Ikko Tanaka was a Japanese graphic designer. Tanaka is widely recognized for his prolific body of interdisciplinary work, which includes graphic identity and visual matter for brands and corporations including Seibu Department Stores, Mazda, Issey Miyake, Hanae Mori, and Expo 85. He is credited with developing the foundational graphic identity for lifestyle brand Muji, emphasizing the “no brand” quality of their products through unadorned, charming line drawings paired with straightforward slogans. His use of bold, polychromatic geometries and his harnessing of the dynamic visual potential of typography are undergirded by a sensitivity towards traditional Japanese aesthetics. Though keenly sensitive to historical precedents and established conventions, Tanaka nevertheless maintained a degree of playfulness in his work, manipulating color, scale, and form to reconfigure familiar iconographies into fresh and accessible visual representations. Tanaka is also widely recognized for his posters designs for Noh productions and other performances and exhibitions staged in Japan and beyond. He was active in realms of typography, exhibition design, and book design as well, and his publication Japan Style was released in 1980 alongside the Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition of the same name. As a leading figure in postwar Japanese design, Tanaka is also credited with playing a role in the professionalization and expansion of the discipline.
Authors
Tanaka Ikko
田中一光
다른 사람들
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After graduating from Sogang University’s English Department, she worked at a publishing house and edited various books. She is currently working as a freelance translator for major museums and companies in Korea. Her translations include The Form of the Book Book , BIG-GAME : Everyday Objects , First Principles of Typography , 100 Classic Graphic Design Journals , I Used To Be A Design Student: 50 Graphic Designers Then And Now , Bibliographic: 100 Classic Graphic Design Books , …
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Leonard Koren
Leonard Koren was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles. While a teenager he designed and built a full-scale Japanese tea house out of scavenged materials. While an undergraduate student at UCLA, Koren was awarded a fellowship to pursue experiments in photographic process. He also worked as an exhibition installer at the university’s fine arts and ethnographic museums. In 1969 Koren quit school and co-founded the Los Angeles Fine Arts Squad, a trompe l’oeil mural painting group that … -
Chung Byoung-kyoo
An editorial designer who graduated from Korea University with a degree in French Literature and studied design at École Estienne in Paris. In 1979, he co-founded the editorial company Yeoreogaji Munje Yeonguso with writer Lee Yoon-ki and later established Jung Byung-kyu Design in 1985, which continues to this day. He has served as a Specialist for the Seoul Olympics, President of the Korean Society of Visual Information Design, and President of the Korean Society for Image Culture. His career … -
Kiura Mikio
Born and raised in Osaka. He has two master degrees in computer science at Nara Institute of Science and Technology and design at Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. Currently, he runs his award-winning design studio ANKR DESIGN in Tokyo and designs new products and services with his clients. He thoroughly understands the Japanese manufacturing industry, as well as, the workflow of large companies and startups in Japan. He also has a profound knowledge of Japan’s unique culture and … -
Doi Akifumi
Born in Hiroshima in 1957. Owner of Tom’s Box. Handles picture books and books related to picture books. He has been involved in the planning and editing of over 300 picture books to date, including the Forest of Images series (Holp Shuppan) and Neko no Sweater (Oikawa Kenji, Takeuchi Mayuko). He also organizes the workshop Atosaki Juku with Akira Ono, which aims to nurture picture book authors. -
Park ji-hee
After studying Biology and German Literature at Sogang University, they began working at an international patent law firm. Following their completion of the Gulbab Academy program, they have been working as a translator affiliated with Barun Translation . Their translated works include Demian , Beneath the Wheel , Capture the Moment for Me , and Capture the Moment for Love . -
Takaoka Masao
Born in Tokyo in 1957, Mr. Takaoka is the President of Kazui Kobo, a limited company. After graduating from Kokugakuin University’s Law Department, he joined his father, Takaoka Juzo’s company, Kazui Kobo, and has been in his current position since 1995.He learned Latin alphabet typesetting and typography from his father. From 1999-2001, he served as an advisor to printing museums and workshops and gave lectures and talks on Latin alphabet typesetting, typography, and corporate … -
Noh Eun-yu
Font designer and researcher. She founded Notype in 2018 and has been creating letters based on research and experimentation since then. She teaches typography at Konkuk University, Ewha Womans University, and Hongik University. She graduated from Hongik University’s Department of Visual Design in 2006, and received her master’s degree in 2008 with a thesis on “A study on the Hangul phonetic alphabet system for phonetic transcription of Japanese” and her doctorate in 2011 with a … -
Peter Troxler
An independent researcher and concept developer, he focuses on the overall composition and design of the social, technological, and commercial dimensions of businesses. His work pays particular attention to companies as permanent organizations and projects as temporary organizational structures. -
Fukasawa Naoto
Naoto Fukasawa was born in 1956 in Yamanashi, Japan. He graduated from Tama Art University in 1980 and began his career at Seiko Epson, where he worked on advanced designs for watches and other micro-electronic devices. In 1989, he joined ID Two, a San Francisco-based product design firm that later became IDEO. In 1996, Fukasawa returned to Japan to establish and oversee IDEO’s Tokyo office. In 2003, he founded Naoto Fukasawa Design . Since 2001, he has served as a design advisor for MUJI … -
Nigel Cross
Professor of Design Studies and Head of the Department of Design and Innovation in the Faculty of Technology at the Open University, UK. He has been a faculty member of the Open University’s leading multimedia distance education program since 1970 and teaches a wide range of courses on design and technology. He has an international reputation for design research, particularly in the areas of design methodology and design perception. He is also the editor-in-chief of Design Studies , an … -
Sohyun Park
She is a professor specializing in Digital Culture Policy at the IT Policy Graduate School of Seoul National University of Science and Technology. She has authored works such as Memory of War and the Theory of the Cultural State , The Ethical Future of Museums – Focusing on the Genealogy of Museum Activism , The Demographic Turn in Cultural Policy and the Policy Status of Artists , Alternative Paths (and Media) of the Lee Jung-seop Myth – Focusing on the 1970s Biographies and Films on Lee …