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Kazumasa Nagai, Japanese Designer

DESIGNER FRIDAY

Kazumasa Nagai, Japanese Designer

Issue: 12
The designer behind Japan’s Olympic emblems and its biggest corporate logos.

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Born: 1929
Nationality: Japanese

Kazumasa Nagai was born in Osaka in 1929 and became one of the key figures in postwar Japanese graphic design. He left the sculpture department at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1951, before co-founding the Nippon Design Center in 1960.

Nagai gained greater international recognition by designing the official symbols for the 1966 Sapporo Winter Olympics and the 1972 EXPO Okinawa. He also created iconic corporate logos for major companies such as Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan Railways, Nissin, and TEPCO. His vast portfolio includes thousands of posters, many of which have been exhibited in modern art museums worldwide.

Between 1960 and 1988, he received numerous prestigious awards, including the JAAC Award, Asahi Advertising Award, Mainichi Advertising Award, Yamana Award, and multiple accolades from the Tokyo ADC Show.

Explore related designers including Ikko Tanaka and Yusaku Kamekura. See also Japanese Modernism, Japanese graphic design history, and 1960s graphic design history.

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Design (Japan), 71, 1965. Cover design by Kazumasa Nagai
Design (Japan), 74, 1965. Cover design by Kazumasa Nagai
gq 07 - A Quarterly Review of the Graphic Work, 1974. Cover design by Kazumasa Nagai
gq 03 - A Quarterly Review of the Graphic Work, 1973. Cover design by Kazumasa Nagai
Design (Japan), 73, 1965. Cover design by Kazumasa Nagai
Idea October 1966 Extra issue. Cover design by Kazumasa Nagai.

More info about Kazumasa Nagai

Kazumasa Nagai

Kazumasa Nagai

Kazumasa Nagai was born in 1929 in Osaka. He left the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1951 and co-founded the Nippon Design Center in 1960. Nagai achieved notable recognition by winning first place in the design competitions for the official symbols of the Sapporo Winter Olympic Games (1966) and EXPO Okinawa (1972). Between 1960 and 1988, he received numerous prestigious awards, including the JAAC Award, Asahi Advertising Award, Mainichi Advertising Award, Yamana Award, and multiple accolades from the Tokyo ADC Show.

Explore related designers including Ikko Tanaka and Yusaku Kamekura. See also Japanese Modernism, Japanese graphic design history, 1960s graphic design history.

More info about Kazumasa Nagai

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