Japanese Design History is a 16-class online course hosted by Tokyo-based designer, educator and critic Ian Lynam that examines the legacy of design in Japan.
The series features Japan’s top design and art educators, critics and curators looking at graphic design, typography, architecture and fashion.
Shot completely on location in Tokyo, the series looks at important moments in the history of Japanese design from the 1800s until today, including World War 2, the Olympics, the Bubble Economy and much more.
This online course is the companion to Lynam’s book Fracture: Japanese Graphic Design History 1975–1975.
Japanese Design History will launch in the summer of 2025!
"Ian Lynam’s scholarly and authoritative introduction to Japanese graphic design history also serves as an indispensable reference library of Japanese design masterpieces that continue to offer incredible inspiration and delight."
- W. David Marx, author of Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style.
"Ian Lynam has done a major service to every Western, non-Japanese reading graphic designer who has professed a love of Japanese design, but really did not know why. Lynam’s clear and direct text assembles a history that simply has not been available in English up to this point: he provides the historical context for close to a hundred entries on individual designers and traces the lineages of historical, typographic, and vernacular influence that enable us to look at this work with new eyes. The illustrations are generous and imaginatively chosen, and only make me wish that this book had many more pages. Ian Lynam’s Fracture is a new standard for graphic design history scholarship, and best of all, he provides a roadmap for future scholar/designers to dig even deeper into the construction of a non-Western ‘canon.’"
– Lorraine Wild, AIGA Gold Medalist
"Fracture: Japanese Graphic Design History 1875–1975 is a groundbreaking exploration of Japanese graphic design history. This work bridges gaps between global and Japanese design history, presenting Japanese graphic design in a way that demystifies its exoticism, helping readers gain a nuanced understanding of its development and influence on the broader design landscape."
- Lars Harmsen, Slanted Magazine
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