John H. Takamura Jr. Assistant Professor Industrial Design Member of IDSA Office: AED 284 Phone: 480.965.7171 John.takamura@asu.edu

Academic Credentials

Master’s (MSD)	Arizona State University
Bachelor’s (BA)	UCLA

Research Interests

Transdisciplinary Industrial Design, Branding, Experience Design, Design Management, Brand Management

Bio Curriculum Vitae

Fluent in both Japanese and English, John Takamura has been instrumental in implementing brand and product development programs in both Asia and North America. John joined Fitch in 1997 to establish and manage the Fitch office in Osaka, Japan.  Serving as Vice President of the Osaka office, John was involved as the Design Director, Project Manager, and Account Manager for numerous Japanese companies in the electronics, consumer goods, and service industries. John returned to the U.S in 2001 as Vice President and Director of Client Services for product design at the Fitch San Francisco office. John was responsible for the development and management of all Japanese accounts and some key account within the U.S. After leaving Fitch Inc. John was hired to lead an interdisciplinary design team at X Product Development a division of Xyron Inc. in Scottsdale Arizona.  His responsibilities involved the management of the entire creative team in both industrial design and graphic design.

Links to research and faculty pages

Sponsored and Applied Research  

DES Brand Revitalization
The Arizona Department of Economic Security (http://www.azdes.gov/ASPNew/default.asp ) otherwise known as the DES is made up of several departments each with separate and related areas of service, expertise and knowledge. The DES looks toward the College of Design at ASU for inspiration and benchmarking in fostering internal initiatives towards brand revitalization and optimum facilities design with the hopes of fostering departmental integration and employee retention.

The objective of this project will be to research DES customers and employees regarding the DES brand and its expression through facilities design. The ultimate goal of this project will be to revitalize the DES brand by providing a well managed blend of research and design utilizing a transdisciplinary team made up of Visual Communication, Industrial, and Interior design students and graduate student researchers. The final deliverable for the project will be a revitalized DES brand identity and a branded facilities lobby design concept.