Osamu Tezuka (手 塚 治 虫) (1928 – 1989), who was revered as the “god of manga and anime,” watched Bambi eight times until he had memorised every frame and dreamed of equaling or surpassing Disney realism his animation production.
Early Life and Education
Osamu Tezuka’s journey into the world of manga began during his childhood when he developed a passion for drawing. Born on November 3, 1928, in Toyonaka, Osaka, he nurtured his artistic talents. In 1945, Tezuka entered Osaka University, where he graduated with a medical degree, despite his growing interest in manga.
Pioneering Works in Manga
In 1946, Tezuka published his first manga work, “Ma-chan’s Diary,” in a children’s newspaper. This early success propelled him, establishing his distinct artistic style and captivating narratives. Tezuka’s talent drew the attention of publishers, launching his prolific career as both a manga artist and animator.
Revolutionary Sci-Fi and Animated Series
One of Tezuka’s most iconic creations, “Astro Boy,” debuted in 1951 and revolutionized the genre of sci-fi manga. This dynamic series captivated readers with its imaginative illustrations and engaging narratives, pushing the boundaries of storytelling and social commentary.
The Rise of Black Jack
Among Tezuka’s notable works, “Black Jack” is a testament to his narrative prowess and character design. The manga series follows the enigmatic and brilliant surgeon Black Jack as he navigates the complexities of the medical world. With its captivating storylines and morally ambiguous protagonist, “Black Jack” became a cornerstone of Tezuka’s repertoire, receiving international acclaim and solidifying his legacy as a master storyteller.
Ventures into Animation
Tezuka’s influence extended beyond the pages of manga as he ventured into animation. In 1963, “Astro Boy” became the first-ever Japanese animated series, bringing his characters to life on the small screen. This groundbreaking achievement further solidified Tezuka’s status as a visionary creator, showcasing the potential of manga’s adaptation into other mediums.
Innovations in Color Animated Manga
In the late 1960s, Tezuka pioneered the concept of “colour animated manga” with his series “Manga Shonen.” By utilizing innovative colour techniques, Tezuka aimed to enhance the visual experience for readers, immersing them further in the vibrant worlds he created.
Enduring Legacy
Osamu Tezuka’s contributions have influenced subsequent generations of manga artists and animators worldwide. His innovative storytelling, dynamic artwork, and memorable characters continue to captivate audiences, transcending time and cultural boundaries. Tezuka’s imagination has left an indelible mark on the world of comics and animation, forever shaping the landscape of popular culture.
Sources
Schodt, F. L. (2012). Dreamland Japan: Writings on modern manga. Stone Bridge. Retrieved from https://amzn.to/3nxT0wm.
Japanese Design & Culture
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The Evolution of Sony: A Design Perspective
Founded in 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushikikaisha, Sony transformed the consumer electronics industry with its products, balancing cutting-edge technology and practical design. Landmarks include Japan’s first tape recorder, the TV 80 301, and the pioneering Walkman and Discman. Read More →
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The Harmony of Design at Daitoku-ji Temple
The Daitoku-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, serves as a serene sanctuary embodying Japanese design principles, including ‘wabi-sabi’ and ‘shakkei.’ The temple showcases the beauty of imperfection and transience in its raked stones, sculpted pines, and moss carpets, offering a profound lesson in restraint, harmony, and purposeful design.Read More →
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The Minimalist Aesthetics of Muji Products: A Design Perspective
Muji is a globally recognized brand that emphasizes a minimalist philosophy in product design. Their categories, including fragrance, health, beauty, stationery, travel, cleaning, household, and kitchen items, utilise simple aesthetics and functionality, creating useful products that harmoniously blend into everyday life.Read More →
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Japanese Cyberpunk: Reshaping Cultural Aesthetics
Japanese Cyberpunk, a prominent blend of film, manga, and anime, shapes cultural aesthetics with its intricate design language. Originating from 1970s underground music, it explores themes of technology, humanity, and societal evolution. Read More →
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HARIO BDK-80-W Drip-Coffeemakers: Tradition and Modernity
The HARIO BDK-80-W Bona kettle combines modern brewing precision with rustic aesthetics. Its key features include a special gooseneck spout for precise pours, teak wood accents, and compatibility with various ranges. Although gentle care is needed, it enhances brewing experiences.Read More →
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Discover the Timeless Elegance of Japanese Cast Iron Sets
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Nendo: The Epitome of Japanese Minimalist Design Excellence
Nendo is a Japanese design company founded by Sato Oki in 2002 that works globally on design projects. In Tokyo, the first office was built. The second office was opened in Milan in 2005. Over the course of 18 years of establishment, the business works with different brands and has received numerous awards. With subtle…
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The Art of Kakemono: The Elegance of Japanese Hanging Scrolls
Through the lens of Kakemono, we not only appreciate Japanese artistry but also understand the underpinnings of the culture that has given birth to it. The fluidity and grace of these hanging scrolls stand testament to the rich tapestry of Japan’s historical and artistic legacy.Read More →
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Yohji Yamamoto (b.1943) Japanese Fashion Designer
Yohji Yamamoto fashion is exemplified by ease and wearability. READ MORE about this innovative radically different Japanese Designer.Read More →
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Hiroshi Yamano – Exquisite Japanese Glass Designs
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Kenji Ekuan: Fusing Tradition and Modernity in Industrial Design
Kenji Ekuan, born in 1929, was a pioneer in Japanese industrial design, blending tradition and modernity in various products. Kenji Ekuan, president of Japan Industrial Designers Association, ICSID, and ICSID, influenced design with philosophical approach, blending tradition and modernity.Read More →
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Hiroshi Awatsuji (1929 – 1995) Japanese Textile Designer
Hiroshi Awatsuji (1929- 1995) was a Japanese textile and graphic designer: born in Kyoto. He was considered the first Japanese textile designer to be recognised for contemporary design rather than for traditional art and craft. The main characteristic of his work was over sized motifs.Read More →
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Japonisme – a French interpretation of a Japanese aesthetic
A French term used to describe a variety of European borrowings from Japanese art was Japonisme. With the opening of trade with Japan following the expedition of the American Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853. The interest in Japanese art in the West, particularly in France, had started to develop. The artist Félix Bracquemond, a friend…
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Masakichi Awashima (1914 – 1979) Japanese Glassware Designer
After studying design at the Japan Art School in Tokyo, Awashima worked for artisan Kozo Kagami, who had studied Western glass methods in Germany from 1935 to 1946. Read More →
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Naoto Fukasawa ( b.1956) Japanese product designer
Fukasawa is well-known for his designs and design theories, endowed with a quiet strength that represents people’s dreams and expectations. Conveying them using such terms as “design dissolving in behaviour”, “centre of consciousness”, “normality”, “outline”, and “archetype”, he continues to put these philosophies into practice in his designs.Read More →
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Makio Hasuike Japanese (b.1938) Japanese Industrial Designer
Hasuike founded his firm in Milan after studying architecture and industrial design in Tokyo and working for Seiko for a year. He has designed for various well-known brands, including Gaggia coffee machines, Panasonic electronic items, Villeroy & Boch sanitary ware and tableware, Grand Gourmet kitchen knives (1994), and WMF cookware. Read More →
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Introducing Kazuhide Takahama (b.1930) Japanese Designer
At the X Milan Triennale exhibition in 1954, he met the furniture manufacturer, Dino Gavina, who subsequently invited Takahama to work for him in Italy. Takahama’s first design for Gavina was the geometrically severe Naeko sofa-bed (1957). Read More →
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Japanese Flower Arranging
The arrangements of flowers offer far more than a pattern employing flowers and foliage neatly distributed in an appropriate container. Not only is it a form of relaxation, but flower arrangement reawakens an awareness of nature upon which a philosophy – that of restraint and simplicity — is based.Read More →
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Hello Kitty a Japanese media franchise
When the Japanese company Sanrio first launched “Hello Kitty” in 1974 as a greetings card for children, this patented brand cartoonlike image of a cat (a lucky emblem in Japan) was applied to over 1,000 products ranging from domestic appliances, computer keyboards, personal stereos, and credit cards to sweet wrappers, T-shirts, and eyelash curlersRead More…
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Noguchi lamp space without clutter
Isamu Noguchi designed the first of his lamps to be produced by traditional construction methods in Gifu, Japan, known for its manufacture of lanterns and parasols made from mulberry bark paper and bamboo. Akari is handcrafted with washi paper from the inside bark of the mulberry tree and bamboo ribbing stretched across sculptural moulded wood…
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Fujina – Japanese Folk Pottery
Fujina pottery is made at Matsue, Shimane. 19th-century products include bluish-green tea bowls and white, yellow, or bluish-green domestic pottery. Later urban work promotes folk art.Read More →
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Junichi Arai (1932 – 2017), Japanese textile designer and producer
Junichi Arai (1932 – 2017) was a Japanese textile designer and producer born in Kiryu, Gunma. As the sixth generation of a mill-owning family, Arai grew up with fabrics being woven for obis and kimonos. He held traditional weaving methods in high regard and the skills that only the human hand can have in the…
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Oki Sato (b.1977) – Explores all Facets of Design
Oki Sato, a Canadian-born Japanese designer, was born in 1977 in Toronto, Canada. He received his M.Arch. from Waseda University, Tokyo, in 2002 and established his design studio, Nendo, in 2002. Nendo is renowned for its minimalist products that challenge user preconceptions of what an object should be or look like. The Sawaru lamp is…
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Arata Isozaki (b. 1931) is a Japanese architect, urban designer
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Hayama’ bar cabinet inspired by Japanese Kimonos
Featuring the same oblique form and lacquered finish as the sideboard, the bar cabinet sports cannete-effect doors, a mirrored interior that gives greater depth to the space, a glass shelf for bar accessories, and two drawers and two side compartments, which are perfect for storing cocktail paraphernalia.Read More →
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Osamu Tezuka (1928 – 1989) Japanese manga artist and cartoonist
OSAMU TEZUKA, who was revered as the “god of manga,” watched Bambi eighty times, until he had memorised every frame, and dreamed of equaling or surpassing Disney realism in his own animation.Read More →
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Exploring the Life and Legacy of Shiro Kuramata (1934 – 1991)
Shiro Kuramata is a Japanese interior and furniture designer who has executed many interiors for Issey Miyake shops. His best-known pieces are his glass chair (1976) and homage to Hoffmann, Begin the Beguine (1985). His interior designs make use of expanded lattice metal and moiré effects. His portfolio includes furniture in irregular forms and large…
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The Timeless Beauty of Traditional Japanese Furniture
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Shoji Hamada (1894 – 1978) Japanese National Treasure
Shoji Hamada, along with Bernard Leach, was one of the key figures in the development of studio pottery in the 20th century. His influence both in England and the US as well as in his native Japan cannot be underestimated. Read More →
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Ikko Tanaka (1930 -2002) 🇯🇵 Graphic Design blend of East and West
Ikko Tanaka was a significant Japanese Graphic Designer, known for integrating modernism with Japanese culture. His prominent creations included logos, visual materials for brands and the graphic identity for Muji. He won multiple awards and contributed to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.Read More →
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RIP – Issey Miyake, the Japanese fashion designer, dies 84.
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Masakazu Kobayashi (b.1944) Japanese textile designer
Masakazu Kobayashi studied at the University of Arts, Kyoto, Japan. He manifested traditional textile techniques and aesthetics in his work. Between 1966 and 1975, he worked as a textile designer for Kawashima. His 1982 fabric evoked komon, a textile dyeing technique which uses paper patterns with small motifs.Read More →
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Japan Advertising Artists Club pioneer of Japanese Graphic Design
In the 1960s, the JAAC’s philosophy came under fire for being overly reliant on exhibitions as a platform for innovative ideas. Furthermore, during the turbulent 1960s, a perceived emphasis on aesthetics at the expense of social significance, combined with allegations of elitism, led to the organisation’s disbandment in 1970.Read More →
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Yoshitomo Nara (b.1959) Japanese Artist and Designer
Nara grew up in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, about 300 miles north of the Tochigi Prefecture. His exposure to Western music on the American military radio station Far East Network in Honshu influenced his artistic imagination early. Later, he would provide cover art for bands including Shonen Knife, R.E.M., and Bloodthirsty Butchers.Read More →
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Poster for Nikon (1957) by Yusaku Kamekura
Yusaku Kamekura’s poster emphasises the brilliance and clarity attained with the Nikon lens and the technical perfection of his client’s camera by using brilliant optical patterns and powerful, white letter-forms against an intensely dark background. Read More →
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Soichiro Sasakura (b.1949) Japanese Glassware Designer
He worked for Sasaki Glass, for which he designed the 1988 San Marino glassware range.Read More →
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Ukiyo-e, Pictures of the floating world
Ukiyo-e, translated as “pictures of the floating world,” has captured wisps of the natural beauty that one sees every day. These prints are a record of 18th and 19th-century life in Japan and had a profound effect on the great Western artists of the time.Read More →
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Toshiyuki Kita (b.1942) Japanese Furniture and Interior Designer
He set up his own design office in Osaka in 1964; in 1969, he began designing furniture for Italian and Japanese firms; he collaborated with Silvio Coppola, Giotto Stoppino, and Bepi Fiori for Bernini. He is best known for the 1980 Wink articulated armchair produced by Cassina, which took four years to design; Read More…
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Katsuji Wakisaka ( b.1944 ) 🗻 Japanese Textile Designer
Katsuji Wakisaka is a Japanese textile designer. Between 1960 -1963 he studied textile design in Kyoto.Read More →
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Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) American sculptor and designer.
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Suehari Fukami (b.1947) Japanese Studio Potter
Suehari Fukami (b.1947) is a Japanese studio potter based in Kyoto. He works in the bluish-white porcelain known in Japanese as seihakuji, developed in the Song dynasty JINGDEZEN wares. Read More →
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Netsuke – Small Mythological carvings from Japan
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Listening to Stone (paperback) – Art and Life of Isamu Noguchi
A master of what he called “the sculpturing of space,” Isamu Noguchi was an essential figure for modern public art. Noguchi, born to an American mother and a Japanese father, never felt at home anywhere and spent his life creating identities through his sculptures, monuments, and gardens. Read More →
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Susumu Ilkuta Japanese Ceramicist
He worked as a fashion designer in Tokyo. In 1958, he moved to New York at the invitation of hatter Lilly Daché. He studied ceramics in night classes in New York. In 1973, he returned to Japan, where he studied with Kohbei and painted on unfired porcelain.Read More →
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Black Wire Chair by Oki Sato
Oki Santo designed this chair; it was a part of a series called Thin Black Lines. The series includes a chair and clothes rack intended to appear as sketches in the air or calligraphy symbols. Thin black lines like the traces of sketches drawn in the air made transparent surfaces and volumes appear, which we…
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Etsuko Nishi (b.1955) Japanese Glass Designer
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Teruo Yamada (b.1945) Japanese Glassware Designer
His work was shown at 1980 ‘Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition,’ Tokyo; 1981 and 1990 ‘Glass in Japan,’ Tokyo; 1985 ‘New Glass in Japan,’ Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe; 1987 ‘The Art of Contemporary Japanese Studio Glass,’ Heller Gallery, New York; 1991 (V) Triennale of the Japan Glass Art Crafts Association, Heller Gallery.Read More →
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Dorodango Japanese Polished Dirt Balls
Dorodango, a traditional Japanese pastime, involves creating shiny balls from mud and dirt, a process that requires considerable skill and patience. After forming and sun-drying the balls, they’re polished using olive oil to reveal their shine.Read More →
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Yūsuke Aida (1931 – 2015) – Japanese ceramics & industrial designer
Yūsuke Aida (1931-2015) – Japanese ceramics designer and industrial designer. He studied town planning at Chiba University and ceramics under Ken Miyanohara. Read More →
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Yuri Masaki Japanese glass designer
Yuri Masaki is a Japanese glass designer she was president of the Masaki Glass and Art Studio. Her work was included in 1987 and 1990…Read More →
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Sori Yanagi – Japanese Industrial Designer
Sori Yanagi (1915-2011) was an industrial designer from Japan. Although previously trained as a fine artist and worked in an architectural studio, Yanagi went on to study industrial design in 1947.Read More →
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Hello Kitty Grey Classic Fit Hula Crew Neck Summer T-Shirt
Hello Kitty Grey Classic Fit Hula Crew Neck Summer T-Shirt – Adult Polyester Short Sleeve TeeRead More →
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Fujiwo Ishimoto Japanese born textile & ceramic designer
The natural world and its phenomena influence Ishimoto’s works. His designs have basic forms that are coupled with vibrant exterior constructions and lavish ornamentation. Ishimoto has won the State Industrial Arts Prize, the Kaj Franck Design Prize, and Honourable Mentions at the Finland Designs show in 1983, 1989, and 1993, among other awards. He was…
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Jiro Kosugi (1915 – 1981) Japanese Industrial Designer
After WWII, he worked as an independent designer, designing a series of three-wheeled trucks for the Toyo Kogyo Company (now Mazda) in Hiroshima, which he worked on from 1948 until 1960. These designs were trendy since they were both practical and reasonably inexpensive to purchase. Read More →
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Kansei Engineering Applied to Design
A conceptual dimension in web design, development and thinking is called “Kansei engineering” a deeply held philosophy that every web site should be designed and developed to provide strong emotional as well as functional satisfaction to its user.Read More →
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Harue Koga delightful illustrations and paintings ♥︎
. He dropped out of junior high school to pursue a career as a painter, and in 1912, he relocated to Tokyo. He studied at the Taiheiyoga-institute kai’s and then the Japan Watercolor Painting Society’s institute. Koga became a priest in 1915 and studied Buddhism at Taisho University. Read More →
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Japan’s Okayama Castle Showcase Its Enchanting Beauty
Photographer Yukari Mitani captures the beauty of Japan, highlighting Okayama Castle – a popular tourist attraction. Despite destruction during World War II, the castle was rebuilt and is renowned for its stunning nighttime illumination.Read More →
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How High the Moon armchair (1986) by Shiro Kuramata
Shiro Kuramata’s inventive transformations of everyday industrial materials, including steel mesh, terrazzo, corrugated aluminium, and steel cables, pushed material technology to new design limits. Read More >Read More →
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‘A Strong Identity is an Icon’ Says the Designer Behind the Uniqlo Logo
Kashiwa Sato sees the world through icons, and just about anything can be an icon, the leading Japanese designer told the Brainstorm Design conference in Singapore on Wednesday. “The purpose of branding is to create a strong identity.Read More →
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6 Works That Explain Yayoi Kusama’s Rise to Art World Stardom
In 1965, Kusama erected the first of her now-famous immersive environments. Infinity Mirror Room – Phalli’s Field (Floor Show) fused her interests in repetition, sexual exploration, psychology, and perception by filling a roughly 25-square-meter mirrored room with a thick carpet of soft, twisting phalluses camouflaged in the artist’s signature polka dots.Read More →
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Erwin Komeda (1904 – 1966) Austrian Automobile Designer
Erwin Komenda (1904 – 1966) was a Austrian automobile designer for Daimler Benz, responsible for car body development. In 1934, he joined Ferdinand Porsche’s design bureau in Stuttgart and began work on the styling of the Volkswagen, the people’s car. Porsche designed the vehicle itself.