Avi – Ikko Tanaka post 2 | kingscliff graphic design history

Ikko Tanaka Was born at Nara city, Japan on 13 of January 1930. He graduated from Kyoto Municipal College of Arts and Crafts in 1950 and joined Kenefafuchi Spinning Mills as a textile designer. In 1952, he started his career as a graphic designer with Sankei Press and became an Art Director at Nippon Design Center. He established his own studio, Tanaka Design Studio in 1963.

His style of marrying a Japanese tradition graphic and international style became an icon of Tanaka’s work. The famous poster Nihon Buyo for UCLA Asian Performing arts Institute 1981 is unforgettable. The sense of Japanese color and the simplicity of the geometric and typography treatment made this logo and poster usable for various purposes.

He designed, among other things, posters, logos, packaging and annual reports. Among his wide ranging work, his designs for the symbols for the Expo ’85 in Tsukuba and the World City Expo Tokyo ’96 garnered much attention. He died in 2002 of a heart attack at the age of 71.