Ikko Tanaka was born in 1930 in Nara City. He graduated from the Kyoto School of Fine Arts in 1950 and worked for several companies, including the Osaka Economic Newspaper, before co-founding Nippon Design Center, Inc. In 1963, he established his own firm, the Ikko Tanaka Design Office.
Tanaka’s awards include a silver medal from the Warsaw International Poster Biennial, the Mainichi Design Award, the New York ADC Award, the Tokyo ADC Membership Award, the Mainichi Art Award, and the Japan Cultural Design Grand Prix.