The Japan Graphic Designers Association Inc. (JAGDA), established in 1978, is one of Asia’s largest design organizations, its membership currently standing at some 3,000 designers. JAGDA undertakes a wide variety of activities aimed at enhancing the environment for communication through design. These include organization of exhibitions and seminars, promotion of design education, initiatives to foster public design and revitalize regions, international exchange, and publication of a yearbook: Graphic Design in Japan.
Each year, from among the works selected for inclusion in Graphic Design in Japan JAGDA presents the “JAGDA New Designer Awards” to promising designers under the age of 40 who are expected to be prominent in the field in the years to come. Since the awards were inaugurated in 1983, they have been bestowed on 107 designers now active at the very forefront of their profession. As a result, today the JAGDA New Designer Awards are considered a gateway to success, and their winners garner much attention among members of both the design and advertising fields.
In 2018, after a rigorous selection process evaluating 152 eligible candidates, the 36th JAGDA New Designer Awards were presented to Aki Kanai, Masaki Hanahara and Takuma Fukuzawa. This exhibition will introduce their winning and recent works, with a focus on posters, product designs, small graphics and videos. Aki Kanai, an in-house designer at KOKUYO, performs a broad array of artistic activities, including design work for the company’s lifestyle shop and art direction of a design awards program. Masaki Hanahara, a designer at Shiseido, takes new forays into beauty and creation through design branding of the company and its products. Takuma Fukuzawa, working for the design company DRAFT, engages in product development and design of the in-house “D-BROS” brand, and also widely undertakes art direction of other companies’ advertising.
The exhibition will present an insightful and entertaining overview of the design works of these three JAGDA New Designer Award winners.
Aki Kanai
1. Packaging for lifestyle shop (client: KOKUYO Co.)
2. Tools for design awards program (client: KOKUYO Co.)
3. “Atmospheric composition by planet”: uncommissioned posters (client: Aki Kanai)
Masaki Hanahara
1. “Flower Typography”: poster for French restaurant (client: L’ARCHESTE)
2. “ART DECO”: exhibition poster for cosmetics firm (org.: Shiseido)
3. Magazine advertisements for makeup tools (client: Shiseido)
4. Exhibition posters for cosmetics firm (client: Shiseido)
Takuma Fukuzawa
1. “I want to be…”: commercially marketed calendar (client: D-BROS)
2. Emblem products for brand shop (client: D-BROS)
3. Logo, tools and spatial layout for tea tasting facility (client: Kirin Beverage)
Born in Tokyo in 1983. In 2008, upon completing the Master’s Course in Design at Tokyo University of the Arts she joined KOKUYO. Here, she is involved in shop and event art direction, spatial and signage planning, and in-house branding. In 2014 she won a special in-house prize in the Kokuyo Design Awards for her “HELLO CHAIR,” a chair that depicts a message in space. The chair was commercialized in 2016.
Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1979. On graduating from the Graduate School of Kyushu Institute of Design in 2005, he joined the advertising department of Shiseido. He performs art direction for the company’s corporate advertisements, its Maquillage brand, etc. In 2017 he exhibited IoT products at SXSW (South by Southwest). He has received awards at the following venues: One Show, Clio Awards, New York Festivals, London International Awards and Adfest.
Born in Tokyo in 1981. He graduated from the Graphic Design course of Tama Art University in 2006, and joined DRAFT that same year. In 2017 he won a Tokyo ADC Award.
Awards Ceremony
June 29 (Fri), 2018 at JAGDA’s regular annual general meeting (2018) to be held in Niigata
Traveling Exhibition
After this show, the exhibition will travel to Osaka, Niigata, Kumamoto, Aichi and Shiga.
Publication Featuring the Award-winning Works
The award-winning works will be featured in the opening pages of Graphic Design in Japan 2018, slated for publication in June. This annually produced collection of JAGDA members’ works was launched in 1981 to introduce Japan’s multitude of high-quality graphic design works worldwide. All JAGDA members are eligible to enter their works of the previous year into the competition to be selected for inclusion in the yearbook. (Publisher: Rikuyosha Co., Ltd. Price: JPY 16,200)
Organizer
CREATION GALLERY G8
Co-organizer
Japan Graphic Designers Association Inc. (JAGDA)
Opening Party
May 24 (Thu), 2018 7:00 p.m.– 8:30 p.m.
Admission free. No reservations required.
All visitors are invited to attend.
