You may not know the name, but you are no doubt closely acquainted with the works of one of the godfathers of modern design, Raymond Loewy. It has been estimated that in the US in the mid-twentieth century, 75% of US citizens came in contact with a Loewy design at least once a day - perhaps the packaging for Ritz crackers, or his various design updates for Coca Cola. In more recent times, they would have undoubtedly filled up with the product from one of the three major gas companies - Shell, Exxon or BP - all of which bore a logo designed by Loewy.

His presence spread to Europe and also Japan - starting in the '50's with his package designs for the Peace brand of cigarettes and the label of Asahi Gold for Asahi Beer. Loewy was particularly fond of Japan, whose visual culture inspired him and which, in turn, he himself influenced. With such links to Japan, his first retrospective here is long overdue, a situation which this compact but detailed new show - now at Tokyo's Tobacco and Salt Museum in Shibuya - attempts to rectify.

Loewy was born in France in 1893, studying engineering there and serving in the engineering corps from 1914-1918. After moving to America in 1919 he began his career in fashion illustration before moving into product design. At the time "brand marketing" was still a primitive science, and the concept of "industrial design" was unknown to the big corporations - a product's "design" was simply left up to the engineers - so Loewy needed to turn people's perceptions around. Ever the self-publicist, Loewy carried business cards emblazoned with the legend "Between two products equal in price, function and quality, the better looking will outsell the other." Perhaps not as zappy as today's catch phrases but it did the trick. Although he ran up against incredulity in conservative quarters, he also gained the confidence of more forward-thinking executives who, struggling with increased competition in the aftermath of the Depression, began to see that good design could be a selling point. In many cases, e.g. that of the Frigidaire refrigerator that Loewy designed for General Motors in the 1940's, they saw sales skyrocket.

In a video interview made before his death in 1986, and shown at the entrance to the exhibition, Loewy explains how he used clay modeling for the design, rather than the customary wooden models of the time, allowing him to make smoother, rounded edges. (This curved, streamlined aesthetic is something that runs through much of his 3-D work, from the re-designed locomotives for the Pennsylvania Railroad through to his car designs for Studebaker, especially the beautifully sculpted Avanti from 1961, all of which are represented here by photos and models.)

The Frigidaire design also highlights another Lowey hallmark - his knack for introducing design innovations that he instinctively knew would be appreciated by the consumer. For example, he noticed that users often held foodstuffs in both hands, making it difficult to open the door, so he designed a long, easily accessible handle that would respond to a simple nudge of the elbow.

Legend has it that he put this keen observational eye to use over three whole days watching people throwing away trash on the Pennslyvania Railroad before he began designing their new, improved garbage cans for the train.

From the sheer range of media he worked in - everything from crockery, through furniture, transportation, architecture, interior and graphic design - the thread linking Loewy's works seems less a particular visual style than the presence of personal and highly developed design principles and the elegance with which he applied them. By bringing together for the first time artifacts ranging from photos, original pamphlets and sketches as well as the products themselves, this show not only puts a face to the designer of innumerable familiar objects, but also helps illuminate his exceptional vision.