Noreen Morioka (born 1965, Sunnyvale, California) is an American graphic designer and co-founder of AdamsMorioka. She is recognized for her distinct California-influenced approach to visual communications. In 2014, the
American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) awarded the
AIGA Medal to Morioka and her business partner Sean Adams for their contributions to graphic design. At present, she is Chief Creative Officer at The New Computer Corporation and frequently serves as competition juror and lecturer.
Personal life
Morioka lives in Venice, California with her wife, Nicole Jacek.
Career
Morioka met her future business partner, Sean Adams, while attending
CalArts in the 1980s.
After graduation, Morioka moved to Tokyo where she worked for
Landor Associates.
In the 1990s, she returned to California and re-connected with Adams.
Together they formed AdamsMorioka in 1994, a Los Angeles-based design firm.
Their clients included
Adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
,
Gap,
Disney,
Nickelodeon and
Rizzoli Rizzoli is an Italian surname.
People
*Achilles Rizzoli (1896–1981), an American artist
*Angelo Rizzoli (1889–1970), an Italian publisher
** RCS MediaGroup, formerly "A. Rizzoli & C." and "Rizzoli Editore", a publishing company founded by Angel ...
.
The agency’s style was marked by “eye-popping graphics and tongue-in-cheek wit” according to author Alissa Walker. After 22 years of AdamsMorioka, the partners closed the agency to pursue other interests. After AdamsMorioka, she joined Tatcha, a skincare company in San Francisco, as Chief Creative Officer. In 2018, she joined
Wieden + Kennedy
Wieden+Kennedy (W+K; earlier styled ''Wieden & Kennedy'') is an American independent global advertising agency best known for its work for Nike. Founded by Dan Wieden and David Kennedy, and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, it is one of the la ...
to co-lead their design team, working with clients such as
Nike,
Converse, and
Airbnb. She then moved to
Netflix, where she was the Director of Global Brand Design. Currently, she is Chief Creative Officer at The New Computer Corporation.
Morioka served as president of
AIGA's Los Angeles chapter from 2000-2002 and again from 2012-2014. She was chair of the
AIGA's National Presidents Council, was a Fellow of the
International Design Conference at Aspen, and was Chair of the James Beard Foundation Award for Design and Architecture.
Currently, she is on the Board of Directors at the
Art Directors Club (ADC).
Morioka frequently acts as competition juror and lecturer.
Publications
While at AdamsMorioka, Morioka is credited with authoring several books along with Sean Adams and Terry Stone.
* ''Logo Design Workbook: A Hands-On Guide to Creating Logos'', Noreen Morioka Sean Adams, Terry Stone. 2006.
* ''Color Design Workbook: A Real-world Guide to Using Color in Graphic Design'', Noreen Morioka Sean Adams, Terry Stone. 2008.
Awards and honors
The
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art held a solo retrospective of AdamsMorioka's work in 2000.
The firm's work is also included in the museum's permanent collection. Her books are held in the
Library of Congress.
In 2006, Morioka was named a Fellow of the
American Institute of Graphic Arts.
In 2014, Morioka and Adams were awarded the AIGA medal, which is considered one of the highest awards in the design field.
They were recognized for “bringing wit, charm and a distinctly California sensibility to design and for their commitment to leading the design profession through an era of change.”
She was named to
I.D. magazine's "ID40," a list of 40 designers who were internationally impacting the design world.
References
External links
AIGA Award article{{DEFAULTSORT:Morioka, Noreen
American graphic designers
AIGA medalists
Living people
American women graphic designers
1965 births
California Institute of the Arts alumni