Ian Lynam
Associate Professor, Art
Fracture: Japanese Graphic Design 1875-1975 by
The need-to-know names of Japanese graphic design from the late 19th century to the pre-digital decade, presented alongside more than 500 color images of vintage ephemera With Fracture, author Ian Lynam presents a survey of Japanese design across a century as told through the biographies of its most influential creators. The chronology begins less than two decades after Japan's opening to the West, ending a 200-year isolationist policy. Lynam features the stories of more than 90 pacesetters shaping the country's modern aesthetic. We meet Hani Motoko, considered Japan's first female journalist, who commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build the "Hall for Tomorrow" schoolhouse in Toshima City, Tokyo. Amid the national propaganda of the interwar period, a vision of the modern Japanese woman emerges in the advertisements of Hisui Sugiura and Tada Hokuu. The 1964 Olympics marked a watershed moment for Japanese design on the international stage, with Yusaku Kamehura's "red circle" logo and the design of pictograms used in the competition for the first time. Finally, the survey concludes with the rise of women's liberation or ribu, and the state of graphic design at the threshold of the digital age. Illustrated with children's book pages, travel posters, maps, product advertisements, erotic magazine covers and more, Fracture functions as a visual treasure trove of Japanese ephemera while also introducing readers to the creative minds behind these formative designs. Ian Lynam (born 1972) holds an MFA in graphic design from California Institute of the Arts. He is a faculty member at Temple University Japan Campus as well as at Vermont College of Fine Arts. His previous books on design include War with Myself, The Failed Painter and The Impossibility of Silence.
War with Myself by
A wide-ranging collection of essays spanning design, decolonization and history Hot on the heels of his books The Impossibility of Silence and The Failed Painter, designer, writer and teacher Ian Lynam's latest body of work is an urgent and impassioned examination of the contemporary condition. War with Myself is a wide-ranging collection of essays spanning design, authenticity, empire, decolonization and history. Originally hailing from New York, Ian Lynam holds a BS in graphic design from Portland State University and an MFA in graphic design from CalArts. He is faculty and former cochair at Vermont College of Fine Arts in the MFA Graphic Design program. Lynam is a cofounder of the critical cultural online journal Néojaponisme and the associated print journal NJP. He is a Mead Show winner and a two-time winner of both the STA 100 and the Asian Pacific Design Awards.
The Failed Painter by
"Ian Lynam is the Hunter S. Thompson of design writing." -Sereina Rothenberger A personal book about material anxiety in creative work, The Failed Painter discusses singular and multiple production processes, perfectibility and imperfectability in times of virtual surface, and hunger for authenticity. Writing in the persona of the titular "failed painter," Ian Lynam, author of The Impossibility of Silence: Writing for Designers, Artists & Photographers (2021), directly addresses design practitioners by calling them to investigate how the material components of their practice are sourced, delving into everything from the labor conditions of manufacturers to the intricate processes of production and distribution. Lynam grounds his investigation in the day-to-day with a collection of essays on design and art spanning culture, race, nation and sheer vandalism. This highly curated yet various assortment of approachable writing on aesthetics touches on space exploration, mercenaries, puberty, instant nostalgia, precarious labor and, of course, zombies.
The Impossibility of Silence: Writing for Designers, Artists and Photographers by
How to write on your art: a guidebook for artists, designers and photographers Despite the seemingly common expectation that art should be able to speak for itself, creators are often asked to explain the process behind their work, their experiences in their vocation, and, perhaps most dauntingly, the meaning conveyed by any particular piece. Drawing upon his own unique career trajectory across multiple fields as a writer, designer and teacher, Tokyo-based artist Ian Lynam offers readers a variety of approaches to writing about creative fields. Called "the Hunter S. Thompson of design writing," Lynam uses his industry knowledge and sharp sense of humor to convey his philosophy on writing specifically in a professional creative setting. This volume is not so much a straightforward how-to guide on how to write an artist's statement as it is an honest meditation on how difficult--and how important--it is for creators to have the facilities to articulate the ethos behind their own work. Lynam encourages readers to think of the blank page as another sort of canvas, a space of potential, a landscape on which an artist may explore themselves and their work farther than they thought possible. Lynam provides both inspirational text as a jumping-off point for readers as well as concrete techniques in terms of craft.
Total armageddon : a Slanted reader on design by
An introduction to the end / Ian Lynam
Parting It Out by
24 essays on graphic design and typography by Tokyo-based graphic designer, design educator and critic Ian Lynam
Parallel Strokes by
Parallel Strokes is a collection of interviews with twenty-plus contemporary typeface designers, graffiti writers, and lettering artists around the world. The book is introduced with a comprehensive essay charting the history of graffiti, its relation to type design, and how the two practices relate in the wider context of lettering.Interviews within include conversations with pan-European type design collecitve Underware, Japanese type designer Akira Kobayashi, American graffiti writer and fine artist Barry McGee/Twist, German graffiti writers Daim and Seak, American lettering artist, graphic designer and design eductor Ed Fella, among others. Parallel Strokes is an enquiry into the history, context, and development of lettering today, both culturally approved and illicit.
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