JAPANESE MODERN

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JAPANESE Modern



Contents Introduction ............................................ 2 History .................................................... 2 Yusaku Kamekura .................................. 4

Ikko Tanaka ........................................ 8 Takenobu Igarashi .................................. 10 Legacy ................................................... 13 Notes ..................................................... 14


Introduction

Through active intuition, the human being shapes and transforms the world. In turn, he is shaped and transformed by it. Such thinking is the source of the Japanese mind. Many historical examples demonstrate the amazing ability of Japan to assimilate and integrate a variety of external influences. These influences in contact with the Japanese culture became innovative and unique Japanese cultural products. Some of the basic characteristics of the Japanese movement are central placement of forms, symmetrical composition, the use of geometry, minimal use of photography, simplicity, hand-lettered type, good craftsmanship, lines, and harmonious color palettes.

History

After World War II, Japan had a fast industrial and cultural expansion. Graphic design evolved into a profession that served the necessities of industrial institutions. In the graphic design field, Japan shows the process of transition they went through during that period. The Japanese movement was influenced by woodblock prints together with Bauhaus, Constructivism, the International Typographic Style, Futurism, Dada, and Pop Art. Western influences were incorporated with Japan’s traditional art. For instance, the monsho, or crests, were motifs embracing a wide range of objects such as plants, animals, natural phenomena or geometric shapes. The monsho were used to identify a family and its possessions—much like a crest. The monsho inspired several Japanese designers’ approach to trademark design. In addition, The Olympic Games of 1964 provided an opportunity for Japan’s graphic designers Yusaku Kamekura worked professionally for the first time in Japan’s history with a photographer in order to create three of his four Olympic posters. In addition, Masaru Katzumie and some young Japanese graphic designers worked together to create pictograms that represented and communicated each of the Olympic sports. Kamekura and Katzumie gained international recognition. From that year onward, the Japan’s graphic design movement became well known not only in Japan, but also outside Japan. Some of the major exponents of the Japanese Movement discussed here are Yusaku Kamekura, Ikko Tanaka and Takenobu Igarashi.

1 Yusaku Kamekura, Tokyo Olympics logo and poster, 1964. 2 Ikko Tanaka, poster for Senie Ikenobo’s flower arrangement,1974. 3 Takenobu Igarashi, Kanagawa Art Festival Poster, 1984. 4 Nikon Mikron Binoculars, 1955.


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Yusaku Kamekura (龜倉雄策) is considered to be the father of Japanese graphic design. He was born in 1915 in Niigata, Japan. He discovered his passion for graphic design by the time he was in junior high school. After finishing high school he went to the New Architecture and Industrial Arts School, which was characterized as a Japanese version of the Bauhaus. In 1938, Kamekura began working for Yonosuke Natori in the multicultural magazine called NIPPON. In 1960, Kamekura founded the Nippon Design Center with the aim of developing the Japanese industry with well-design and inventive advertising. He also founded the Japanese Advertising Artists’ Club. “From 1989 until 1993, he further expanded the world of Japanese designers with his high quality bilingual publication, Creation.”1 Kamekura is important in Japanese design because he was the first graphic designer to use photographs in his work, he marked a change in Japan’s design, and was the first Japanese graphic designer to be known outside Japan because of his logo and posters for the Olympic Games of 1964. In 1997, Kamekura died and two years later, he was honored by JAGDA with a design award under his name. The Yusaku Kamekura Design Award is offered to Japanese or international designers. As Kamekura always said “Whether old or new, good is good.”2 With this saying, Kamekura meant that does not matter whether you are new or old in the field, when you have the potential and talent to be a good designer, everyone can see it. Kamekura designed several logos, packages, page layouts and more, but his most outstanding designs were his posters. Some of his most memorable posters are EXPO ’70, 18th Olympic Games, and Hiroshima Appeals.

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5 Yusaku Kamekura, poster of the Osaka World Exposition, 1970

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6 Yusaku Kamekura (designer) and Osamu Hayasaki (photographer), Tokyo Olympics poster, 1964.

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7 Yusaku Kamekura, Hiroshima Appeals, 1983.

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Ikko Tanaka (田中一光) is one of the dominant influences in the Japanese design. He was born in Nara, Japan in 1930. He studied in the Kyoto City College of Fine Arts in 1950. Tanaka worked for the Sankei newspaper in Osaka as a graphic designer from 1952 to 1958. In 1960, he helped found the Nippon Design Center. After that, he established Tanaka Design Studio in Tokyo in 1963. He was influence by the Bauhaus that provided a “foundation for the logical, mathematical structure of his work.”3 Tanaka’s work is characterized by the combination of traditional Japanese with western style. Tanaka designed, among other things, posters, logos, packages, and books. One of Tanaka’s more famous works is the poster of Nihon Buyo. He created it in 1981 for the Asian Performing Arts Institute. In addition, Tanaka was “particularly devoted to typography, insisting that the real contest begins after the illustration or motif has been chosen.”4 He created a typeface called Kocho, inspired8by8Bodoni.8Tanaka8was8a8recognized graphic designer. He died in 2002, but his works still not only influence Japanese modern graphic designers, but also designers around the world.

8 Ikko Tanaka, Nihon Buyo poster, 1981 9 Ikko Tanaka, Hanae Mori poster, 1978. 10 Ikko Tanaka, Hiroshima Appeals poster, 1988. 11 Ikko Tanaka, Japanese Performance poster, 1973.

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Takenobu8Igarashi8(五十嵐威暢)8was8born8in Hokkaido, Japan in 1944. Igarashi studied at Tama University of Fine Arts in Tokyo and he later went to graduated school at the University of California, Los Angeles. When Igarashi returned to Japan, he established his own design office in 1970 and “By 1976 Igarashi’s experiments with alphabets drawn on isometric grids were attracting clients and international recognition.”5 He was interested in three dimensional letters. He called these letters, architectural alphabets. He created three-dimensional letters for calendars, posters,8and8sculptures.8Igarashi’s8interest8for three-dimensional letters led him to created from 1984 to 1991 a series of calendar posters. Igarashi says, “The calendar was a project designing 622 different numerals based on a different idea for each month of the year.”6 In the end he created “4356 variations of axonometric three-dimensional numerals based on 84 different ideas.”7 The7777creation of different designs and styles of numbers gave him numerous awards and some of Igarashi’s works are part of permanent collections in various museums around the world.

12 & 13 Takenobu Igarashi, MoMA Poster Calendar,1984-1991.

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Legacy

The Japanese Movement is important because of the mix of two different styles, western and eastern styles, which created immense innovation on the field of graphic design during that time. Also, it is said that Kamekura was the first Japanese graphic designer to work with a photographer in the creation of posters, Japanese graphic designers still use photographs for posters and other elements. In addition, Japanese graphic designers began to use the traditional monsho and implemented these in the trademarks of modern industries. In Japan, the use of monsho or crest is still used in old and modern industries. In the Japanese Movement, we can see how Japanese designers mixed Western style with traditional Japanese style. By mixing these two styles, Japanese graphic designers established a new cultural creation in their country.

14 Ikko Tanaka, National Cultural Festival poster, 1986. 15 Ikko Tanaka, Art de Vivre, 2000. 16 Ikko Tanaka, Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition poster, 1972. 17 Yusaku Kamekura, Design Expo ’89 Nagoya, Japan, 1987.


Notes 1. Maggie Kinser Saiki, 12 Japanese Masters (New York: Graphics, 2002), 19. 2. Ibid., 23. 3. Richard S. Thornton, The Graphic Spirit of Japan (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1991), 108. 4. Maggie Kinser Saiki, 12 Japanese Masters (New York: Graphics, 2002), 95. 5. Philip B. Meggs and Alston W. Purvis, Meggs’ History of Graphic Design (New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2006), 453. 6. Takenobu Igarashi, “MoMA Poster Calendar”, Takenobu Igarashi, last modified 2014, http://www.takenobuigarashi.jp/en/artwork/38/. 7. Ibid.

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Printed on EPSON Premium Presentation Paper Matte Type used is Helvetica regular 8/10 and Garamond regular size 10 Written, designed, printed and assambled by Carolina Meraz April, 2014 500 W University Ave El Paso, TX 79902



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