Ian Lynam Design is a Tokyo design studio operating at the intersection of graphic design, design education and design research. We specialize in identity, cultural research and typography. We make stuff for forward-thinking humans.

James Day Leavitt “Pelican Suite”

New LP design for the Maine acoustic wunderkind!

The Thing

An 88-page booklet that examines thorny aspects of design, designers, and design history.

Wordshape

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.

Select Clients

“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.”

– Chloe Eudaly

Reading Frenzy

What We Do