DFA Lifetime Achievement Award 2022

Born in 1940, Katsumi ASABA is a Japanese art director and a master calligrapher based in Tokyo. He has a particular interest in the rich cultural heritage of writing in Asia and in exploring the relationships between written and visual expression.

After graduating from Kuwasawa Design School and working for Light Publicity Inc., he founded Katsumi Asaba Design Studio in 1975. Since then he has taken an active role at the forefront of Japanese design industry. As an art director, he has many creations which have made a lasting mark in the history of Japanese advertising design. Representative works include landmark ads for Seibu department store, Suntory, and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, and Logo design for HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE. He has received numerous awards including Tokyo Type Directors Club Award, Yusaku Kamekura Award, Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction, Medal with Purple Ribbon, Tokyo Art Directors Club Grand Prix, and Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette.

He is the chairman of the Tokyo Type Directors Club, Committee Member of the Tokyo Art Directors Club and JAGDA (Japan Graphic Designers Association), Japan’s representative in the Alliance Graphique Internationale, 10th successive director of Kuwasawa Design School, and visiting professor at Tokyo Zokei University and Kyoto Seika University. He also holds the title of sixth degree master in table tennis.

“Design work is a continuous process.” — Katsumi ASABA