Shigeru Katsumoto 葛本茂

Shigeru Katsumoto graduated from Tama Art University and joined a major company, working on publicity and CI planning projects. In 1977, Katsumoto formed Japan Ad Creators Co., Ltd., and in 1988, he co-founded Visual Design Laboratory Inc. Katsumoto received the Mainichi Advertisement Design Award in 1976, and has received numerous other awards in the field of typeface design and beyond, such as awards from JTA, D&AD, ATypI and New York TDC.

Katsumoto started to search for “typefaces based on new ideas”, which would be clearly distinguished from existing typeface designs previously used for metal type or phototypesetting. VDL’s first product was Logo G, whose design was free from stereotypes and conventional ways of thinking in the field of lettering. Since then, Katsumoto has been designing and releasing new and creative display typefaces with integrity and passion.