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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Kim Se-jin is an architectural practice founded in 2015 after graduating from Seoul National University’s Department of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture. His architectural work begins with the surface of paper and evolves into profound expressions of individuality and universal sensory experience. He served as a Seoul Public Architect in 2016 and has taught at Seoul National University’s design studio. Her accolades include winning the design competition for the Chebu-dong …
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Yoon Young-jun
Yoon Young-jun graduated from Seoul National University, Department of Life Sciences, and majored in Communication Design at SADI. She has been working mainly on editorial design and motion graphics. She is currently working as an editorial designer at Insight, a book publishing company. -
Saras D. Sarasvathy
Saras D. Sarasvathy (born 1959) is an American entrepreneurship professor and recipient of the 2022 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research. She is currently the Paul M. Hammaker Professor in Business Administration at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and the Jamuna Raghavan Chair Professor in Entrepreneurship, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. She serves on the editorial boards or as associate editor of several academic journals as well as serving as an outside … -
Song Myung-min
Studied Visual Design at the College of Design, Sangmyung University, and Communication Design at its Graduate School of Art and Design. Worked as a designer at companies such as Hong Design Co., Ltd., and has taught typography and editorial design courses at Sangmyung University, Hannam University, Kyonggi University, Chungbuk National University, and Pyeongtaek University. Actively engages in creative projects through organizations such as the Korean Society of Typography, the Korean Society … -
Cho Young-jae
A graphic designer and Professor Emeritus at Seoul National University, he is the Honorary President of the Korean Federation of Design Organizations. Throughout his illustrious career, he has held numerous influential positions in the field of design: Jury Member for the Asia Digital Art and Design Awards (2001–2007), Honorary Doctorate in Design from Dongseo University (2001), International Jury Member for Hong Kong Design Show 98 (1998), Founding President of the Korea Society of Visual … -
김남시
서울대학교에서 미학을 전공한 후 베를린 훔볼트대학교 문화학과에서 철학 박사 학위를 취득했다. 현재 이화여자대학교 조형예술대학 교수로 재임 중이며, 동시대의 철학적, 미학적 논의와 예술적 실천에 관심을 두고 비평과 연구를 진행하고 있다. 지은 책으로 『마르쿠스 가브리엘』 『크래시』(공저) 『절멸』(공저) 등이 있고, 옮긴 책으로 마르쿠스 가브리엘의 『예술의 힘』, 발터 벤야민의 『모스크바 일기』, 프리드리히 키틀러의 『축음기, 영화, 타자기』(공역), 아비 바르부르크의 『뱀 의식』, 지그프리트 크라카우어의 『과거의 문턱』, 다니엘 파울 슈레버의 『한 신경병자의 회상록』, 빅토르 타우스크의 『영향 장치·자위에 대하여』 등이 있다. -
Jo Kim
Graphic designer. He majored in communication design at Hongik University, earned a master’s degree from Yale University and a PhD from Hongik University. He is the co-author of the A Dictionary of Typography published by Angraphics in 2012, published “Technical Problems in Multilingual Typography” (2016), and designed typefaces such as “Bemby” in 2017 and “Glyphs Sans” in 2018. He passed away in 2021. -
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 . -
Peter Jones
Dr. Peter Jones is Distinguished University Professor of Systemic Design at Tec de Monterrey, and an associate professor at Toronto’s OCAD University. He is a cofounder of the Systemic Design Association (systemic. design) and the RSD Symposia series, and is Editor in Chief of the SDA journal Contexts. Peter is the founder of Redesign Network, an innovation research firm, leading systemic and platform design and research in healthcare, informatics and media, and public sector strategy. He has … -
Géraldine Borio
Dr Géraldine Borio is the founder of Borio Lab and an Assistant Professor at The University of Hong Kong, Department of Architecture. Dr Borio is a Swiss-registered architect who holds a PhD in architecture from RMIT, Australia, as well as a master’s degree in architecture from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Invested widely in knowledge transmission through teaching, research and publication, Dr Borio has conducted numerous workshops and lectures worldwide. Prior … -
ARTIST PROOF
‘Artist Proof’ is a print & design label run by an artist, Kyungjoo Choi. The artist, working based in Seoul, embodies multi-layered inner structures in layers of overlapped colours and refined symbols. By experimenting with images she created and crossing the boundaries of art genres, ‘Artist Proof’ has done various projects such as producing items, holding exhibitions, and collaborative art projects. -
Han Jooyeon
Han Jooyeon is a leading museum education specialist in Korea, with more than two decades of experience connecting audiences with art through both theory and practice. A first-generation museum educator in Korea, she studied Art History and Art Education at Ewha Womans University and Seoul National University, and began her career in museum education in 2000. After serving as a fellow at the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies, Han held key roles at Leeum Museum of Art, Samsung …