Takenobu Igarashi (1944–2025) was a Japanese graphic designer, product designer and sculptor known internationally for his three-dimensional letterforms and axonometric alphabet works. His visual identity work includes logos and VI plans for clients such as Suntory Hall, Meiji Milk, Oji Paper, Noritz, Tama Art University, JR Tower (Sapporo), Summit Stores, Mitsui Bank, PARCO PART3 and Calpis Food Industry.[1]
Design and History
Igarashi gained worldwide recognition in the mid-1970s for alphabet artworks using axonometric projection, a drafting technique that renders three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional plane.[1] His first experiments with axonometric lettering appeared on magazine covers and posters, and in 1979 the Swiss design magazine Graphis published the first of five individual features on his work.[1]
Among his most enduring logo commissions is the PARCO PART3 logo from 1981. Igarashi described the mark as a two-dimensional logo turned three-dimensional, and it was used on doorknobs, neon signs, shopping bags and advertisements.[2] The logo, affectionately called the “Igarashi Logo” within the company, is still used as an exterior wall sign at Kichijoji PARCO and Nagoya PARCO.[3]
Igarashi also designed the logo for JR Tower at Sapporo Station, along with the “Great Star Clock” on the building’s facade.[4] His other logo work includes the APITA shopping mall logo, which he designed along with signage and graphics, and which he noted remained in use for many years.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
Igarashi’s alphabet works, including his logo designs, were rooted in axonometric projection, a method that gives flat letterforms a sculptural, architectural quality.[1] His approach to design and sculpture, as he described it, “has always wavered between my wish to do something useful for society, and my desire to create something beautiful with my own hands.”[6]
His alphabet sculptures, exhibited at venues including the Shibuya PARCO street gallery, extended the same three-dimensional letterform language into physical objects.[7]
Typography and Design
Igarashi’s typographic work is characterized by axonometric projection, a technique he encountered after founding his design company upon returning from UCLA.[8] His alphabet artworks from the 1970s, such as the 1975 posters “Affiche H” and “Affiche N” held in the Centre Pompidou collection, demonstrate this three-dimensional letterform approach.[9][10]
In 1994, after 25 years as a designer, Igarashi moved to Los Angeles and transitioned to a career as a sculptor, working primarily in marble before exploring wood and terra-cotta.[1] He returned to Japan in 2004 and continued creating ceramic, metal and wood sculptures until his death on February 12, 2025, at age 80.[1]
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