Chapter Commentaries 2

Uno became active as a graphic designer in the 1950s. Japan was becoming a consumer society as it recovered from World War II, and the demand for advertising was on the rise. Uno began to distinguish himself in the field at the 3rd NISSEMBI-ten (Exhibition of the Japan Advertising Artists Club) in 1953. Uno was 19 when he won an award in this contest, known as the gateway to a career in design. In 1956, after arriving in Tokyo, he entered a sweepstakes sponsored by Kowa Shinyaku, which was looking for an illustration of a frog to feature in its ads.

He and Makoto Wada shared first prize, which brought Uno even more attention. From that year until about 1959, Uno worked for Calpis Food Industry, where he created newspaper ads, for which he occasionally also wrote the copy.
After that, he worked with Ikko Tanaka to design material for the Stefan Ruha Violin Recital, and then with Kohei Sugiura designing the posters for Fubuki Koshiji recitals. Through these jobs, Uno became even more passionate about graphic design that combined illustrations with lettering. Saito Process, a printing company with the technology required by Uno and other young designers, became the laboratory for his experimentation.

In 1959, Yusaku Kamekura and Ryuichi Yamashiro organized the 21 Club with Ikko Tanaka, Kazumasa Nagai and other young designers. Uno also joined. The activities aimed at exchange among the artists and research in their field became the foundation for the World Design Assembly held in Japan the next year, as well as the beginnings of the Nippon Design Center (NDC). The club offered study trips and a place for the designers to critique each other's work, both of which provided opportunity for Uno to deepen his own design theory.