Naoto’s Story
Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1956. Graduated from Tama Art University’s Product Design Department in 1980. In the same year, he joined Seiko Epson, where he was responsible for advanced development design. In 1989, he moved to the United States, where he joined ID Two (now IDEO San Francisco). Having honed his craft for seven years, focusing mainly on Silicon Valley industries, he returned to Japan in 1996. He established and headed up IDEO’s Tokyo office, creating a Japanese design consultant base for the company. He went independent in 2003 and established NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN.
Currently, Fukasawa designs for a wide range of leading brands worldwide in Italy, Germany, America, Switzerland, Spain, China, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Portugal, Sweden and Finland, as well as consulting and designing for local Japanese companies. His designs span a wide variety of fields, from precision electronic equipment to furniture and interior spaces.
Awards
- 2019: Wallpaper* DESIGN AWARDS Best meals on wheels
- 2018: Isamu Noguchi Award
- 2015: Good Design Award Gold
- 2014: Good Design Award Gold
- 2014: International Invitational Tang Prize
- 2013: Good Design Award Gold
- 2010: Wallpaper* DESIGN AWARDS Best bench
- 2009: Good Design Award Gold
- 2007: Red dot award-best of the best
- 2007: ELLE DECO International Design Awards Designer of The Year
- 2005: Good Design Award Gold
- 2005: iF Product Design Award Gold
- 2005: Oribe Award
- 2003: Mainichi Design Award
- 2002: iF Product Design Award Gold
- 2000: IDSA/IDEA Award Gold IDEO+DMN / Without Thought
- 1998: D&AD Selection ALPS / MD-1000,Color printer