The Diversity of Japanese Graphic Design/ Designspo

I started this journey with the hope of discovering Japanese Graphic Design. "Discovering Japanese Graphic Design" was a phrase I used a dozen times to describe my trip to people who asked about it. When I said it in Los Angeles, it sounded that simple. I would come here to Japan, look at the advertisements on the billboards, the graphics on packaging in shops, check out a few museums, flip through some magazines and leave with a clear idea of what Japanese Graphic Design is. I would leave being able to pin-point the specific aspects of Japanese graphics and mimic them, making a collection of similar works that utilized these elements. It didn't work like that. I discovered, instead, how diverse Japanese graphic design is. Like Japanese culture, there are elements of Japanese design that seem polar. On the one hand, there are information-dense, maximal designs with lots of text, patterns, and colors that remind me of the buzzing streets of Tokyo. On the other, there are traditional, minimalistic designs that utilize white space and a smaller palette of colors, which remind me of the simple elegance of the architecture of the traditional shrines in Kyoto. This trip has given me the opportunity to explore the diversity of Japanese culture through the lens of graphic design.

Here are some of my favorite graphics from the Japanese Graphic Design Blog Gurafiku. The blog is incredible, showcasing Japanese graphics used for magazines, posters and advertisements.