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 Inc. in 1997 to establish and manage the Fitch office in Osaka, Japan. Serving as Vice President of the Fitch Inc. Japan 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 and graphic design.
John received his BA in design from the University of California, Los Angeles and furthered his studies at Art Center Pasadena. He received his Master if Science in Design degree from Arizona State University. Prior to Fitch, John was hired by ODS, an international market research and design consultancy, and served as the Design Director for their Industrial Design Division. John later joined Sharp Corporations elite advanced design team in Tokyo where he helped to develop the Sharp ViewCam concept that would later become a standard video camera configuration in Japan. John established Takamura Design, a transdisciplinary design office, servicing clients in Asia and the U.S. from the San Francisco Bay Area and later from Carefree Arizona.
John has over 17 years of interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary consulting experience in Industrial Design, Graphic and Visual Design as well as Brand Strategy and Product Development. John is currently an assistant professor of industrial design in the School of Design Innovation at Arizona State University as well as principal and co-founder of Restrategic Solutions LLC, a Phoenix-based design research consultancy.