In late summer Guardian Garden hosted the 5th “1_WALL” Graphics Exhibition. The exhibition, the culmination of an open competition, featured works by the six finalists after two rounds of judging. The first round focused on all entrants’ portfolios, while the second round evaluated the portfolio presentations of the 30 graphic artists selected in the initial round. The final round of judging took place on September 2 (Fri), i.e. while the exhibition was in progress. During this round, which was open to the public, the six finalists each gave a presentation of his or her works, based on which the judges selected the Grand Prize winner: Ryohei Saito. Mr. Saito’s prize is the privilege of mounting a solo show at the gallery one year later, with full assistance in preparing an exhibition pamphlet.
“1_WALL” is an open competition launched in 2009 to replace the previous “Hitotsubo” series. The fifth exhibition in the new incarnation brought together a kaleidoscope of unconventional works transcending the boundaries of earlier graphic artistry. These included, among others: laughter-inducing works seemingly scribbled in pencil with captions; animation-like characters placed together with story-like illustrations; and humorous works in which everyday “tweets” are transformed into visual representations of dolls and toys. As always, the judges had quite a task narrowing this remarkable field down to just one Grand Prize winner.
The 6 Finalists
*At the open round of final judging on September 2, Ryohei Saito was selected as the Grand Prix winner.
Aokid
Born in 1988. Graduated from Tokyo Zokei University Department of Film.
Satomi Oikawa
Born in 1984. Graduated from Tohoku University of Art & Design with a concentration in printmaking.
Kentaro Okawara
Born in 1989.
Yuma Kawano
Born in 1987.
＊Grand Prize Winner＊
Ryohei Saito
Born in 1983.
Natsumi Takasuka
Born in 1989. Graduated from Seian University of Art and Design with a concentration in photography.
Born in Tokyo,1988.
Graduated from Tokyo Zokei University Department of Film.
Awards:
2014 Selected ...
Satomi Oikawa
Born in 1984. Graduated from Tohoku University of Art & Design with a concentration in printmaking.
Born 1989
in Tokyo, Japan
Painter,Illustrator,Graphic Designer,Editor
Education Kyoto University of Art and Design, Information Design.
“Creation as a vehicle to understa...
Awards
2012 Selected for The wonder seeds 2012 competition
2011 The 5th “1_WALL” Graphic...
Natsumi Takasuka
Born in 1989. Graduated from Seian University of Art and Design with a concentration in photography. Currently a research student at the same institution.
Judges (in Japanese syllabary order)
Ichio Otsuka（Illustrator, Art director）
Illustrator and art director born in Niigata Prefecture in 1968. In addition to numerous illustrations created for books, advertising and music-related works, he is art director of “Miitsuketa!,” an educational TV program on NHK. He has published a collection of his works: illustration book, ICHIO Otsuka’s MAGIC! With film director Hirokazu Koreeda he has co-authored the picture book Kuna.
Atsuki Kikuchi（Graphic designer）
Born in Tokyo in 1974. He attended Musashino Art University, majoring in Sculpture. In 2000 he established Bluemark, and then in 2011 he founded his own design studio. His work areas include brand planning, logo design, signage planning, editorial design, etc., with a strong focus on art, fashion and architecture. He is also the principal of Book Peak, planners and publishers of art books.
Kenjiro-Sano（Art director）
Art director born in 1972. President of MR_DESIGN Inc. His major work includes Toyota ReBORN, Suntory BOSS, LISMO!, Nyanmage, S.T. Corporation’s Air Counter, T Boo! S for TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), Mizkan’s Toromame, etc. Nico products and the “Earth Garbage Bag” of his design are sold at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), Collette in Paris, London’s Design Museum and la Rinascente in Milan. www.mr-design.jp
Kaoru Takai（Art director）
Graduated from Tama Art University. After initially working in Suntory’s advertising division, in 2002 she joined SUN-AD Co., Ltd. While working primarily as an advertising art director, she also designs packaging, CD covers and commercial products. Her major clients include Suntory, Haat (ISSEY MIYAKE INC.) and CLASSICS the Small Luxury. Awards Takai has received to date include the Tokyo ADC Award and JAGDA New Designer Award.
Kiyonori Muroga（Editor）
Kiyonori Muroga was born in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, in 1975. Since 1999 he has performed editorial work mainly in planning related to graphic design, typography and visual culture. He also is engaged, internationally, in critique, lecturing and exhibition planning concerning those genres. Mr. Muroga formerly served as editor-in-chief of “IDEA” magazine. In recent years, he has been in charge of books such as The Next Form of Lettering Designs in Japan and Noritake’s WORKS. He is editor-in-chief of JAGDA’s “The Graphic Design Review” website.
Organizer: Guardian Garden
