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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Lee Yu-jin graduated from Ewha Womans University with a B.A. in Sociology and received her M.A. in Art History from Hongik University. She has been engaged in art education for the general public, exhibition planning, and publishing activities at museums. She is the author of Critic Lee Il and the AG Group in the 1970s , Critic Lee Il Anthology and The Birth of a Hero among other books.
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Moon Joo-ho
He is a licensed architect in South Korea and serves as both partner and representative of Gyeonggye Eopneun Jakyeopsil (“Studio Without Boundaries”). After graduating from the Department of Architecture at Seoul National University, he gained practical experience at Gyeongyeongwi-Chi Architects & Associates. He later founded Studio Without Boundaries, where he explores and practices the evolution of spatial value through open-minded thinking. He is currently a lecturer at Seoul National … -
Choi Min-young
Graduated from the department of industrial design at KAIST, earned a master’s degree in industrial design from the same institution, and completed the doctoral coursework there. With practical experience in product design and interaction design, served as a senior designer at Daewoo Motors and as the head of the research institute at Decos Interactive. Currently, a professor specializing in Interaction Product Design in the Department of Industrial Design at Sungshin Women’s … -
Hara Kenya
Born in 1958, he is a designer, President of the Nippon Design Center, and a professor at Musashino Art University. Known for groundbreaking exhibitions that challenge conventional values, he has curated projects such as RE-DESIGN – The Daily Products of the 21st Century , JAPAN CAR – Designs for a Crowded World , and HOUSE VISION , which have had a global impact. He applied design deeply rooted in Japanese culture for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Nagano Olympics and the Aichi … -
Kim Seong-won
Director of the Play AT Institute. He teaches young people at the Kurikindi center. He is the author of “An Earthbag House with Neighbors , The Return of the Fire Pit , The Age of the Woodstove , and “My Hands Are Tired . -
Josh A. Halstead
Josh Halstead is an epistemic activist working at the intersection of critical disability studies, design pedagogy, and community organizing. A recognized contributor to disability design discourse, they seek to unsettle and rupture normative systems of thought by centering marginalized perspectives. Halstead has been an invited lecturer in academic and industry settings—from Stanford to Google—and is co-author of the forthcoming book Extra Bold: A Feminist, Inclusive, Anti-Racist, Non-Binary … -
빌레 코코넨
A Finnish industrial designer , he runs a Switzerland-based studio where projects explore technological and scientific discoveries. His work reflects visions of future living environments , blending innovation with design foresight. Currently, he is a professor at Aalto University’s School of Arts, Design, and Architecture in Helsinki, Finland . -
Go Yun-seo
She explores how text, graphics, and people interact between the virtual and the real. After working as a designer and developer at graphic design studio Everyday Practice, She recently went independent to run his own creative design studio, YYY. Continues to experiment with digital interaction in the graphic web experimentation group HHHA. -
Jeong Yeon-suk
Graduated from the Department of English Literature at Sogang University and the Department of Political Science at the University of Winnipeg. She contributed to the Korean edition of Lonely Planet and has worked for several years on Korean-to-English and English-to-Korean translations for travel magazines, airline in-flight publications, and design journals. -
Youngwon Park
He majored in Visual Design at Hongik University and went on to study Advertising Design and Visual Communication at the Graduate School of Industrial Arts at Hongik University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). While studying signage and symbols at the University of Illinois at Chicago, he explored a semiotic approach to design research. He later earned a Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Hongik University, where he analyzed visual humor through semiotics. He has contributed to the … -
Valentina Vergara
Valentina Vergara is a multidisciplinary designer and illustrator who’s interested in using design as a catalyst for change. She’s collaborated on projects addressing gender disparity in graphic design education and continues to explore ways in which she can dismantle oppressive design thinking and continue to advocate for and uplift marginalized perspectives. -
Youngjoo Park
She earned her master’s degree in Visual Communication Design from the Department of Visual Design at Hongik University and the Graduate School of Art and Design at the University of Tsukuba. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Human Environmental Design at the Graduate School of Natural Science at Chiba University. She is a member of the Korea Package Design Association, VIDAK (Visual Information Design Association of Korea), and the Korean Society of Basic Design & Art. Her research …