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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A professional dedicated to uncovering the philosophy and values hidden within brands and delivering their unique essence to everyday life. Preferring leisure, simplicity, and thoughtful conversations, he tends to limit gatherings to four people or fewer. With experience at the brand consulting firm Brand&Company, Hanwha Hotels & Resorts Marketing Strategy Team, the brand experience design firm Plus X, and Kakao Pay Brand Marketing Team, he now runs Standard Project. He has led brand …
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Chung Hye-uk
Studied Visual Communication Design in the Department of Industrial Design at the College of Fine Arts, Seoul National University. Earned a master’s degree in New Media Design from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a Ph.D. in Visual Communication from the Graduate School of Communication at Yonsei University. Currently, she serves as a professor at the Content School of Cheonggang University of Culture and Industry. -
ZERO PER ZERO
ZERO PER ZERO is a design studio founded in Seoul in 2008. We focus on themes of ‘EARTH, TRAVEL, LOVE,’ creating a wide range of graphic designs and illustrations that capture precious moments discovered in travel and everyday life. Initially inspired by themes related to travel, we have since expanded to include warm family portraits, dogs, cats, flowers, and national treasures, continually building our own graphic dictionary. Through our work, we aim to celebrate and share the … -
Chae Hee-joon
Specialized in Korean typography at Kaywon University of Art and Design. Focused on font production, he is an active member of the design studio FORMULA. He has released typefaces such as Cheongwol, Cheongjo, Choseol, Goyo, Shinsegae, Tal, Classic, Giha, and Omin. Passionate about creating typefaces, he enjoys the process of detecting and studying subtle differences in letterforms. -
Min Gu-hong
He studied literature and linguistics at Chung-Ang University and computer programming—though he prefers to call it “narrow-sense literature and linguistics” or “poetic computation”—at the School for Poetic Computation (SFPC) . He worked as an editor, designer, and programmer at Angraphics and Workroom. Now running his one-person company Min Guhong Manufacturing , he works both within and beyond the art and design fields. Meanwhile, through “New Order” , which bills itself as “a liberal arts … -
Tsuzuki Kyoichi
Kyoichi Tsuzuki was born in Tokyo in 1956. From 1976 to 1986, he was a freelance editor for the influential men’s fashion and lifestyle magazines Popeye and Brutus, where he wrote on contemporary art, design, urban living, and related topics. From 1989 to 1992, he published Art Random (Kyoto Shoin), a 102-volume series covering 1980s trends in global contemporary art. He continues to write and edit works on contemporary art, architecture, photography, design, and more. In 1993, he released the … -
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 … -
Park Jung-jun
After graduating from the Department of Western Painting at Seoul National University, he opened an art studio called LHOOQ, where he worked sporadically. By chance, he began writing and co-authored a high school art textbook for the 2012 academic year. He is currently exploring new projects while working on art technique theory books. -
Farah Kafei
Farah Kafei is a designer and art director who has led initiatives addressing gender disparity in design education and fostered communities pushing for a more inclusive industry. She’s had the pleasure of working for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and studios such as Sagmeister & Walsh and Doubleday & Cartwright. -
Leslie Xia
Leslie Xia is a queer Chinese American art director. They studied graphic design at the Maryland Institute College of Art and have worked for companies like the Foundry at Meredith, Men’s Health , VICE News, and Fast Company . Their personal work focuses on race, gender identity, and social justice. -
Akasegawa Genpei
Akasegawa Genpei was a pseudonym of Japanese artist Akasegawa Katsuhiko (赤瀬川克彦), born March 27, 1937 in Yokohama. He used another pseudonym, Otsuji Katsuhiko (尾辻克彦), for literary works. A member of the influential artist groups Neo-Dada Organizers and Hi-Red Center, Akasegawa went on to maintain a multi-disciplinary practice throughout his career as an individual artist. In 1986, Akasegawa and his collaborators, Terunobu Fujimori and Shinbo Minami, to announce the formation of a new group: … -
Shim Bok-seob
Graduated from the Department of Visual Design at Hongik University’s College of Fine Arts and its Graduate School of Industrial Arts, and later from the Graduate School of Art and Design at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. Won an award at the international competition Extrasensory Museum hosted by Nikkei Inc. and participated in the planning and production of symbolic parade vehicles for the 50th Anniversary of Liberation. Currently serves as a professor of Visual Design in the Department of …