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Ikko Tanaka
& His Noh Posters by Xiaoyang Wang
Ikko Tanaka
& His Noh Posters by Xiaoyang Wang
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Overview
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Poster Analysis
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Background
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Biography
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Artistic Characteristics of Noh Posters
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Noh Mask Visual
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Rectangle Grids
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Void and Solid
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National Color Selection
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Conclusion
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Overview Ikko Tanaka (January 13, 1990 – January 10, 2002) was a wellknown Japanese graphic designer. He born in Nara City, and then studied art at the Kyoto City School of Fine Arts. Ikko Tanaka worked at the Sankei Shinbun, Nippon Design Center, and subsequently established his first design studio in Tokyo, the Ikko Tanaka Design Studio, in 1963. Ikko Tanaka’s work includes the design of the symbols for Expo ’85 in Tsukuba and World City Expo Tokyo ’96. He has also curated and designed exhibitions for the Victoria and Albert Musuem (London) and throughout Japan. He has designed the main logo of Osaka University. Ikko Tanaka has receive several awards, including the JAAC Special Selection, Mainichi Design Award, Minister of Education Newcomer Prize, Tokyo ADC Members’ Grand Prize, Mainichi Art Award, Purple Ribbon Medal, and the New York ADC Hall of Fame Prize. Tanaka has exhibition in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Mexico. Ikko Tanaka is a member of Japan Graphic Designers Association (JAGDA) and Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) as well as one of the most outstanding graphic designer who made great contribution to the development of graphic
Ikko Tanaka | 田中一光
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designer in Japan of WW II. He integrated modernism into the Japanese traditions, what gave his works some obvious characteristics like elegance, pureness, simplicity and a tincture of expressionism. His design language is highlyrefined, beautifully-constructed, and also has it own fresh artistic conception. His integration of both west-east culture and aesthetic conception by his unique visual language as well as his impressive form of expression set off a revolution of conventional spirit in Japan. Ikko Tanaka born in Nara City, old caption of Japan, then he completed his study in Kyoto and began his design career in Osaka. Finally he moved to Tokyo. Those cities embodying long history and opulent culture gave him countless inspirations in his design. As his design works contain the elegance of Kyoto, modernization of Osaka, historical traces of Edo. In general case, his design is the distillation of the conventional culture of Japan. Ikko Tanaka was good at using visual elements, especially its ideographical function. For example, his work Nihon Buyo which used face as main design item was constructed geometrically and rationally by several rectangles and triangles with different colors. What’s great was that, Ikko Tanaka arranged the half-circles which represent eyes to tip inward and this tiny arrangement created vivid expression of the whole face. His using of one big circle and one small circle
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to make the shape of mouth is also well-matched with those circles besides the eyes. Those geometrical figures were uniformed together to construct a harmonious, rhythmic picture. Another his work, The 28th Kanze Noh, is the heritage of Yamato-e but also used modernistic way. Taking an overall view of his works, the deepest impressions are his great imagination and refined expression. During his 40 years design career, he never stopped creating new idea. Relishing his works carefully, you will find the Japanese artistic tendencies pursuing pureness and simplicity which totally differ from the garishly-decorated Rococo style. His works own the power originated from life, spontaneous arrangement without too much decoration, tensile force from the contrast among planes, lines and different colors. Ikko Tanaka also had great achievement on book design. His works are keeping the pace with the time and also strictly-designed. His excellence was not only based on his expression methods, but also his deeper understanding of historical heritage. As a designer, we are supposed to face with social requirement. No matter trademark design, poster design or book design, they must be designed to pass the idea correctly and directly. A good designer should balance the slashing requirement from employers and critics from public as well as follow the idea by himself. Design activity is never an easy job, but Ikko Tanaka perfectly succeeded in finding the balance between these two aspects.
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Nihon Buyao poster, 1981. A tradional Japanese theatrical character is reinvented using the aesthetic forms of a later age.
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Poster Analysis Ikko Tanaka had designed plenty of high-level posters for Japanese drama, especially for Kanze Noh which was based on the Japanese traditional Noh faces, rigorous rectangle grids, artfully-arranged relationship between void and solid as well as the bright Japanese colors. He was highly-praised for his combination of nationality and internationality, tradition and modernization.
再
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Background Japan is an island country which has its unique culture and tradition. Its graphic design differs a lot to western design. In order to enter the global market, Japanese designers made great efforts on modernism design after 1950s. But they also put emphasis on tradition protection to promote their culture on the global stage. Around 1960s, Japanese graphic design was appreciated internationally. The Global Design Conference hold by Tokyo in 1960 greatly develop Japanese graphic design. And then Tokyo Olympic Games hold in 1964 also gave Japanese designers good chances to play their design talents. Ikko Tanaka was one of the best representatives among those Japanese designers.
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Biography Ikko Tanaka is widely thought of as the father of graphic design in Japan.Tanaka was born in 1930 in the old imperial city of Nara and studied art in Kyoto and graduated from Kyoto College of Art in 1950. In these two ancient capitals of Japan, Tanaka absorbed the aesthetics of traditional Japanese art. He began his professional career in Osaka in 1952, moved to Tokyo in 1957,in 1960 he became one of the founder members of the Nippon Design Center and in 1963 he wet up his own design studio in Tokyo, since when he has been active in all areas of visual communication. He contributed to various national projects such as the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964, Expo 70 in Osaka and Nara Silk Road Expo in 1988.
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In 1953, at age 23, Tanaka was commissioned to design the poster for an Argentinean orchestra concert. Following his professional discipline of not beginning work before studying a problem in depth, he immersed himself in South American music. “Its rhythms became the image. The new notes, so unfamiliar, appealed to him. They lined themselves up, neatly in rows and fell fresh, Argentinean, colorful, onto the page. Musical notes became words, words became a vision: Orquesta Tipica Canaro. The Tanaka style was born. While fully engaged in his designing in Tokyo, Tanaka also continued his work on the series of theatre posters for the Noh theatre of the Kanza School in Osaka. At this time, 1958, he created what is likely his best-known work (see image on cover), one of the Noh posters. “On a blank sheet he drew a large quadrant subdivided into squares, densely and evenly colored very much in the traditional style. Over this, allowing it to bleed out at the top, he drew the essential features of a female mask of great elegance…painted with rapid brush-strokes… The result is magical, as though the outlines of a face were slowly emerging on to a dominant colored surface.”
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Tanaka left the Nippon Design Center in 1963 to start his own business, establishing the Ikko Tanaka Design Studio. This forced Tanaka to take on work other than poster design. The following year, Tokyo hosted the 1964 Olympics, an event of extraordinary importance. It confirmed the universal acceptance of Japan’s full readmission into the international community. Tanaka designed the symbols and signage for the Tokyo Olympics as well as the medals.A year after the Tokyo Olympics, Dutch graphic designer Pieter Brattinga organized an exhibit of Tanaka’s work at the De Jong Gallery in Hilversum. Tanaka then toured Europe and the US, inviting graphic designers to take part in Persona, a new exhibition of graphic design for Tokyo in 1965. The Persona exhibition featured an international group of 16 handpicked artists, and was held in the Matsuya department store. The exhibit’s success exceeded all expectations. Tanaka began to design posters for the annual Kanze Noh theatre in Osaka in 1961. He continued to design Noh posters for more than 30 years, combining traditional Japanese aesthetics with contemporary Westernized imagery and feelings. Tanaka designed posters for the newly opened National Theatre for Traditional Performing Arts in 1966, and for Saison’s Seibu Theater in Tokyo beginning in 1973. These posters reflected Tanaka’s interest in a wide range of repertoire - from plays such as The Cherry Orchard or Equus, to modern Japanese plays, to the contemporary music concert series Music Today programmed by Toru Takemitsu, and Tatsumi Hijikata’s Butoh performances.
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The New National Theatre in Tokyo commissioned Tanaka to design posters, flyers and house programs for theatre and musical performances since its opening in 1996. Tanaka created 38 posters for this theatre over the past seven years, and the New National Theatre has graciously donated eight of their favourites for this exhibition. Tanaka collaborated on many projects with Japanese fashion designers Hanae Mori, Kenzo Takada and Issei Miyake. He was a master book designer. He was Art Director of the Saison Group, and led numerous design projects of department stores, shopping complexes and theatres. Tanaka’s work is represented in the permanent collections from the Museum of Modern Art in New York to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The Graphic Characters of Ikko Tanaka, a solo exhibition, was seen in Toronto, Halifax and Calgary in 20002001, co-organized by The Japan Design Committee and The Japan Foundation Toronto. Tanaka’s theme in this show was human nature and a global concern for humanity, expressed through "characters" - both human and written. Ikko Tanaka died of a heart attack on January 10th, 2002. The posters exhibited are a small memorial to a huge international talent.
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Artistic Characteristics of Noh Posters Tanaka began to design posters for the annual Kanze Noh theatre in Osaka in 1961. He continued to design Noh posters for more than 30 years, combining traditional Japanese aesthetics with contemporary Westernized imagery and feelings. Tanaka designed posters for the newly opened National Theatre for Traditional Performing Arts in 1966, and for Saison’s Seibu Theater in Tokyo beginning in 1973. These posters reflected Tanaka’s interest in a wide range of repertoire - from plays such as The Cherry Orchard or Equus, to modern Japanese plays, to the contemporary music concert series Music Today programmed by Toru Takemitsu, and Tatsumi Hijikata’s Butoh performances.
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Noh is a kind of drama belong to Japanese traditional culture. It originated from the Sarugaku which was a kind of spontaneous performance in Japanese temples or shrines. It was created in Muromachi Period (1333-1666 ce) and played an important role in Japanese drama history. Usually, Noh is focused on story and plot, thus it doesn’t need a lot of actors. It’s a kind of symbolic drama in which the actors all wear Noh masks. Noh masks all have names. They are carved from blocks of Japanese cypress, and painted with natural pigments on a neutral base of glue and crunched seashell. Noh masks portray female or nonhuman (divine, demonic, or animals) characters. Each Noh mask has its own characteristic, mood as well as gender and identity. Actors wearing Noh mask express the inside world of roles by dancing and suggestive body language. Noh Posters represent the most unique style of Ikko Tanaka’s works. They matched Tanaka’s design style and express Noh’s characteristics from various aspects. Analysis on these posters series will emphasize on four aspects: Noh mask visual, rectangle grids, relationship between void and solid, national color selection.
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Noh Mask Visual —Pure & Simple Most of the Noh posters designed by Ikko Tanaka we see today are using the element of Noh mask which is part of Japanese traditional culture. Noh masks naturally became the main visual part of these posters and was considered the most representative visual symbol in Tanaka’s Noh posters. What differ from other clichÊ design using Noh mask element directly is that Ikko Tanaka redesigned the Noh mask element under repeated deliberation and careful innovation which show the exclusive charm of Noh mask.
12th Kanze Noh
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For example, in The 12th Kanze Noh, Ikko Tanaka used the Noh mask from Sotoba Komachi as the main item in the center of his poster, which generated strong visual impact. Additionally, his eliminating mid-tone colors, reserving black and white made the Noh mask visual purer and more eyecatching, giving audience the feeling of rusticity and primitivism, raising the atmosphere of ancient rhyme. Another example is The 28th Kanze Noh in which the Noh mask for Yokihi was simplified completely into white figure, only remaining eyes, nares and mouth in red-orange tone. The highly-abstracted pureness and refinement generated strong visual feeling from the contrast between blank white and bright red-orange. Ikko Tanaka’s Noh mask design not only show Japanese traditional spirit, but also has strong modern consciousness. Tradition and modernism blended perfectly in his design works.
28th Kanze Noh
Noh mask, as a part of Noh drama, had been used as main item in Tanaka’s Noh poster several times. One reason for his using repeatedly is that Noh mask is an indispensable prop of Noh drama. Another reason is that the method he highlighted Noh mask was influenced by Kitagawa Utamara who is the representative of Yamato-e art.
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Rectangle Grids —Rational & Rigorous Rectangle grids or square grids are another important characteristic in Tanaka’s Noh poster. He highly emphasized on grids analysis and took grids as the basis of Noh poster design in order to give his work a feeling of rationalization and preciseness. The 5th Kanze Noh, designed by Ikko Tanaka in his 28 years old, is the representative work of this kind of modular grids application. He put highly-abstracted simplified hair, eyes and lips on the square grids which was not equal to each other. The colorful grids occupied four-fifth place of the whole poster, only leaving a white bar on the top which generate both imaging space and unobstructiveness. Rigorous grids and free Noh mask are combined perfectly through the intermediary of color. The 19th Kanze Noh, designed by Ikko Tanaka in his 42 years old, was constructed by several identical squares, which was different from The 5th Kanze Noh that combined with both squares and Noh mask. In this poster, the often-used Noh mask was replaced by orderly characters and colorful squares. The poster was divided in two part due to the arrangement of those squares. The upper part is pure and clear, while the lower part is filled with modular grids. This arrangement created a strong contrast, visual impact and the different colors in those small squares also generated strong sense of rhythm.
5th Kanze Noh
19th Kanze Noh
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8th Kanze Noh
Despite the colorful square grids, we can also find characters are also arranged follow square grids from The 12th Kanze Noh and The 8th Kanze Noh. The colorful square and square-shaped characters matched with each other wonderfully. One of the reasons why Ikko Tanaka widely used this kind of rational square grids is that he was influenced by Japanese architectures which are always constructed by many small units. Another aspect is that he was interested in modernism and internationalism developed from Bauhaus. Moreover, Japanese pursue clearness, pureness and order, and Tanaka’s grids gave audience the feelings of all above.
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Void & Solid —Artifully associated In general, Ikko Tanaka often used solid or real figures, but he was also talented in using the void space or white space. He artfully highlighted he relationship between void and solid in order to strengthen the contrast and give audience more space to imagine. The 27th Kanze Noh designed by Ikko Tanaka in his 50 years old is a good example showing the well-arranged relationship between void and solid. The main element of this poster is the Noh mask of Wakaonna in Ohara goko. The role of Wakaonna in this play always wears white hood. Ikko eliminated the hood part in his design and finally formed this triangle image. The Noh mask without hood part fused into the white background naturally and brought the feeling of endless space in this poster. 27th Kanze Noh
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Continuing working on the relationship between void and solid, Ikko Tanaka created more and more visual effects. The 30th Kanze Noh designed by Ikko Tanaka in his 53 years old first adopted reversing black and white to meet with the design topic. Hair, eyes, nose and lips are all set in white (part of void), and the face is set in black (part of solid). This setting gave audience a feeling of unexpectedness. The white features and black face generated strong contrast but was still perfectly-balanced which matched with the eastern philosophy that solid contains void, and void generates solid.
30th Kanze Noh
On the one hand, solid and void are contrast to each other, but on the other hand, they are uniformed. If there’s no void, then solid’s nothing. Thus, if there’s no solid, void will never exists. They are the two sides for one thing. So generally speaking, design on void equals to design on solid. Ikko Tanaka unified solid and void, which shown his preference for incompletion and open space. This also matches the eastern aesthetic point of view and philosophy.
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National Color Selection —Full of Passion Ikko Tanaka’s Noh posters series show a colorful gorgeous world to people. These posters which embodied highlyemphasized symbolism and decoration, strongly show the Japanese characteristics. Most of the colors Ikko Tanaka used in his Noh posters are complementary colors such as red and green, yellow and purple which can generate strong visual impact. However, he also used black and white, special color such as sliver and gold to separate the complementary color in order to make the whole pages uniformed and balanced. For example, The 8th Kanze Noh, there’s no figure from Noh drama in this poster. But when people read these colorful Chinese characters on this poster, they can still feel the gorgeous charm from the Noh arts. Ikko Tanka unified those complementary colors (blue, green, red, yellow and purple) above the dark background, generating both impact and harmoniousness.
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8th Kanze Noh
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Conclusion Most of the Noh posters designed by Ikko Tanaka adopted Noh mask elements which had been carefully designed and simplified. Moreover, he usually used square grids to modulate his pages and let them be the part of his posters. In addition, he’s the master of using void and solid to create special atmosphere of his posters. So his works embrace both international style and eastern spirit.
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Ikko Tanaka’s Noh posters inherited essence of Japanese traditional culture as well as absorb the idea from modern design. He created his own design principle and design language to show the beauty from the union of Japan and international sytle.
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亅 丶 Bibliography: Philip B. Meggs, Alston W. Purvis. Meggs' History of Graphic Design, Fifth Edition. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2012. 6 Chapter in Design, Chronicle Books, 1997. Peter Hahn. Ikko Tanaka Graphik Design aus Japan. Museum fuer Gestaltung, 2000. Ivan Chermayeff. Ikko Tanaka Graphic Master. Phaidon Press, 1997.
丿 冫