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Ikko Tanaka
From Virtual Japan
Ikko Tanaka (田中 一光) was a Japanese graphic designer. He was born in January 1st, 1930 in Nara. He passed away on January 10th, 2002 at the age of 71.
Ikko was well known for his graphics work with traditional Japanese traditionalism combined with contemporary modern style.
Biography
Ikko graduated from the Kyoto Municipal School of Art in 1950. By 1952 he was already a lecturer at the Sankei Shimbun's School of Design. He worked for the Mazda Corporation, the Seibu Saison Group and many others over the course of his life. He also created the symbols for the Expo ’85 in Tsukuba, the World City Expo in Tokyo in 1996 and he worked for Nara Television, he worked on the New Tokyo International Airport and for a variety of other companies.
Tanaka’s claim to fame was his successful mixture of Japanese traditionalism during a time when the traditions of Japan were battling capitalism and commercialism. He did this by creating modernized works (including abstraction and modernism) of traditional culture. His most famous work was an abstracted painting of a Geisha, originally created for the Nihon Buyo Performance dance troupe.
It was not until later in his life that he started winning most of his awards, including the ADC Gold Metal in New York, the Mainichi Design Award, the Minister of Education Newcomer Prize, the Tokyo ADC Members Grand Price and the New York ADC Hall of Fame Prize, among several others. He also won the Silver International Poster Biennale in Warsaw.
In addition to all of his graphic design works, he has also published several books on design and showcasing his own work.