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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Hori Michihiro is a lacquer craftsman, manga artist and author from Toyama. He graduated from Takaoka National College (now University of Toyama, School of Art and Design) with a major in lacquerware and Ishikawa Prefectural Wajima-nuri Lacquerware Training Institute. After working for a cultural property restoration company and as a craftsman in a lacquer workshop, he made his debut as a manga artist in 2003 and has been active in the fields of lacquer and manga ever since. He is the author of …
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Margaret Colquhoun
1947–2017. Goethean biologist and the Founding Director of the Life Science Trust, based at Pishwanton Wood in East Lothian, Scotland, at the foot of the Lammermuir Hills. She studied zoology and genetics with agricultural acience at Edinburgh University in the 1960s and worked there as a Research Associate in the 1970s on questions of population genetics and evolutionary biology. Later on, still carrying questions into the reality and relationship of taxonomy and evolution, she spent four … -
정혜선
한국전통문화대학교를 졸업한 후 전통 회화의 재료학적 기법 연구와 지류 문화재 보존을 심도 있게 연구하기 위해 일본으로 유학을 가 도쿄예술대학원 문화재보존학 석박사 학위를 취득하였다. 일본에서 다수의 회화 문화재 복원 모사 및 수리 작업의 연구원으로 활동했으며, 한국에 귀국한 후 객원 연구원으로서 회화 문화재의 복원 모사 사업에 참여했다. 장황에 대한 새로운 접근을 시도하고자 권민성과 함께 2022년 SOKO 장황 스튜디오를 설립했다. 장황이 지류 문화재의 보존 처리와 작품을 표장하는 것에 국한되지 않고 하나의 독립된 공예로 분류되길 바라며 장황을 기반으로 한 다양한 디자인 작업을 진행한다. 현재 SOKO 공동 대표로 활동하고 있으며, 후시카솔 스튜디오 및 전통문화교육원 전통문화사화교육과정에서 모사(전통 회화) 강의를 병행하고 있다. -
Nagaoka Kenmei
Design activist, publisher of d design travel . Born in 1965 in Mororan City, Hokkaido, and raised in Agui Town, Aichi Prefecture. He participated in the establishment of the Hara Design Institute, Japan Design Center, and founded Drawing & Manual in 1997 and D&DEPARTMENT PROJECT in 2000. He later founded 60VISION and proposed branding styles beyond reprinting, such as Garimoku 60. Long-life design is the theme of his activities, which range from publishing to product development. He … -
Ulf Meyer
Born in 1970 in Berlin, Germany. Writer, critic, and educator specializing in architecture. He studied architecture at the Technical University of Berlin(Germany) and the Illinois Institute of Technology(USA), worked at Inggenhofen Architects(Germany) and Shigeruban Architects(Japan), and was an architecture journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle (USA). He has published hundreds of articles on architecture and urban design in newspapers, magazines, and internet media in Europe and … -
Kim Sang-kyu
He studied design in college and graduate school and received her PhD in design archive research. He has been practicing design curation and archival research since he worked as a chair designer at FURSYS Inc.’s and curated exhibitions such as droog design , Korean Design , and The New Vision from László Moholy-Nagy while working as a curator at the Design Museum at the Arts Center of Korea, and conducts workshops and research on maker culture and Korean design at Jayul Design Lab. He is … -
Lee Hyun-kyung
Starting her journey in design in the Department of Visual Communication Design at Hongik University, she worked as a GUI designer at LG Electronics’ Design Management Center. She pursued Museum Studies at Syracuse University in New York and gained practical experience as an intern at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea and the Orange County Museum of Art in the United States. She earned her Ph.D. in Arts Administration from Florida State University. She honed her skills … -
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 . -
Suwa
Suwa is a renowned live art illustrator based in Seoul. She became captivated by fashion’s ability to reflect diverse individuality and identity during her trips to Fashion Weeks around the world, leading her to start drawing people who caught her eye on the streets. Suwa studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design in New York and worked as a designer for several fashion brands including Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger. She later transitioned to illustration, collaborating on editorial … -
Im Nam-sook
Graduated from the Department of Ceramics at Ewha Womans University. She majored in Graphic Design at Braunschweig University of Art (Braunschweig Kunsthochschule) in Germany and earned a Ph.D. in Design Philosophy from the same institution. Currently, she is a professor in the Department of Art Education at Daegu National University of Education. -
Stanley Morison
Stanley Arthur Morison was a British typographer, printing executive and historian of printing. Largely self-educated, he promoted higher standards in printing and an awareness of the best printing and typefaces of the past. From the 1920s Morison became an influential adviser to the British Monotype Corporation, advising them on type design. His strong aesthetic sense was a force within the company, which starting shortly before his joining became increasingly known for commissioning popular, … -
Andrew Haslam
Following an undergraduate degree in Graphic Information Design and a postgraduate teaching qualification, he completed a postgraduate degree at the Royal College of Art. He worked for the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (Netherlands Broadcasting Service) and later for Sebastian Conran Associates before co-founding a studio in East London with Russel Warren-Fisher and Hannah Tofts. He authored and designed a series of 32 non-fiction children’s books covering science, history, and geography, which …