Japanese Graphics Now!

by Julius Wiedemann, Gisela Kozak (Editor)

Exploding with eye-popping originality and freshness, today’s best Japanese graphics have been gathered together to make this must-have guide to contemporary aesthetics in Japan. With their unique perspective, the Japanese have a way of looking at the world that has long been a source of great interest for the Western mind. Here, Japan’s most talented creative professionals strut their stuff in the form of posters, advertisements, print media, visual identity, and print design. Divided into chapters by media type, this highly visual guide presents a diverse selection of graphics and includes an index of designers, complete with website addresses and contact information.

Genres: Art, Design, Nonfiction, Art Design, Japan, Reference, Collections

351 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Julius Wiedemann was born in Brazil, where he studied design and marketing, and has lived and worked in Japan, Germany, and the UK. An eclectic expert on design based visual culture, Wiedemann has produced books on a range of topics, from robots to record covers. He holds the positions of Executive Editor for Design and Pop Culture at TASCHEN. Wiedemann studied graphic design and marketing and was an art editor for newspapers and design publications before joining TASCHEN in 2001.

Wiedemann has edited over 40 books in 10 years, he is a regular contributor to magazines, and has been on the jury of several awards all over the world. His publications have sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide, and his titles are immensely popular. As an editor his work is grounded in an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary design, synthesizing a vast array of topics, including logo design, fashion design, graphic design, web design, and product design. Underpinning many of his books is a desire to understand creativity and explore the nature of reality in a world that increasingly takes place online and is populated by characters and creatures not entirely human but of our creation. The wonders of animation, manga, and computer graphics fascinate and inspire him.

Julius Wiedemann’s TASCHEN titles include the celebrated series Illustration Now! a staple of any designer’s bookshelf, as well as the compendium 100 Illustrators. He has also edited the Package Design Book collection. His award-wining Jazz Covers and Rock Covers books showcase his editorial variety and his publication on National Geographic magazine’s infographics demonstrates how wide his design knowledge and appreciation extends.

Reviews

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some may say that a book with just graphics and an introductory text may not be enough, but for all fans of visual beauty, especially Japanese style, this is a great picture book, and Taschen does do picture books quite nicely.

So, this book is about Japanese Graphics around 2006, which showcases quite well how they do it, put in categories of: 1) packaging 2) posters and ads, and 3) print. There's a strange good balance of traditional and modern, minimalist and chaotic, sensible and cute, foreign-style and clearly Japanese, busy and clear. Very useful for long commutes, which means there might be small texts involved XD

The following things, among others, appear in here: food & drink, beauty products, shopping bags, package material, advertisements for companies, universities, exhibitions, events, competetions and sales, condoms, electronics, clothes, cars, games, child safety products, for ecology-mindedness. It's quite endless so one might want to pause something. *lol* Well, it *is* a picture book of beauty. So beautiful are some things you would want to keep them, and not use them. (I mean, I have one green-tea drink bottle from a trip to Japan still on my kitchen windowsill, just because it's so pretty in its green-ness - I did drink the contents already though :) ).

If you're interested in graphics, or just like looking at great-looking packages, ads and such, especially from Japan, this is a good read.

[chouineuzzZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

banger de fou, tout ce que j'aime... design graphique... livre composé presque exclusivement d'images... packagings japonais... etc..... quel bonheur

[Natty Peterkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of inspiring work – my only criticism is that due to the lack of background information other than name credits, it was sometimes hard to tell what a design was for (particularly the more abstract ones)

[Analuabc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livro repleto de designs e ilustrações e conceitos característicos dos Japoneses alguns, outros mais universais. Quem gosta de design ou de marketing ou simplesmente do Japão é um bom almanaque para ver e re-ver de vez em quando.

[Vander Alves · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very visual sample of the distinctive graphic design found in packages, signs, flags, ads and all other kinds of everyday visual media across Japan.

[Robert Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really gorgeous imagery.

[Caramello · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess its not the sort of graphics I had in mind but still decent stuff that generates some ideas for drawing/art :)

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just Graphics.

[Inatmon · Rating 3 out of 5]

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