Kazumasa Nagai’s works are created by hand and usually silk-printed. This way, they are much closer to fine art than to pure design as usually understood.
the aim was to create advertisements that served both as a design movement and actually improved the advertising culture. —kazumasa nagai
Now in his late 80s, Nagai has had a long career full of awards and official positions. He is the creator of the corporate logos of Japan Railways, Nissin, Mitsubishi UFJ and the now notorious TEPCO.
Logo for Japan Railways.
Logo for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG).
Logo for Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).
Logo for Nissin Foods Holdings Co., Ltd.
the decision to hold the exhibitions in department stores rather than art galleries was extremely important for establishing the social position of graphic design. —kazumasa nagai
In 2015 Kazumasa Nagai was the head of the Tokyo Olympics Committee that chose the identity system designed by Kenjiro Sano—one of the most interesting of recent Olympic identities—that, sadly, was later abandoned due to absurd accusations of plagiarism.
Logo design for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games by Kenjiro Sano.
Théâtre de Liège logo.
design in the past was more unique because designers had their own styles. design today has leveled up in terms of sense but designers are likely to follow similar patterns. it mostly works on peripheral nerves but should be more appealing to our souls, i think. —kazumasa nagai
In 2014 fashion designer Issey Miyake created a line of clothing and accessories for his Pleats Please brand inspired by the works of Nagai. Each item was based on a motif of five stylized animals from the poster “Life,” which Nagai painted in 1993.
