Taku Satoh

Taku Satoh

Graphic Designer

Profile

Graduated from the Department of Design, Tokyo University of the Arts in 1979 and completed the graduate course there in 1981. After working for Dentsu Inc., he established Taku Satoh Design Office (now TSDO Inc.) in 1984.
Started with the development of “Nikka Whisky Pure Malt”, designed the packages of “Lotte Xylitol Gum” and “Meiji Oishii Gyunyu Milk”, designed the graphic of “PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE”, and designed the symbol mark of “21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa”, “National Museum of Nature and Science”, and “National High School Baseball Championship”. He is also the art director of NHK E-television's “Nihongo de Asobo“ (Let’s Play in Japanese), the general instructor of “Design Ah”, and the director of 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT.
His exhibitions include “water”, “JOMONESE”, “Anatomy of Design” and “Design Ah”. He is the author of “Plastic Thinking” (Shinchosha) and “Design Theory of Mass-Produced Products: Thinking without Separating Economy and Culture” (PHP Shinsho).

TSDO Inc.

Thoughts on Design

Design requires the skill to understand the environment. So you have to watch and listen carefully. Design requires the skill of not missing the slightest glimmer of light that lurks in our awareness. This is why we need to concentrate quietly. Design requires the skill to find the invisible signs that already exist in the world. Therefore, it is necessary to abandon the ego as much as possible. Design requires the technology to establish communication. Therefore, we need to be polite to others. Design requires a technique to prepare the body for concentration. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a balance between the brain and the body. Everyone has their own sensitivity. Design is not about sensibility, it's about skill.

Representative work

  • 2015 | PLEATS PLEASE “ANIMALS” Penguin

  • 2013, 2018 | “Design Ah” Exhibition

  • 2008 | Cleansui CI

  • 2006 | 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT logo mark

  • 2007 | “water” Exhibition

  • 2007 | Symbol mark, the National Museum of Nature and Science

  • 1986 | Maxfactor “fec.”

  • 2004 | Symbol mark for the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

  • 2015 | Symbol mark, the National High School Baseball Championship

  • 2003 | NHK E-television “Nihongo de Asobo” (Let’s Play in Japanese)

  • 2010 | BAO BAO ISSEY MIYAKE

  • 2001 | Package design for Meiji Oishii Gyunyu Milk

  • 1997 | Lotte Xylitol Gum

  • 1984 | Nikka Whisky Pure Malt

Interview (Japanese)

From the exhibition “Secret Source of Inspiration: Designers’ Hidden Sketches and Mockups”