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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Born in 1963, he graduated from the Department of French Language and Literature at Korea University. He received his master’s and doctoral degrees in linguistics and semiotics from the University of Paris X in France. He was selected for the LG Yonam Foundation’s overseas research program and served as a visiting professor at the Department of Art History and the Institute of Linguistics at Oxford University in the UK, a visiting professor at Harvard University in the US as a …
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Kang Sung-joong
After graduating from Hanyang University with a degree in precision mechanical engineering, he worked as an engineer at Ssangyong Engineering before graduating from Seoul National University with a degree in industrial design. He then completed a master’s degree in industrial design at Seoul National University, a master’s degree in interaction design at Carnegie Mellon University, and a doctorate in design at Seoul National University. He has trained designers at Hanyang University … -
정의태
한양대학교 ERICA 융합디자인학부와 동 대학교 일반대학원 디자인학부 교수. UX·UI 디자인, 웹 퍼블리싱, 지역사회 기역 프로젝트, 서비스 디자인, 디자인 방법론 등을 강의하며 여러 기관 및 기업과 관련 프로젝트를 수행하고 있으며 외국인, 이주민, 노약자, 장애인, 유학생 등 다양한 집단을 대상으로 한 연구를 진행하고 있다. -
Armin Hofmann
Armin Hofmann was a Swiss graphic designer. He was one of the most prominent individuals in Swiss design. He began his career in 1947 as a teacher at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel School of Art and Crafts at the age of twenty-six. Hofmann followed Emil Ruder as head of the graphic design department at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel (Basel School of Design) and was instrumental in developing the graphic design style known as the Swiss Style. His teaching methods were unorthodox and broad … -
Kim Jung-suk
He studied Glass and Sculpture at Seoul National University, Ohio State University Graduate School, and University of Illinois Graduate School, and received his Ph.D. in Crafts from Seoul National University. He has held 13 solo exhibitions in Korea, Italy, Japan, and the United States, and has exhibited his works at SOFA Chicago and Kanazawa Art Fair. Currently, he serves as a Professor in the Department of Ceramics and Glass at Hongik University’s College of Fine Arts and as the … -
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 … -
Ellen Lupton
Ellen Lupton is a designer, writer, and educator. Her books include Design Is Storytelling, Graphic Design Thinking, Health Design Thinking, and Extra Bold: A Feminist, Inclusive, Anti-Racist, Nonbinary Field Guide for Graphic Designers . The third edition of her bestselling book Thinking with Type launches in March, 2024. She teaches in the Graphic Design MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore (MICA), where she proudly serves as the Betty Cooke and William O. Steinmetz … -
배상규
After studying Architectural Engineering at Yonsei University , they worked in the construction industry. Following their completion of the English Publishing Translation program at Gulbab Academy , they began working as a translator affiliated with Barun Translation . Their translated works include Japanese-Style Small Houses . -
Rhi Joo-myung
Rhi Joo-myung studied industrial design at Seoul National University and design management at Leicester Polytechnic in the UK. He joined LG Electronics when it was called Geumsung and gained practical experience in planning and product design for over 9 years. He taught product design, design methods, and design management at Inje University and now at Yonsei University Wonju Campus. He has long been interested in the qualitative nature of design and hopes to better understand the … -
Lee Kyu-chul
Lee Kyu-chul (1948-1994, Incheon) graduated from Hongik University in 1974, majoring in sculpture. In 1975, he left for Saudi Arabia, where he worked as an administrator and videographer for the Vinnell Company in the United States. In 1983, he entered graduate school at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, but returned home after three semesters. He had his first solo exhibition, Space and Visual Perception (Kwanhoon Museum of Art, 1988), which he spent time researching alone, and … -
Hwang Su-hyun
A journalist for The Hankook Ilbo , she majored in Clothing and Textiles at Hanyang University. Her career spans magazines and weekly publications before transitioning to a daily newspaper, where she has been working as a journalist for a decade. Her reporting began with fashion and has since expanded to cover architecture, art, food, design, publishing, and pop culture. In 2014, she wrote the serialized feature Living in Small Houses , introducing compact homes across Korea. With a natural … -
2023 Typojanchi Team
The 2023 Typojanchi Team is a working group consisting of Artistic Director Park Yeoun-joo, Curators Shin Hae-ok, Yeo Hye-jin, Jeon Yu-ni, and Coordinator Lee Ju-hyun.