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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Toyo Ito (born 1 June 1941) is a Japanese architect known for creating conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to simultaneously express the physical and virtual worlds. He is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses the contemporary notion of a “simulated” city, and has been called “one of the world’s most innovative and influential architects.” In 2013, Ito was awarded the Pritzker Prize, one of architecture’s most prestigious prizes. He was a …
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Yang Da-sol
She is a writer, a vegan advocate, and the host of the writing community Kkabul Writing Room . She has authored books such as A Heart That Doesn’t Become Poor , Anyway, Friends , and A Proper Courtesy . -
Ezio Manzini
Ezio Manzini is a world-renowned scholar in the field of design for sustainability. In 2009, he founded the DESIS Network, a network of design universities dedicated to social innovation design, to connect design universities around the world and revitalize the discourse on social innovation design. As a longtime professor of design at Politecnico di Milano, Italy, he conducted research on design for sustainability and expanded the scope of design education by launching new design majors such … -
Kim Se-jin
She studied at Hongik University’s Department of German Language and Literature and Korea University’s Graduate School of Education. Her books include What are You Looking At? , Lives of the Artists , MoMA Highlights , The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem , A Space of My Own , and the MoMA Artists series, including Henri Matisse , Paul Cézanne , Pablo Picasso , and Joan Miró . -
Yang Ye-kyu
Graduated from Dongduk Women’s University College of Arts, Department of Visual Design and its graduate school, and completed the web design course at Fashion Institute Technology (F.I.T) in New York, USA. Worked as a designer at the advertising production team of Samhee Planning Co., Ltd., the predecessor of advertising agency Hancom Co., Ltd., and taught CI and computer graphics at Dongduk Women’s University Department of Visual Design. Currently working as the head of the design … -
Nat McCully
Nat McCully worked at Claris Corporation and Apple Computer in Japanese product development, specializing in text layout, from 1991 to 1998. He then joined Adobe Systems as the lead engineer for the Japanese version of InDesign, implementing text composition and Japanese publishing workflow features. He has worked on Flash, AIR, RMSDK, and advised the teams on Photoshop, Illustrator, and Adobe Text Engine (ATE). He now works with the Spark and the XD teams on worldwide extensibility and … -
Yoon Je-won
Yoon Je-won majored in geography education and aesthetics at Seoul National University and graduated from the Gumbap Academy. She was very interested in performing arts, art, and video, which she was exposed to in college, and was active in performance festivals and film festivals. She pursues natural translation by utilizing her long experience in video translation and is interested in various fields such as education, cooking, philosophy, art, and foreign languages, and strives to convey … -
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 … -
Kim Hee-jung
She studied visual design at Hongik University. She went on to study photography at Parsons School of Design and completed her MFA in fine art at Chelsea College of Art & Design. Since returning to Korea, she has been working and teaching at the university level. She has held four solo exhibitions, including Family in 2004, Kumho Young Artist: Pink & White in 2007, and Broken But in 2012, and has participated in numerous group exhibitions at the Seoul Museum of Art and the Gyeonggi … -
Choi Ho-chun
Completed doctoral coursework in Visual Design at the College of Fine Arts and the Graduate School of Hongik University. Recipient of awards such as the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) President’s Award and the Prime Minister’s Award at the Korea Industrial Design Exhibition. Served as an inaugural designer for KIDP and as the Chair of the Visual Designers Division at the Korean Association of Industrial Artists. Authored books including Visual Communication Design and High School … -
Seo Ha-na
A Japanese translator and publishing editor who hovers between language and print. She considers language to be design, translating Japanese into Korean and plans books. She has worked in architecture and interiors, and after studying in Japan, she worked as an editor at Ahn Graphics. She has translated Rojinryoku , Who Made 501XX? , The Mina Perhonen Design Journey: The Circulation of Memory , An Encyclopedia of Tokyo Hotels , The Original Scenery of Harajuku in the 1970s , Walking with the … -
Tak Hyeon-gyu
Graduated from the Department of History at Sogang University and earned a Ph.D. in Art History from the Graduate School of Korean Studies at the Academy of Korean Studies. Authored books include: Saimdang’s Garden , Conversations on Paintings , Reflections on Korean Paintings , A Study of the Triad Buddhist Paintings in the Joseon Dynasty . Currently serves as a researcher at the Kansong Art Museum and lectures at institutions including Seoul National University of Education, Gyeongin …