Kazuya Ito as toi whakairo is a designer and visual artist based in Vancouver

Kazuya Ito as known as toi whakairo is a Japan born, raised designer, visual artist based in Vancouver, Canada.

Seasoned graphic designer with over 14 years of expertise across apparel, music, sports and advertising. Specialized in the apparel field with over 8 years of experience.

Pivotal member of HAVEN in-house brand early-stage team, instrumental in apparel design, collaborations, rebranding, and managing Japan PR via key Tokyo fashion media relationships. Transitioned to Reigning Champ, elevating their Graphic program within the apparel design team.

Proficient in English and a native speaker of Japanese, leveraging language skills to enhance global communication. Holder of Canadian permanent residency since 2019, integrating multicultural perspectives into work.

As a visual artist, he started playing live visuals in 2010 with a lo-fi video mixer for music scenes such as electronic, beats, hip-hop. He performed at SonarSound Tokyo, Low-End Theory Japan, CBC Music, Pride Toronto.


Toronto & Vancouver, Canada
2022 - Present: CYC Design Corporation
2015 – 2022: HAVEN Apparel Inc.

Tokyo, Japan
2011 – 2014: 7stars Design Inc.
2011: Wax Poetics Japan
2009 - 2011: Rhino Inc.

VJ
SonarSound Tokyo
Low-End Theory Japan
CBC Music
Pride Toronto
and more.