Born in Fukuoka, Makoto’s career began as a printmaker and his early work quickly gained international renown.
His posters are typically text-free, with dense inks, themed on the concept of seeing. Today, some of his prints are part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
He worked at the Nippon Design Center in 1974 to 1980 before founding his own firm, Makoto Saitō Design.
Makoto once told Eye Magazine that ‘I don’t trust words. You can say anything with words. I prefer a visual means of communication because it allows the message to be more direct’.
He has since proceeded to become an artist, creating portraits of classic film makers and iconic images from their films.
He has held solo exhibitions at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan, a 2012 exhibition at the Paul Kasmin Gallery in the United States, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in England, the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
His numerous awards include winning the Gold Prize twice at the International Poster Biennale in Warsaw, twice winning the Best of Best in the Germany Red Dot Awards, the Grand Prize at the France International Poster Awards and many more.
Makoto has been a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) since 1994.
