Designers in Seoul
Designers in Tokyo
Designers in Taipei
Column Four

Design Research
Ian Lynam works at the intersection of graphic design, design education and design research.
He is faculty at Temple University Japan, as well as at Vermont College of Fine Arts in the MFA in Graphic Design Program. He operates the Tokyo design studio Ian Lynam Design, working across identity, typography, and design research.
Ian writes for IDEA (JP), Modes of Criticism (PT/UK), Slanted (DE) and has published a number of books about design.
DOTA2 typeface design, Google Tokyo interior graphics, Nestle typeface design, Ovice corporate identity, Impossibility of Silence: Writing for Designers, Artists & Photographers book, Icelandic corporate identity
STA100, D&AD, Asia Pacific Design Awards, VH1 HipHop Honors, Mead Show

While the most known and celebrated inspirations from the Polish graphic design history is the 1950-80s Polish School of Posters, there is also a less known history of great logo design and typography, which we only started discovering recently. Nowadays Poland has amazing and internationally renowned designers in different fields - illustration, branding, typography and more. The community of professionals - individual designers and studios - is strong and friendly, we learn from each other and give each other advice, but also consciously build market standards together.

Polish design culture is deeply rooted in a rich tradition of poster art, known as the "Polish School of Poster Art," a movement that combined bold graphics and a strong sense of symbolism to convey complex messages with minimal resources. Contemporary Polish design often draws inspiration from this heritage, including "designing by hand", while blending it with a modern, digital aesthetic.

Many people think we Germans are perfect. What nonsense!

In Poland after World War II, many designers were active in creating graphic symbols. Due to specific political conditions, these projects could be much more free and artistic than in the West. Besides the Polish poster, it is the graphic symbol that is particularly noteworthy when it comes to design in Poland.