The Design Miami/ Designer of the Year Award recognizes a prominent, established designer whose advanced body of work demonstrates quality, innovation and influence- a visionary who changes the way we understand design. This year we are proud to honor Tokujin Yoshioka.
Tokujin is a master of technical innovation, developing imaginative methods of production completely unique in the field. Marrying traditional craft to cutting-edge technology, his work evinces a remarkable ability to transform mundane materials-- glass, plastics, fabrics, paper, even tissues-- into magical objects and environments.
Tokujin Yoshioka was born in Saga Prefecture, Japan, in 1967, and has wanted to be a designer since the age of 6. After graduating from Kuwasawa Design School in Tokyo in 1986, he studied with Shiro Kuramata (1987-1988) and in 1988, began a working relationship with Issey Miyake that lasted for nearly two decades.
Tokujin created window displays and accessory designs for Issey, as well as shop designs and installations for the exhibition Issey Miyake Making Things, which traveled to Paris, New York, and Tokyo. He cites this collaboration as the project that has given him the most satisfaction in his career.
In 2000, he founded Tokujin Yoshioka Design. He has since designed installations and promoted spaces for Hermes, Lexus, Apple, Peugeot, Toyota, Bang Olufsen, BMW, Audi, and Shiseido. Some of his best-known products include the ‘Tear Drop’ and ‘ToFU’ lighting fixtures for Yamagiwa; the mobile phone ‘Media Skin’ for Au Design
Project; and ‘Tokyo-Pop’, ‘Kiss Me Goodbye’, and ‘Boing’ chairs for Driade. Tokujin also increasingly works in limited-edition, with recent experimental projects for Vitra and Swarovski.
