A Japanese graphic design exhibition is being held at Yealife, featuring 30 poster and book design works by 15 renowned Japanese graphic designers, including Katsuhiko Shibuya, Katsumi Asaba, Masaki Hanahara, Ryosuke Uehara and Atsuki Kikuchi. Videos of the designers talking about their ideas and interpretations of their works are also presented.
Two of the design works.
Shibuya won the 14th Yusaku Kamekura Design Award in 2012 for “Shiseido,” his series of corporate posters created for the cosmetics firm Shiseido Co., Ltd. His award-winning works are corporate advertising posters fusing Shiseido’s traditional arabesque pattern with the company’s corporate typography. The works were chosen for the Yusaku Kamekura Design Award in recognition of the way they take Shiseido’s traditional identity — its use of arabesque — and transform it into a graphic design for a new era. Shibuya has also directed art production for numerous corporate and product ads.
Hanahara also designed for the Shiseido brand, as well as the branding of a CD jacket for musicians, a shoe brand and a kindergarten. In Sheseido, he seeks to generate value by combining design and technology. In recent years, his work has transcended traditional media and expanded into interactive design.
Asaba is a renowned, multi-award winning designer and master calligrapher based in Tokyo. Many of his creations as an art director have made a lasting mark in the history of Japanese advertising design. Representative works include landmark ads for Seibu Department Store and Suntory. Asaba has a particular interest in the rich cultural heritage of writing in Asia and in exploring the relationships between written and visual expression.
Uehara previously worked at the Japanese graphic design company DRAFT and established KIGI in Tokyo in 2012, with Yoshie Watanabe. Uehara is known for his sensitive and meticulous art direction derived from his logical bent. While working for various clients in Japan, he started developing a large number of leading products for the D-BROS brand launched by DRAFT. His direction of work for the brand, which probes new products from the perspective of graphic design, has become one of his representative achievements.
Kikuchi set up Neo Standard Graphics in 1995 while he was still a student and started pursuing a career as a graphic designer. Five years later he set up the Bluemark design studio, which specializes in graphic, web and product design. He currently does the visual identity design for various museums (including the Aomori Museum of Art) and fashion brands (such as Sally Scott), and also serves as art director of several magazines and books. He develops graphic and typography design in various media with offset and screen printing being his primary techniques. Space and emptiness are his main sources of inspiration.
Dates: Until Sept. 20
Hours: 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m.
Tickets: 50 yuan per person, 90 yuan for two persons
Venue: Yealife, Yitian Holiday Plaza, Nanshan District (南山区益田假日广场Yealife)
Metro: Line 1 or 2 to Window of the World Station (世界之窗站), Exit L