Daryn Wakasa is a 4th generation, Japanese American graphic designer and 1st time graphic filmmaker. He has a BFA from Loyola Marymount University in multimedia and an MFA in graphic design from California Institute of the Arts, where he studied graphic design, motion design, and film.

Daryn is a unique blend of creativity and social activism. His social activism stems from the fact that his grandparents, who are American citizens, were forced into internment camps by the U.S government during World War II because of their ethnicity. His life was deeply affected by the internment camps because his grandparents lost everything they owned and when they were released, their only concern was to assimilate to the American culture instead of finding a harmonious way that the Japanese culture could co-exist with the American culture. Wrongful actions like this happen because people are not as culturally aware as they should be. As a way to counter this cultural naivete, Daryn committed his undergraduate years exploring different ways for people to engage with others so that a cultural understanding would emerge. He had various social and cultural clubs that creatively tackled these cultural and social misunderstandings, but it was not until he was introduced to graphic design did he realize that stereotypes and cultural naivete could be countered through images, typography and language.

Realizing that his creative vocation and his social activism could possess a symbiotic relationship, Daryn started to explore opportunities where his graphic design and motion design skills could help communicate social and cultural issues.

As a result, he worked on pieces that tackled the theme of multiculturalism and cultural understanding but quickly realized that in order for his work to be effective, he would need to improve his graphic design and motion design skills. To better these skills, he began to work in the commercial motion design industry both in New York City and in Los Angeles. He worked at companies such as Motion Theory, Imaginary Forces, Stardust, and LifelongFriendshipSociety where he was asked to design and animate for commercials, music videos, and film title sequences. After 2 years of working in the commercial industry, Daryn decided to attend the California Institute of the Arts’ graphic design MFA program. While at CalArts, he took various film and animation classes to compliment his graphic design curriculum because he was interested in exploring cinematic storytelling through a graphic designer’s perspective. Graphic design has the unique ability to communicate a message in a succinct, poetic, effective way, which is why advertising utilizes design to sell products. If design can be effectively used to sell a product, why can’t graphic design be used to deliver a social, cultural or environmental message? His 3 years of exploration at CalArts led him to graphic filmmaking, which is a hybrid of graphic design and film. “A Lost Generation” was Daryn’s directorial, graphic filmmaking debut, which explores the impact that the Japanese Internment Camps had on current Japanese Americans. In addition to his studies at CalArts, Daryn continued designing at various motion studios in both Los Angeles and Brazil during his summer breaks.