Shin Tanaka. Graphic Illustrator and Toy designer.

One of the biggest cultural export to come out from Japan is origami. It is an art of folding paper and turns it into an object. It is a form of visual / sculptural representation that is defined primarily by the folding of paper. Shin Tanaka is a graphic designer and an excelent paper toy designer from Japan. He have worked with Adidas, Onitstuka tiger UK, Nike, UNKL (among others) and have participated in more then 5 exibitions. Shin creations are delightfully adorable while represent an urban outlook of Japanese culture that is both unique and intriguing. Thanks to Shin for spending some of his time to answer these questions. (Originally published on 2nd Jult 2007)

Q. Who are your favourite designers?
A. My favourite designers are Michael lau, KOZIK, TOUMA, devilrobots, Mad barbarians and more.
Moreover I love graffiti works on the street.

Q. Where do you get your inspiration when designing your toys?
A. I get my inspiration from HIPHOP music. When I think a new idea and design, I always listen HIPHOP music with megavolume. Break beats and rap give me fresh inspirations.

Q. Do you design toys full time or just as a hobby?
A. Just a hobby, however design toy is the only one life for me.

Q. Apart from toys and graphic design, what are the things you do to relax?
A. Listning music, drive or go cycling to somewhere.

Q. Have you done any exhibition?
A. Aug. 2005 - Paper sneakers in NIKE Design Library (Portland, Oregon, US)
Oct. 2005 - Paper sneaker “BASQUIAT” (RBK/dpmih)
Feb. 2006 - T-BOY SHOW in Portland, Oregon
Feb. 2006 - Paper sneaker “Ventilator” (REEBOK) for NY FASHION WEEK
Feb. 2006 - Toy customize for nanospore in NYC
Mar. 2006 - Adicolor customize for Adidas Taiwan
Apr. 2006 - Compound concoction in Guestroom gallery
Jul. 2006 - Toy custom for SUG SHOW (UNKLBRANDS)
Aug. 2006 - The WALLMAN custom show in Hawaii
Sep. 2006 - PAPER TOY EXHIBITION: KAMI ZOO in Berlin
Mar. 2007 - INKTHIS 2 in UK

Q. Which one is your favourite figure among all your toys?
A. T-BOY Jr. is my favorite one.
T-BOY series is my origin and representative design.

Q. What is your favourite clothing brand?
A. BBC, ICE CREAM

Q. Japanese have a unique culture that is different from other country. Don’t you agree? Do you think Japanese are much cooler then other people, let say, American?
A. Yes, I agree with it. Japanese have very sensitive and inventive sensitivity based on both Japanese traditional cultures and recent advanced cultures.
However I think each country have each unique culture, the difference makes the world more interesting.

Q. Do you have any offer from big toy company to produce your toy figure?
A. Yes, now I’m working with a few toy company to make vinyl toy.
My field is not only paper toy but also other materials in near future.

Q. Have you done any colaboration with other artist or company? Who do you want to work with in the future?
A. I have worked with Adidas, Onitstuka tiger UK, UNKL, play imaginative, freshness mag, slamxhype, hypebeast(com raid), garbege, YOK, REACH, ROUGH STATUS, DOKTOR A, KOA, SKWAK, SNEAKER PIMPS, and much more….

I can’t write all names because there are over 200 artists and companies, so please check my website: http://shin.co.nr

For now, my partners are abroad artists and companies, the in the future, I want to work with Japanese artists and brands more. such as : TOUMA, devilrobot, Mad barbarians etc….
Also I wanna work with more graffiti artists from all over the world! (I love graffiti!!!)

Website: http://shin.co.nr

Similar Posts:

• Camelia Dobrin. Illustrator.
• Toni Infante. Illustrator and comic artist.
• Andreas Krapf. Illustrator & graphic designer.
• Gaston Caba. Graphic designer.
• Emik Kozak. Designer.

Popularity: 12% [?]