Autumn 2023
The quiet confidence of Tomoko Miho
The influence of three continents underpins the meticulous work of this underrated Japanese-American graphic designer. By Elizabeth Resnick [EXTRACT]
Tomoko Miho was arguably one of the most underappreciated graphic designers of the twentieth century. Her modest and reserved demeanour belied a fierce inner determination to produce distinctively content-driven work that employed her meticulous skill and exquisite clarity of vision. Miho’s methodology was a complex confluence of European Modernism, Japanese sensibility and American business acumen that she applied to corporate communications, architectural signage, and environmental graphics. Her story is a legacy to the next generation of designers …
Three of seven Herman Miller product brochures for tables (3), light seating (4) and the CSS (5), packed in a cardboard slipcase, 1962. Top. Tomoko J. Miho, formal college graduation portrait, 1956, taken when she was 24.
Elizabeth Resnick, design educator, curator, writer, Massachusetts, US
Read the full version in Eye no. 105 vol. 27, 2023
Eye is the world’s most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about graphic design and visual culture. It is available from all good design bookshops and online at the Eye shop, where you can buy subscriptions and single issues.