Shigeo Fukada was a sculptor, medallist and graphic designer that focused on deception and illusion within his work. While at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts in the mid-50s, he established a minimalist style inspired by Swiss school of design. He would later go on to explain his stance on design thinking:

“I believe that in design, 30% dignity, 20% beauty and 50% absurdity are necessary. Rather than catering to the design sensitivity of the general public, there is advancement in design if people are left to feel satisfied with their own superiority, by entrapping them with visual illusion.”

The International Space Station is the largest modular space station in low orbit and is combined product of NASA, JAXA, ESA, Roscosmos and CSA. As an international collaboration the station acts as a research lab, and has remained so for the 24 years it has been in orbit. In 2030, the station will begin to cease operations, and sometime in 2031 NASA plans to crash it into the Pacific Ocean near Point Nemo.

Inspired by the visual harmony Fukada created using juxtaposing subjects, and the eventual crashing of the ISS, three posters were made. While slightly more absurd and less political than his work, these pieces remain faithful to the visual style established by Fukada. After constructing the elements in Illustrator, these were printed at 1000dpi on 13”x19” paper in order to achieve an effect as close to screen printing as possible. The skull on “Necronaut” and the tentacle on “Polpo Cotto” were applied as vinyl stickers atop the print to add visual hierarchy between the two primary forms in each piece. “Point Nemo” based directly on the future event combines the visual elements of “Polpo Cotto” and the holographic effect used on “Necronaut.”