The Yusaku Kamekura Design Award was established in 1999 to honor the achievements of the late graphic designer Yusaku Kamekura (1915-1997), and to contribute to the further development of the graphic design field. Operation of the award program and selection of the winner, chosen annually, are performed by the Japan Graphic Designers Association Inc. (JAGDA). JAGDA awards the prize to the designer whose works are judged most worthy among all entries featured in its yearbook, Graphic Design in Japan.

The 22nd Yusaku Kamekura Design Award was bestowed on Atsuki Kikuchi for his book design of the exhibition catalogue “Primitive and Graceful: The Ceramic Artistry of Shoji Kamoda.” Mr. Kikuchi began his work in graphic design as a university student. In 2000 he established Bluemark Inc., and then in 2011 he founded his own design office. His career highlights include creating the VI and signage planning of the Aomori Museum of Art, art direction of the minä perhonen and Sally Scott fashion brands, and numerous outstanding designs for books, magazines and packaging. Meanwhile, since early in his career he has continuously undertaken multifaceted activities that have played leading roles in various trends since 2000, including operating an alternative space and a book label and producing a restaurant. Mr. Kikuchi’s designs are imbued with practicality within critically charged artistic expression. They are highly regarded for the way they penetrate to the essence of their subject and their apt results.

“Primitive and Graceful: The Ceramic Artistry of Shoji Kamoda,” the work for which Mr. Kikuchi was presented the Yusaku Kamekura Design Award, is a catalogue for an exhibition held at Musée Tomo. Shoji Kamoda was a highly acclaimed ceramic artist who flourished in the second half of the 20th century, until his premature death in 1983 at the age of 49. The judges praised Mr. Kikuchi’s book design for its comprehensive strengths in terms of editing, photography, printing and binding: one judge describing the totality of design as “flawless.” Mr. Kikuchi was further lauded for the way he clearly elucidated what the reader should glean about Kamoda’s works within the catalogue’s overall context. Another judge commented that while collections of an artist’s works often tend to be overblown, the catalogue designed by Mr. Kikuchi conveys precisely, without embellishment, who Shoji Kamoda was.

This solo exhibition is being held to commemorate Mr. Kikuchi’s winning of this highly coveted award.