Wright Auction

In 1966, Fukuda’s work was included in an exhibition of posters in Czechoslovakia, and featured at the Montreal Expo the following year, bringing him international recognition. A work of his appeared in an issue of Japanese Graphic Design Magazine in 1967, catching the eye of Paul Rand, who was an ardent supporter of Japanese design and noticed Fukuda’s capacity for simplicity and humor. Rand, then designing for IBM, arranged an exhibition of Fukuda’s work at the IBM Gallery in New York City in 1967— the first in the United States for the designer. This show featured his posters, as well as small puzzle-like wooden sculptures he had made for his young daughter. Rand and Fukuda maintained a close friendship over the years and very much respected each other as artists, with Rand saying of Fukuda’s work, that “a playful heart requires no translation.”

During the 1970s and 1980s, Fukuda designed some of his most famous posters for organizations like Amnesty International and events such as the World’s Fair in Osaka in 1970 and Earth Day. In 1975, his famous poster Victory 1945 won the grand prize at the International Poster Biennial, and all proceeds went to The Peace Fund Movement. Inspired by M.C. Escher, Fukuda was also interested in optical illusions and humor; he had the column “Ryu Mita Ka?” (“Do you see the Dragon?”) in the Japanese newspaper Ashai, as well as a bi-monthly feature in Idea Magazine called “Visual Circus.” During the 1970s and through to the 1990s, Fukuda also designed spaces such as Tokyo’s Seibu Department Store and the UCC Coffee Pavilion, both of which are in his recognizably colorful, geometric, playful style.

By the 1980s, Fukuda was recognized as one of the great graphic designers of the world and was especially revered for his commitment to causes that promoted peace. He published his influential and iconic Visual Illusion in 1982 and taught design at his alma mater from 1973 to 2002, as well as at Yale University in 1982 and 1984. In 1987, Fukuda was the first Japanese designer to be inducted into the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame; he was recognized in 1986 as an Honorary Royal Designer by the Royal Society of Arts in London and received numerous service and industry awards in his native Japan. Fukuda was committed to advancing the prominence of Japanese design internationally and served as the director of the Japan Graphic Designers Association from 2000-2009 and was the vice-president of ICOGRADA from 1993 to 1995.

Fukuda’s life reflected his work. His home in Tokyo was famous for its quirkiness— with a fake, oversized fried egg on his lawn, flanked by realistic sculptures of bulldogs, and a 4 foot front door at the end of a long walkway that was a complex optical illusion, causing befuddled guests to think the door was always getting further away. Fukuda is often referred to as a visual prankster, which perfectly fits his ethos as to what design is: “30% dignity, 20% beauty and 50% absurdity.”

In addition to his first solo show at IBM, Fukuda has had major exhibitions at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco (1987), the Museum Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires (1993) and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo (1997), among others. Fukuda passed away in 2009, leaving an indelible, humanistic mark on the language and heart of international graphic design.