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FEATURED BOOK
Japanese Graphics
Now!
Edited by Gisela Kozak and Julius Wiedemann
Taschen,
2003
I
was simply amazed at the heft of Japanese Graphics Now!
when it arrived on my doorstep. At 600 glossy color pages, the
book is a lovingly crafted brick of design goodness.
The
book is divided into four fairly self-explanatory categories
– “Packaging,” “Posters & Ads,”
“Print,” and “Web Design.” (Don’t
pay any attention to the brief table of contents, though, as
only the first section starts on the page number listed.) The
“Packaging” section does a good job of highlighting
the design of Japanese products from the mundane to the rarely-seen,
including snacks, sauces, cosmetics, bags, boxes, and all manner
of soft and hard drinks. The “Posters & Ads”
section features some very interesting designs, but I think
it is the weakest section of the book because it is not always
clear what the posters and newspaper/magazine advertisements
are trying to promote. Some contextualization in this section
would have been very helpful. The “Print” section
is generally more clear, though, showcasing CD packaging and
layout, logos, stationary, and book and magazine design. And
of course “Web Design” features just what the name
of the section implies.
The
editors have done an excellent job in choosing a wide variety
of designs for inclusion in the book. According to editor Julius
Wiedemann’s introduction, one of the functions of Japanese
Graphics Now! is to “serve as a visual guide for
those who seek new ways in communications, advertising, and
design.” Flipping through the book will certainly give
the reader much to think about, but I would have liked to have
known more about the works highlighted in the book. I think
for the book to truly function as a “visual guide,”
the reader first needs to be oriented to the landscape of visual
communication in Japan. I thought one of the best parts of the
book were the first sixteen pages, which featured a series of
images of daily life in urban Japan; more of the book could
have been given over to graphic design in context like this.
Also, for a book with the word “now” in the title,
it is surprising that most of the works are undated.
I
find this book interesting not only because I am an afficianado
of good design in general but because there is significant overlap
between anime/manga and graphic design in Japan. Japanese
Graphics Now! features some overt examples of this (such
as a cover from the magazine Brutus with Go Nagai’s
Devilman character and some fantastic-looking webpages
for the anime series Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in
the Shell: Stand Alone Complex). Other examples of the
anime/manga influence in graphic design are more subtle, like
the businessman with Tetsuwan Atom-shaped hair in a
set of newspaper ads from airline ANA. Manga-esque characters
and designs can also be glimpsed in the background of the first
sixteen pages of the book, emphasizing the idea that manga is
so omnipresent in Japanese life that it is like air.
Japanese
Graphics Now! also comes with a supplementary all-region
DVD. It contains interviews with four designers (Sayuri Shoji,
Taku Satoh, Shinya Nakajima, and Seijo Kawaguchi), some selected
commercials (from WOWOW, Mitsubishi Pencil, Staff Service, Isao,
and a great series from soft drink Dakara featuring a gang of
peeing cherubs), a guided tour of the Advertising Museum Tokyo
and footage from selected spots around Tokyo. These last two
pieces compliment the book well by providing some of the much
needed contextualization I mentioned above. Still, it would
have been helpful to have had some of this information in the
book itself. (I also thought the Tokyo tour was somewhat limited
in scope, as it only covers Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, and
Asakusa during the day.)
Although
Japanese Graphics Now! is far from perfect, it presents
a fascinating portrait of Japanese visual arts and graphic design.
With a list price of $40 (you can get it for under $30 from
retailers like Amazon), it’s a pretty good deal for such
a massive amount of content.
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