running on mock data with the real API integration removed.
Details
System design overview
The system reads product information straight from the database — prize tiers, pricing, product imagery — and applies it to four different poster layouts.
Multiple layouts
Four common layouts in one system, covering what different stores need.
Front-end fine-tuning
Product images can be resized and repositioned so every poster fits its actual needs.
Print-ready output
The generated AI file goes straight to the designer — no second round of editing needed.