
The Impossibility of Silence
The Impossibility of Silence is a 200+ page paperback for creative folks interested in approaching writing about their vocation and culture.
The Impossibility of Silence is a 200+ page paperback for creative folks interested in approaching writing about their vocation and culture.
Branding and identity for AXES Partners, a multidisciplinary firm specializing in project management services throughout all of Japan.
The Future of Tradition: brand-building for a Japanese footwear startup
“Ian’s a sharpshooter. We had some identity issues that needed a pro and he took to heart our long-winded descriptions of all things we were trying to evoke. He returned with a thorough identity presentation that struck an exquisite balance of all that things that swirled around in our heads. It made us look in the mirror and think, “Yeah, thats who we are!”
Wordshape is our hybrid type foundry, publishing entity, distributor of the Japanese graphic design magazine IDEA /アイデア and related Japanese graphic design books, and software company.
A brand new 52-page booklet by Ian Lynam that examines notions of authenticity via design, consumption, and history.
“Ian has the design skills I wish I had. His consistently creative designs come from an informed mind and relentless work ethic. I love working with him.”
We co-edited and co-curated Slanted #35, an issue wholly devoted to LA.
The debut print journal from Néojaponisme — 128 pages of new content about retro Tokyo past and present.
Corporate identity, signage, and interior design for TUJ in Sangenjaya.
“Ian instantly captivated the room when he came to speak with my design students at Portland State University. He was all of the elements that one would want in a presenter: thoughtful, funny, relevant, organized, passionate, articulate and relatable. Most of all, the entire room walked away with new knowledge. Score! PSU loves Ian!”
A new zine about how to approach design critique from cultural and critical perspectives.
Collateral design for VCFA's MFA in Graphic Design Program
“Ian Lynam likes thinking about design as much as making it. Luckily for us, he also likes writing about it that much too. The payoff: he is amazing at all three.”
Branding, positioning, marketing & identity initiatives for Vermont College of Fine Arts
A new 400-page book of design theory edited by Ian Lynam.
“Ian Lynam’s fine simplicity and appreciation for white space draws the eye and the heart where it needs to go. His design work is striking because it avoids the most common trap of being gaudy or needing attention. It simply does what it sets out to do.”
An 88-page booklet that examines thorny aspects of design, designers, and design history.
A qualitative design research project commissioned by Adobe.
A new 112-page booklet about overcoming “Creative Constipation™.”
“Ian instantly captivated the room when he came to speak with my design students at Portland State University. He was all of the elements that one would want in a presenter: thoughtful, funny, relevant, organized, passionate, articulate and relatable. Most of all, the entire room walked away with new knowledge. Score! PSU loves Ian!”
Ian Lynam is faculty at Temple University’s NASAD-accredited Japan Campus.
We have designed a wide range of custom typefaces for assorted companies—from display faces to text families.
We both edited and are featured in Slanted Magazine's latest issue devoted to graphic design in Tokyo.
“In all our collaborations, Ian has always brought a fresh perspective and boundless energy to the project. His encyclopedic knowledge of visual culture, ability to quickly work through multiple concepts, and deep Rolodex of talented friends, also give us the confidence to move beyond our first idea, towards a final product that will surprise and delight our clients.”
We designed the identity for Canard, Portland's latest culinary phenomenon.
Biwa is a new straight-sided family of formally nuanced grotesk typefaces for text typesetting and display work for both print and screen.
“Ian Lynam likes thinking about design as much as making it. Luckily for us, he also likes writing about it that much too. The payoff: he is amazing at all three.”
A handbook of dubious exercises, tips, and rants about becoming a designer who teaches... (But just as much a handbook for designers who happen to be being taught.)
A new series of installations spanning sound, found objects, narrative, and type design.
99+1 is a new book and responsive website for the Japanese National Tourism Organization.
“Ian instantly captivated the room when he came to speak with my design students at Portland State University. He was all of the elements that one would want in a presenter: thoughtful, funny, relevant, organized, passionate, articulate and relatable. Most of all, the entire room walked away with new knowledge. Score! PSU loves Ian!”
We worked to define the identity of craft sake brand Kurokura.
Start Somewhere: A Handbook of Dubious Exercises, Tips and Rants About Becoming a Designer Who Writes is a zine to help designers grapple with generating their own content.
We designed the branding, signage and interior design for Temple University Japan's main building Azabu Hall.
“As an artist, publisher, writer and designer, Ian seems to have had more than nine lives, and frankly it’s hard to keep up! He doesn’t just bring technical skills, but a depth of cultural understanding from the ground up — low, high, pop, fringe — that is invaluable to his varied clients. While other designers skim the shiny surface of current trends, Ian drills down with a solid understanding of history and meaning of the motifs, letter forms, and images he utilizes.”
Curation, lecture, writing and editing for the legendary Czech series of exhibitions.
Interior graphics for software innovator Pivotal's Tokyo offices.
An exhibition of writing, installation and sound in Tokyo.
“Ian instantly captivated the room when he came to speak with my design students at Portland State University. He was all of the elements that one would want in a presenter: thoughtful, funny, relevant, organized, passionate, articulate and relatable. Most of all, the entire room walked away with new knowledge. Score! PSU loves Ian!”
Editorial direction and book design for Portland artist Bwana Spoons' first monograph.
A hybrid exhibition and essay-as-website exploring the role of graphic designers and design criticism in the world market economy.
Identity for Space Academy, an event space in Christchurch, New Zealand.
“Ian is an empire, a fanfare, a circus.
While most designers are accomplished at walking and chewing gum—the equivalent in graphic design terms of InDesign mastery while thinking conceptually—Ian does backflips of writing and publishing, walks the tightrope of research, and performs the acrobatics of teaching, all while stilt-walking an expansive terrain of graphic design practice… and all this while adeptly juggling platters of diverse knowledge that include history, theory, philosophy, humanities, and the gamut of pop culture.
But most of all Ian is accomplished at generously sharing himself and his many gifts with his whole heart. And this is why, simply, we love him.”
Ian Lynam regularly writes, designs, and edits features for IDEA / アイデア, Japan's oldest and most innovative graphic design magazine.
Writing for Slanted, the inimitable German magazine on typography and visual culture.
Type design for the North American supermarket chain.
“Ian Lynam likes thinking about design as much as making it. Luckily for us, he also likes writing about it that much too. The payoff: he is amazing at all three.”
Holistic identity design for a public arts initiative.
Ian went and wrote a book about graphic design. 78,209 words about it, but who's counting? It has a die-cut paper slipcover, a fabric paper-backed inner slipcover, and split fountain printing.
We designed the interior graphic design scheme for Google's Tokyo offices, as well as all wayfinding and signage.
“In all our collaborations, Ian has always brought a fresh perspective and boundless energy to the project. His encyclopedic knowledge of visual culture, ability to quickly work through multiple concepts, and deep Rolodex of talented friends, also give us the confidence to move beyond our first idea, towards a final product that will surprise and delight our clients.”
A custom bilingual Japanese/English website highlighting Typekit's Asian webfont support.
Identity and environmental design for a Basque restaurant in the Daikanyama district of Tokyo.
“Ian has the design skills I wish I had. His consistently creative designs come from an informed mind and relentless work ethic. I love working with him.”
Ian Lynam is Faculty and former Co-Chair of the MFA in Graphic Design Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Design and typography for Northwest Passage, a book and CD about independent music from Portland, Oregon.
Type Sketcher is a trio of type design sketchbooks with modular grids for designing letterforms.
“Lynam is a bitingly humorous writer – gifted with the intuition to give stories depth. This is no accident as he writes from experience – a reading pleasure!”
Identity and art direction for San Francisco swimwear company.
Product line book and DVD for Nike’s Asia Pacific region.
“As an artist, publisher, writer and designer, Ian seems to have had more than nine lives, and frankly it’s hard to keep up! He doesn’t just bring technical skills, but a depth of cultural understanding from the ground up — low, high, pop, fringe — that is invaluable to his varied clients. While other designers skim the shiny surface of current trends, Ian drills down with a solid understanding of history and meaning of the motifs, letter forms, and images he utilizes.”
Modular 3D type design for the board game Konexi.
We created the branding and design consulting for the latest wing of the Nagasaki amusement park.
“Working with Ian Lynam offers unparalleled creativity and client focus. Whether designing for a global search company or a university garden institution, Ian knows how to uncover clients’ often unstated needs, and then design something unique and compelling. Ian is a maker, an educator, and an inspiring person to work with.”
We created the interior graphic design scheme for YouTube's Tokyo offices and creative studio.
We created the identity for Topsy, the Apple-acquired search engine for Twitter.
Identity for the Wim Wenders and Kanji Nakajima film.
“Ian Lynam is a visionary designer, forcing us to challenge our assumptions about what design is, and what it can do. He constantly invites us to imagine new modes of inquiry, and makes a case for design as a fundamental way of knowing, and communicating, the world around us.”
A set of 4 collaborative posters created with fellow designer Ed Fella.
We designed the identity for the iconic global design event series.
We created the identity and advertising campaign for NASA and The Washington County Museum‘s 2012/2013 exhibition Hubble Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe.
“Ian’s a sharpshooter. We had some identity issues that needed a pro and he took to heart our long-winded descriptions of all things we were trying to evoke. He returned with a thorough identity presentation that struck an exquisite balance of all that things that swirled around in our heads. It made us look in the mirror and think, “Yeah, thats who we are!”
Identities for two of Portland, Oregon's iconic restaurants.
An exhibition of international expressive typography curated by Ian Lynam.
Assisting the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art define their vision for curating a collection of Japanese Graphic Design.
“Eschewing the shortsighted practical nature of much graphic design-oriented writing, Lynam focuses on demythologizing contemporary graphic design – opening up a new horizon of discourse both East and West.”
Our plug-in for Adobe Illustrator which adds 13 new tools to Illustrator's tool palette.
A set of ten tour guides of the Kanto region, each by a prominent foreign member of the Tokyo community for Shibaura House.
Identity design for the San Francisco bag and accessory company Joshu + Vela.
“Lynam is a bitingly humorous writer – gifted with the intuition to give stories depth. This is no accident as he writes from experience – a reading pleasure!”
A 96-page feature about CalArts' Graphic Design Department for IDEA.
Identity is our ethos―the fundamental character of a culture, individual, business or community.
We created a decorative, highly tactile print identity for the amazing Portland, Oregon photographer Bitna Chung.
“Ever find yourself drawn to an image or sucked into an design article based purely on the form or content, then finding out later- after you go back to read the credit line- that a friend actually busted it out? That’s Ian.”
Identity for the director behind the opening sequence for the TV show True Blood.
“Ian has the design skills I wish I had. His consistently creative designs come from an informed mind and relentless work ethic. I love working with him.”
Design and typography for the Portland Documentary and eXperimental Film Festival (PDX Film Fest). Portland, Oregon.