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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Graduated from Hongik University, Department of Industrial Design. She is active as a freelance illustrator in various fields such as product, advertising, video, and print. She has illustrated for Hansol Education’s ‘Finden Soundrug’, Duta’s ‘♡to♡ FESTIVAL’, YTN’s ‘Hello Weather’, 601 BISANG and SK m&c’s ‘MARK’. She created My First Helsinki in the second half of 2012 as a series of illustrations about Helsinki, …
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Moon Eun-bae
he studied visual design and environmental design at the College of Fine Arts at Seoul National University, as well as at its graduate school. In 1995, while working at the Korea Color Research Institute, he was first introduced to color. After serving as a senior researcher at the Color Design Research Institute at Ewha Womans University, he founded his own lab, Moon Eun-bae Color Design, immersing herself in color research. His major studies include specialized research projects such as the … -
Ogawa Naho
Ogawa Naho is a unique and whimsical sensibility who draws with elegant and delicate lines and brings her own playfulness to her paintings. She studied at Parsons School of Design in New York City, which gives her drawings a distinctly New York style. She has traveled and worked with luxury brands, fashion magazines, and famous department stores in the world’s biggest cities, including Anna Sui, Vogue , Elle , Newsweek , Wall Street Journal , The New Yorker , Ja Cosmetics , Hong Kong … -
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. -
Shur Ki-heun
Graphic designer and professor in the Department of Visual Design at Gachon University. He has served as the president of the Korea Society of Visual Information Design and the Korea Society of Basic Design & Art. He received the Art Division Award at the 2008 Korean Culture and Arts Awards and the Education Division Award at the 2012 Korea New Knowledge Management Awards. -
Choi Dae-suk
Graduated with a BFA from the College of Fine Arts at Hongik University, an MFA in Industrial Design from Seoul National University, and an MBA in Marketing from Yonsei University. Guided by the belief that “a successful designer must balance theory (文) and practice (武),” he is dedicated to professional design education while contributing to the field as a recommended designer and jury member for the Korea Industrial Design Exhibition. His primary interests include new product … -
Kim Min-young
Typography consultant. He majored in visual design at Hongik University and received his master’s degree from Musashino Art University in Japan, where he proposed a new direction for CJK-Latin multilingual blending based on the history of multilingual typography and a study of modern and contemporary blending samples in his master’s thesis. After working at Japanese type foundries Morisawa and Fontworks, he founded the typography studio Em Dash in Tokyo, Japan. Based on his diverse … -
Min Kyung-wook
He graduated from Korea University, Department of History and Education, and works as a professional translator. He ran the Japanese culture portal ‘ The Way to Japan ’, which led him to become a professional translator. His major works include Shinkai Makoto’s Weathering With You , Higashino Keigo’s Heart of Brutus , The Murder in Mansion Hakuba , Beautiful Weapon , and Dream Flower , Yoshida Shuichi’s Onna tachi wa Ni do Asobu , Ikeido Jun’s Shylock no … -
Ahn Sang-soo
Ahn Sang-soo is a graphic designer and typographer with a keen interest in Korean visual culture. He studied in the Visual Communication Design Department at Hongik University, where he also completed his graduate studies. A former professor at his alma mater, he took early retirement in 2012 to establish the Paju Typography Institute, where he currently serves as the president, also known as ‘Nalgae.’ In 2007, he received the Gutenberg Prize from the city of Leipzig, Germany. He is also a … -
Takaoka Masao
Born in Tokyo in 1957, Mr. Takaoka is the President of Kazui Kobo, a limited company. After graduating from Kokugakuin University’s Law Department, he joined his father, Takaoka Juzo’s company, Kazui Kobo, and has been in his current position since 1995.He learned Latin alphabet typesetting and typography from his father. From 1999-2001, he served as an advisor to printing museums and workshops and gave lectures and talks on Latin alphabet typesetting, typography, and corporate … -
Mike Evans
Mike Evans was a musician who released two singles on the Decca label and performed at the Cavern Club. In 1969, he was active in the Liverpool music scene and took the stage as a support band for Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan. Afterwards, he transitioned to radio and contributed articles to magazines such as Sounds , Melody Maker , and The Guardian . Since the late 1980s, he has written and edited over 60 books on music, film, and fashion. -
Kan Tai-Keung
An active design educator and artist, Kan Tai-keung is one of Hong Kong’s most famous graphic designers and noted ink painters. Born in 1942 in Pangyu, Guangdong, Kan has resided in Hong Kong since 1957. His passion for painting developed early on in his childhood, and his grandfather, Kan Yaosheng, a clay sculptor, encouraged his pursuit of art. Kan first studied art and design in 1964, and then watercolour painting and sketching with his uncle Kan May-tin. In 1967, he began attending …