DIC color guide
In 1968, Japanese leading ink manufacturer Dainippon Ink and Chemicals (DIC) commissioned Mitsuo Katsui to create DIC Color Guide: a full-scale sample book comprising 641 color chips plus a mixing chart. Along with two other prominent designers—Ikko Tanaka and Tadahito Nadamoto—Mitsuo chose 600 basic colors from among 3,000 candidate colors and presented them in attractive and inspiring combinations. This work became a reference for all Japanese printing companies and earned DIC recognition as a leading name in the field of color engineering.
Visionary∞Gene poster, 2005.
in my opinion the essence of design is to reveal this interactive relationship between nature and our self from a totally innovative viewpoint or location; in other words, to exhibit a form that conveys surprise. —mitsuo katsui
A fragment of Light poster. © DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion.
kodansha encyclopedia
One of Katsui grand undertaking was a six-year international collaboration with 20 designers on the Kodansha Encyclopedia—a massive English-language volume covering a wide range of Japanese topics. The piece was created by 680 Japanese and 520 non-Japanese scholars from 27 nations. The first edition was issued in 1983 and introduced Katsui’s name to the international graphic design scene.
Pattern by marker printed on silkscreen, 1969.
Poster for Morisawa typographic company.
Logo for Japanese National Museum of Ethnology,1977.
Logo for Tokyo Zokei College, 1967.