The Japan Graphic Designers Association Inc. (JAGDA), established in 1978, is Japan’s largest design organization, its membership currently standing at some 2,900 designers. JAGDA undertakes a variety of activities aimed at enhancing the environment for communication through design. These include organization of exhibitions and seminars and the publication of works such as Graphic Design in Japan – its yearbook showcasing the works of its members – and VISUAL DESIGN, a design textbook.

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 39 who are expected to be prominently active in the field in the years to come. Since the awards were inaugurated in 1983, they have been bestowed on 92 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 those in both the design and advertising fields.

In 2012, after a rigorous judging process evaluating 204 qualified candidates, the 31st JAGDA New Designer Awards were presented to Yoshihisa Tanaka, Atsushi Hirano and Yumiyo Miyata. This exhibition will introduce their winning and recent works, primarily in the categories of posters and small graphics.