Japanese Postwar Modernism × Minimalist Graphic Design

Muji-era minimalism grew from this school; enlarge the empty field further and reduce the emblem to a whisper.

From the research on Japanese Postwar Modernism

Mix them and make something Japanese Postwar Modernism Minimalist Graphic Design

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Japanese Postwar Modernism, their arrangement from Minimalist Graphic Design, the finish from Japanese Postwar Modernism. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

What each style brings

Each part of the design comes from the style with the stronger say in it, and each style gives at least two.

Japanese Postwar Modernism Minimalist Graphic Design

Type from Minimalist Graphic Design: Grotesque & neo-grotesque
Wide letterspacing
Colour from Japanese Postwar Modernism: Limited spot colours
Flat fields
Form from Japanese Postwar Modernism: Geometric primitives
Stylised figuration
Composition from Minimalist Graphic Design: Isolated object
Generous white space
Surface from Japanese Postwar Modernism: Flat

The type

Open fonts standing in for each style’s own type, which is often hand-drawn or commercial.

Display · Minimalist Graphic Design

Still

Inter Tight, standing in for Helvetica Neue (light weights)

Text · Japanese Postwar Modernism

Building on the New Typography that Hiromu Hara and the Nippon Kobo circle had absorbed in the 1930s, Japan's postwar graphic designers fused the grid, sans-serif and objective photography of European modernism with indigenous traditions of family crests (kamon), asymmetry and charged emptiness (ma). From the Graphic '55 exhibition and the Nippon Design Center to Yusaku Kamekura's Tokyo 1964 Olympic posters, it produced bold emblematic symbols, luminous flat colour fields and photography of startling precision.

Zen Kaku Gothic New; Japanese Postwar Modernism used Gothic and Mincho

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Japanese Postwar Modernism, with a counter-accent from Minimalist Graphic Design. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Japanese Postwar Modernism Minimalist Graphic Design

#f4f1ea ground · 36%
#111111 ink · 14%
#d7261e accent · 18%
#8c8a86 accent · 14%
#c8a24a accent · 10%
#1d3c78 accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #f4f1ea;
  --ink: #111111;
  --accent-1: #d7261e;
  --accent-2: #8c8a86;
  --accent-3: #c8a24a;
  --accent-4: #1d3c78;
  --font-display: "Inter Tight", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Zen Kaku Gothic New", sans-serif;
}

The two styles

A large red sun sits above and behind a black triangular mountain with a gold tip on an off-white background. Bold black characters reading “太陽” appear in the upper-left corner.

1950–1990 · East Asia Japanese Postwar Modernism Building on the New Typography that Hiromu Hara and the Nippon Kobo circle had absorbed in the 1930s, Japan's postwar graphic designers fused the grid, sans-serif and objective photography of European modernism with indigenous traditions of family crests (kamon), asymmetry and charged emptiness (ma). From the Graphic '55 exhibition and the Nippon Design Center to Yusaku Kamekura's Tokyo 1964 Olympic posters, it produced bold emblematic symbols, luminous flat colour fields and photography of startling precision.

A minimalist white poster has the widely spaced black words “STILL FARTHER” near the upper left and a large black circle in the lower-right area. Most of the surface is empty white space.

1965–present · Global / networked Minimalist Graphic Design Modernism reduced to its barest means, informed by 1960s Minimal art and Japanese emptiness: one image or line of type, vast white or neutral space, a monochrome or near-monochrome palette and meticulous typographic detail. From ECM record sleeves to Muji and Apple packaging, it signals quality, calm and confidence by withholding rather than adding.

More combinations

With Japanese Postwar Modernism

All 26 combinations with Japanese Postwar Modernism

With Minimalist Graphic Design

All 33 combinations with Minimalist Graphic Design

Every style combination