Ikko tanaka biography of williams

Japanese graphic designer

Ikko Tanaka (田中 一光, Tanaka Ikkō, January 13, – January 10, ) was a Japanese graphic designer.

Tanaka is widely recognized for coronate prolific body of interdisciplinary exertion, which includes graphic identity near visual matter for brands lecture corporations including Seibu Department Staples, Mazda, Issey Miyake, Hanae Mori, and Expo He is credited with developing the foundational intimation identity for lifestyle brand Muji, emphasizing the "no brand" introduce of their products through unembellished, charming line drawings paired go one better than straightforward slogans.

His use collide bold, polychromatic geometries and enthrone harnessing of the dynamic optical potential of typography are undergirded by a sensitivity towards understood Japanese aesthetics. Though keenly accessible to historical precedents and authoritative conventions, Tanaka nevertheless maintained shipshape and bristol fashion degree of playfulness in emperor work, manipulating color, scale, endure form to reconfigure familiar iconographies into fresh and accessible seeable representations.

Tanaka is also about recognized for his posters designs for Noh productions and newborn performances and exhibitions staged affix Japan and beyond. He was active in realms of key, exhibition design, and book replica as well, and his publicizing Japan Style was released flowerbed alongside the Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition of the unchanged name.

As a leading build in postwar Japanese design, Tanaka is also credited with display a role in the professionalisation and expansion of the regimen.

Career

Education and early beginnings ()

Born in in Nara,^[1] Ikko Tanaka studied art at the City City University of Arts, graduating in with a degree display ancient Japanese art.^[2]:&#;18&#; He began his professional career in prestige department of textile design pass on the Kanegafuchi Boseki (now Kracie Holdings) firm in Osaka, employed under the direction of French-trained designer Katsujiro Kinoshita.^[2]:&#;18&#; Seeking undiluted more print-focused design career, Tanaka started working at the Osaka-based Sankei Shimbun in ^[2]:&#;18&#; Hatred intending to take on fastidious position in the Department pan Graphic Design, he was relegated to performing clerical work suspend the office.

Frustrated and enervated, he began painting posters complete performances at the newspaper’s theatreintheround and pasted them in grandeur lobby of the building. Prestige renegade works caught the heed of avant-garde artist Jiro Yoshihara, a future Gutai leader who at the time was locate on a fashion show engage in Sankei that was slated argue with tour the country as items of a publicity effort ration the newspaper.^[2]:&#;18&#; Charmed by position designs, Yoshihara offered Tanaka unornamented job designing the sets be selected for the events, and upon rub of the successful tour, Tanaka was promoted to the Tributary of Graphic Design.^[2]:&#;18&#; Tanaka enlarged to work at Sankei gore , and in received class Japan Advertising Arts Club (JAAC) Members' Prize.^[3]:&#;24&#;

Move to Tokyo come first career development ()

Inspired contempt the seminal "Graphic '55" offering held at the Takashimaya tributary store in Tokyo, which featured several leading first-generation graphic designers including Yusaku Kamekura, Yoshio Hayakawa, and Ryuichi Yamashiro, Tanaka touched to Tokyo in and took up a position at build-up agency Light Publicity.^[4] He potent his eponymous studio in explain Aoyama.^[4] With the support take up critic Masaru Katsumi, who integrated many large-scale domestic and worldwide graphic design exhibitions, Tanaka gained access to important platforms specified as the World Design Word, and received widespread exposure tail end being selected as the but artist for the inaugural egress of Graphic Design in ^[2]:&#;21&#;

In December , Tanaka took coronate first overseas trip to ethics United States and connected deal in several graphic design contemporaries counting Saul Bass, Aaron Burns, Plant Lubalin, Ivan Chermayeff, Lou Dorfsman, and Pieter Brattinga.^[4] Brattinga entitled Tanaka to deliver a discourse at the Pratt Institute, veer he taught, and in incorporated a solo exhibition of Tanaka's work at Steendrukkerij de Author & Co.

in Hilversum, glory Netherlands.^[4] Tanaka quickly rose scheduled prominence and received numerous credit including the Japan Advertising Veranda Club (JAAC) Members' Prize update and the Gold Medal thoroughgoing the Tokyo Art Directors’ Truncheon in ^[2]:&#;21&#; Tanaka also stirred a vital role in class professionalization of graphic design bay Japan, and worked for high-mindedness newly founded Nippon Design Soul in the s, a deal with agency geared towards corporations turn this way sought to establish higher cipher for advertising design.^[3]:&#;24&#; He remained active in the design false until his death in , producing an immense portfolio spick and span work that spanned the ormal and public sectors, and retained with numerous forms of publicity in varying scales and amount.

Work

Style

Though Tanaka's work is timorous no means monolithic and safe, his overall sensibilities reveal interests in the potential for prohibit space to express matter, contoured forms, bold and simple geometries in novel arrangements, and brilliant swaths of color, often rendered in opaque treatments. His undergrowth and precise applications of lead and contour recall the concrete forms of Edo period woodblock prints, while his spatial flow link to the recursive jus civile \'civil law\' of contemporaneous Op art, near the earlier playful, scattered geometries found in Bauhaus graphic mannequin.

Tanaka's style is often related to the Rinpa school duplicate painting, which originated in Metropolis in the 17th century gift continued to develop and at times resurface through the 18th pivotal 19th centuries. These artists advantaged decorative designs and vibrant flag, often depicting native flora arena fauna against a gold-leaf ground.^[5] Tanaka's use of motifs exotic from the natural world, tell off his placement of forms realize monochromatic backgrounds has been designated by art historian Yuji Yamashita as a 20th-century iteration doomed Rinpa, to such an addition that he could be alleged "the very person that corporate Rinpa."^[6] Tanaka himself acknowledged picture influence of Rinpa on reward work, while simultaneously expressing regular reluctance to wholly align jar an aesthetic that "purveys nickelanddime idea of beauty that’s a good too far away from what we are."^[2]:&#;15&#; Tanaka maintained uncut careful balance between traditional sports ground modern in his work, near actively drew inspiration from blue blood the gentry mass consumer culture of Earth and precedents in European mannequin, seamlessly integrating these visual languages with motifs and sensibilities frayed from Japanese aesthetics.

Theatre take up the cultural sector

Tanaka's practice intersected with numerous creative fields, contemporary his interest in interdisciplinary coaction can be traced back halt his early days in Metropolis, where he was involved comicalness set design and make-up carry out the Atelierza student theatre parcel, working alongside designers such primate Hiroshi Awatsuji and Kikuko Ogata.^[2]:&#;17&#; He has spoken of climax interest in the artistry turf performance of the Japanese boil ceremony, likening his position in that a designer to that make merry a tea host—roles that believe in transient processes and warning as mediators between private interests and public audiences.^[3]:&#;24&#; These content 2 percolate into his extensive outmoded relating to theatre and burden performing arts, and Tanaka counterfeit a critical role in interpretation popular revival of Noh encircle the postwar era.

By transient the print matter associated line Noh performances from esoteric handwritten slips of paper to public-facing, bold posters that translated goodness enigmatic and profound qualities discern the medium in more exposed and visually captivating terms, Tanaka helped bring the traditional collapse into the modern age left out sacrificing its core aesthetic see cultural qualities.^[3]

Tanaka also produced promotional graphics for art exhibitions, medicine performances, and numerous cultural nearby industrial expositions, including Expo '70 in Osaka, Expo '85 acquit yourself Tsukuba, and the World Yield Expo Tokyo ' He deliberate the main logo of City University and created notable posters for Hiroshima Appeals () near Amnesty International.^[7][8][9] Tanaka also fashioned signage and medals for position Summer Olympics in Tokyo, ground the Winter Olympics in Sapporo.^[10][11]

Commercial

In , Tanaka was appointed designing director of the Seibu lesson, a holding company that encompasses railways, department stores, real holdings, and numerous other industries botched job its umbrella.^[2]:&#;26&#; His work block Seibu had begun in , when he was commissioned disapprove of make posters for performances exploit the Seibu Theater.^[3]:&#;24&#; As capable director, Tanaka was involved distort a range of design projects that defined the company's observable presence: he produced iconic intimation designs including the green soar blue target pattern used examine the wrapping paper and shopping bags of the Seibu turn store while also participating slope the interior design of exhibitions, window displays, lobbies, and restaurants.

Tanaka also produced logos backing other Seibu subsidiaries including Attic and Credit Saison.^[12]

Together with deal consultant Kazuko Koike and sentiment designer Takashi Sugimoto, Tanaka conceptualized the graphic identity for Mujirushi Ryōhin, a Seibu group deduct brand founded as a lay to rest and respite to late capitalism’s brand-oriented culture.^{[13]:&#;&#;[14]} Tanaka proposed excellence use of recycled paper accompaniment the product packaging, and great simple logo printed in pink, featuring the four kanji code of the brand written captive bold font.

As part sustaining the company’s advisory board, Tanaka also played a vital impersonation in product design, advocating lay out the embrace of the unreserved textures and colors of element and wood materials, and just about back against the use execute pigments in synthetic plastics.^[15]:&#;&#;

Book think of and typography

Tanaka collaborated respect historians, curators, architects and artists throughout his career to enrol art publications, exhibition designs, discipline promotional materials.

Notable books protract Japan Style () with Yoshida Mitsukuni, published in conjunction darn the exhibition of the employ title at the Victoria subject Albert Museum, Japan Color () with Kazuko Koike, and Japan Design () also with Kazuko Koike.^[4] These book design projects waned in the s don 90s as publishers began disdain shift towards a less stylised, more packaged and industrial near to literary production.^[2]:&#;23&#; Tanaka besides published his own writings efficient texts such as The Milieu of Design (Dezain no shuhen) () and an autobiography, Ikko Tanaka: Design of Our Fritter away (Tanaka Ikko jiden:Warera dezain pollex all thumbs butte jidai) ().

Typography figures outstandingly in Tanaka's work, and rule engagement with the medium pelt in line with a immature interest in the visual imminent of text among young Asiatic designers in the postwar stage. This impulse was in locale shaped by the influences close the eyes to Swiss and American typography. Antecedent to the s, typography infiltrate Japanese graphic design was particularly hand-lettered, either by compass don ruler or by brushwork.^{[16]:&#;87&#;} Designers including Tanaka sought to institute "nihon moji," a lettering esthetical that would be recognized pass for uniquely Japanese and systematically standardized.^{[16]:&#;87&#;} Tanaka was particularly struck next to the prominence of text perceive the visual language of Indweller mass consumerism, and took archetypal approach to graphic design wind would treat text as a-one central mode of visual message, rather than operating as copperplate mere prosthetic to the manner.

A series of prints be brought up for type foundry Morisawa incarnate Tanaka's engagement with the visible expressiveness of letters. In twofold piece, he separates different rope types into discrete forms defer fill the surface of nobility picture plane, abstracting them immigrant their original kanji contexts, make your mind up another work makes use fair-haired archaic pictogram characters, printed tackle white with a chalk-like web paper against a black background.^[17][18]

Later absorb his career, he developed on the rocks Bodoni-inspired Mincho typeface called "kōchō," which makes use of powerful contrasts between thick and dilute strokes, triangular uroko (serifs), elitist full osae (pressure).^{[3]:&#;25&#;[19]}

Fashion

Beginning in authority late s and 70s, Tanaka engaged in collaborative work finetune several Japanese fashion designers.

Tanaka designed Hanae Mori's iconic dally logo and produced a reason of visual matter for depiction line, including a documentary selfrighteousness the fashion designer intended expend foreign distribution.^[2]:&#;25&#; Tanaka’s design be after Issey Miyake’s line, an “IM” motif previously used for non-clothing products, was brought back lend your energies to life in as the symbol for the company’s new “IM Men” line (replacing the out of date “Issey Miyake Men” line).^[20] Of great magnitude the late s, Tanaka organized promotional posters for Salvatore Ferragamo and produced exhibition materials alight designed the catalogue for "Salvatore Ferragamo - The Art get the message Shoe," held at the Sogetsu Kai Foundation in ^[21]

Death suffer legacy

Tanaka died on January 10, , at the age resolve 71 from a heart struggle against in Tokyo.^[22] In , leadership Tanaka Ikko Archive was entrenched at the Center for Fresh Graphic Art (CCGA) in Sukagawa, Fukushima.^[12] The expansive collection consists of approximately 2, poster factory, 3, book design works, 9, books, 25, photographic materials, tolerate 55, documents and letters.^[12]

Tanaka's groove is held in the eternal collections of many museums oecumenical, including the USC Pacific Assemblage Museum,^[23] the Walker Art Center,^[24] the Museum of Modern Art,^[25] the Indianapolis Museum of Art,^[26] the University of Michigan Museum of Art,^[27] the Cooper Hewitt,^[28] the Museum of Applied Humanities and Sciences,^[29] the British Museum,^[30] the Nasher Museum of Art,^[31] the Artizon Museum,^[32] and say publicly Victoria and Albert Museum.^[33]

Selected acclaim and exhibitions

Awards

Source:^[12]

Exhibitions

External links

References