Shin Matsunaga, born in Tokyo in 1940, is one of Japan’s most internationally significant graphic designers. Matsunaga combines traditional Japanese graphics, drawing, and painting with Western elements without merging them.…

Shin Matsunaga, born in Tokyo in 1940, is one of Japan’s most internationally significant graphic designers. Matsunaga combines traditional Japanese graphics, drawing, and painting with Western elements without merging them. His posters are characterized by clear typography, strong colors, and a wide range of visual ideas and inventions between illustration and photography. His work, including in corporate design, editorial design, and packaging design, has been frequently awarded and internationally served as a model for numerous designers.

Japanese graphic designers saw Western functionalism as a significant model and viewed their own character systems as a disadvantage. It was not until the 1960s that a new self-confidence also led to a conscious return to their own traditions. This new independence was quickly recognized internationally as a significant quality—the triumph of Japanese design began and continues to this day. The German Poster Museum has devoted numerous exhibitions in the past to the models and influencing factors that have impacted German posters. With the exhibition on the work of Shin Matsunaga, this loose series continues at the Museum Folkwang. This is the catalog for the exhibition.