Kiyoshi Awazu was born in Tokyo in 1929 and was largely self-taught as a designer. He established himself in the 1950s and 1960s as one of the most distinctive voices in Japanese graphic design, producing poster work that drew on traditional Japanese imagery and folk art rather than the Swiss-influenced modernism of many contemporaries. His visual language combined photomontage, hand-drawn elements, and bold colour in ways that reflected a more expressive and politically engaged approach. He taught at Musashino Art University and received numerous awards, including a prize at the Warsaw International Poster Biennale. He died in Tokyo in 2009.
Explore related designers including Shigeo Fukuda and Tadanori Yokoo. See also Japanese Modernism, Japanese graphic design history, and 1960s graphic design history.
Membership from £2.49/month unlocks articles researched and inspired by the artefacts in the collection.
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
Illustration, Ephemera, Members Only Content
A mixed set of tickets from various Japanese lotteries dating from 1956 to 1985, including the Tokyo Metropolitan, West Japan and National Local Autonomy lotteries.
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Magazines & Publishing, Members Only Content, Typography & Type Design
The Face shocked the world of magazines, and the design industry, with its revolutionary design by Neville Brody.
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Members Only Content, Designer Profiles
A 1939 article on American designer, Walter Frank Bomar, published in The Inland Printer, Vol 104, No. 03, 1939.
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