Essay: Tibor Kalman - A positive influence

Tibor Kalman – A Positive Influence

CIU110.3 Creative Media Essay

Module CIU110: Critical Thinking in Creative Media

Nathan Dolling

SAE Institute

Byron Bay

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Bachelor of Design

Student Details

Name: Nathan Dolling

Number: 1005812

Module: CIU110

Date: 22/04/2016

Word Count: 1849

Unit Coordinator/Lecturer: Karen Gee

Tibor Kalman was an American graphic designer, born in Budapest, Hungary. During the 1980’s up until his death in 1999, Kalman was an active and influential part of the graphic design community. He made significant contributions to, and was a key influence in, the development and progression of the graphic design industry. Kalman influenced the way designers thought about the messages they are communicating and the ethical impacts of their designs. He pioneered vernacular design, blurring the line between high and low design and using it as a tool to rebel against corporate influences. He also influenced how designers viewed their clients and the causes their designs were perpetuating, for example environmentalism and social equality. Heller (1999) emphasises Kalman’s influence on the industry by stating “Of the two names that changed design in the '80s and '90s—Mac and Tibor—one changed the way we work, the other the way we think. The former is a tool, the latter was our conscience.”

Tibor Kalman came to America as an immigrant at the age of seven, fleeing the communists in 1956. He arrived in America virtually homeless and though he developed to become more American than most natives, he never forgot being foreign and alienated.

He studied journalism at New York University, where eventually dropped out and began working for a small book store where he created designs for window displays, signs and advertisements. The book store eventually became ‘Barnes and Noble’ and Kalman became the director of their in-house design firm. In 1979 he and his wife Maria, an illustrator, along with Carol Bokuniewicz and Liz Trovato started their own design firm, M&Co. Kalman became the founding editor in chief of the Benetton-sponsored colors magazine in 1990 and in 1993 he left M&Co., relocating himself to Rome, where he worked solely on Color magazine. In 1995 an onset of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma forced him to leave and return to New York. Kalman then re-opened M&Co. and pursued his work until his death in 1999. (Heller, 1999)

Tibor Kalman actively produced designs and made significant contributions to the design industry and society. His designs were quickly established to be of high quality and ultimately drew the attention of, and influenced, reputable clientele. M&Co., named after Kalman’s wife Maria, began working on commercial projects for mostly department stores and banks, before progressing to cultural projects. The company created content in all areas of graphic design, including, industrial design, film titles, television spots, children’s books and architecture. Consequently, the company soon built the reputation of ground-breaking innovators in the design world and caught the attention of numerous high profile clients, including Formica, Subaru, The Limited, Chait/Day, Wiliwear, MTV, Restaurant Florent, David Byrne, Talking Heads and MoMA. M&Co.’s work is also now archived at Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (Cullen, 1996; Eckstein, 2013). In addition, Kalman made massive contributions as the founding editor of chief at Colors magazine. Colors magazine focused on multiculturalism and global awareness and quickly became the primary outlet for Tibor’s most progressive ideas. Tibor proclaimed that Colors was “the first magazine for the global village” (Heller, 1999). M&Co.’s success in the contribution of quality graphic based media permitted the company, and Kalman, to become influential members of the graphic design community. This created a solid foundation for Kalman’s career and allowed him to break away from corporate based clientele and follow his passion for social activism (Heller, 1999).

Graphic design isn’t so rarefied or so special. It isn’t a profession, it’s a medium. It’s a mode of address, a means of communication. It’s used throughout culture at varying levels of complexity and with varying degrees of success. That’s what’s important about graphic design. That’s what makes it interesting. And it is at work every place where there are words and images (Kalman, T., & Miler, J. A., & Jacobs, K., 1991).

Kalman saw graphic design as essentially, a means of mass communication and used this to draw attention to what he considered social injustices. M&Co. was eventually transformed into the platform for his social mission. Heller (1999) explains, through his career, Kalman was profoundly influential in the way designers thought about their roles and contributions to society. Furthermore Heller expresses, for a decade, Kalman was the design profession’s moral compass and provocative driving force behind the movement. Kalman saw himself as a social activist rather than a designer and used his work to promote awareness for environmentalism and economic and social equality (Heller, 1999). As a result, Issue #4 of Colors magazine was titled “Race”, it explored the concept of racism using irony and humour. The issue pushed the underlining message of, “There is only one race, the human race” and Kalman emphasised this by creating a feature that began simply with the words, “What if..?” centred on the left page in red. The type was contrasted on a blank white background, followed by a full page image depicting a black Queen Elizabeth. This image, among others in the issue, including an Asian Pope and a black Arnold Schwarzenegger generated controversy and outrage internationally (Kalman, 1993; Toscani, 1993). Kalman was well known for being a social activist for subjects like homelessness, corporate ethics and environmentalism. This, in part, is most likely a result of his background as an immigrant, as he and his family were essentially homeless when arriving in America (Heller, 1999). Haber (1999) determines Kalman morphed his childhood isolation into his work to create new and innovative designs. Haber (1999) also recalls Chee Pearlman, the editor of I.D. remarking shortly after Kalman’s funeral, “He was keenly passionate about things of the American vernacular because he wasn’t American”.

Kalman and his design firm M&Co. pioneered vernacular design through innovative techniques that influenced the culture and style of the decade. The impacts of these influences are still evident in culture today. Throughout the 1980’s M&Co. mastered the vernacular as a source of what they viewed as honest inspiration, Kalman and his team of designers used commonplace cultural mediums as a kind of ‘non-design’ to create a new style of urban chic (Lupton, 1992). An example of this was a design used in Restaurant Florent which mimicked the plastic letter signs often used by deli’s, in which some characters may be re-appropriated and used in place of another character. Kalman was intentionally replicating the look of a non-professionally designed deli sign, therefore creating something that related to a recognizable visual style, which evoked a post-modern nostalgia, triggering reassuring emotions in customers. Additionally, this was a way of emotionally connecting the consumer to the brand and generating a sense of localism and tradition (“Retro and vernacular design,” 2015). Makovsky (2006) examines Restaurant Florent, a trendy restaurant tucked away in Manhattans meat packing district, who hired Kalman and gave him free reign to style the business. He explains, the ads and graphics cultivated a ‘florent’ culture that survives today and extends well beyond the walls of the space. Furthermore, Makovsky describes, “It’s a place that combines politics with decor, humor with graphics, and activism with good food.” Heller (1999) explains that vernacularism became a way for Kalman to protest the corporate international style. Also Lupton (1992) states:

Tibor Kalman publicly promotes non-design as an instrument of salvation from the moral sins of our profession, he has built his career on the mystique of the designer-as-witch-doctor, the impresario of taste capable of turning lead into gold, and low into high.

Kalman was well respected and had a high social standing in the design community. This meant that his views had credibility, which he used to influence the community and make a positive impact on society. Kalman was well known for publicly voicing his opinions to clients and fellow designers in the industry. He was a harsh critic of formulaic or what he disapprovingly termed “professional” design, this earned him the label of the ‘bad boy’ of the graphic design profession (Heller, 1999). Heller (1999) recalls Kalman’s first public outburst, which was an incident involving fellow graphic designer Joe Duffy. This was regarding a full page advertisement Duffy had designed for the wall street journal that was self-promoting their services to the fortune five hundred corporations. Kalman insisted that Duffy’s work was mediocre and that he was selling out to corporate capitalism, eventually challenging Duffy to a debate (Heller, 1999). Kalman publicly shamed products that he deemed harmful to the workers who made them, the environment or the consumer and he urged designers to take responsibility for their work as designer citizens. One instance involved when the clothing company Espirit, which claimed to be socially liberal and environmentally friendly, was awarded the 1986 AIGA Design Leadership award. Kalman anonymously distributed leaflets during the awards ceremony, protesting the company’s exploitation of Asian labourers. It was Kalman’s belief that a design was not separate from the entire corporate ethic and used his power within the graphic design industry to influence designers and consumers to make a positive impact on society (Heller, 1999). Kalman (1998) once stated “Virtually all media, architecture, product and graphic design have been freed from ideas, individual passion, and have been relegated to a role of corporate servitude”

Kalman’s influence was also a key element in the development and direction of the graphic design industry. Ken Garland, a respected graphic designer, published the First Things First Manifesto in the guardian newspaper in 1964. The manifesto states that the talents of designers working in the advertising industry are wasted on consumer products and contribute little or nothing to our national prosperity. It proposes a reversal of priorities in favour of useful forms of communication, rather than consumer advertising. It aimed to re-affirm the concept that the design process should incorporate values and ethics, and not be viewed as a neutral standpoint. The First Things First Manifesto contained 22 signatories and was backed by over four hundred graphic designers (Sacramento State University, n.d.). In 1998 the Canadian Magazine Adbusters reprinted the manifesto, believing its sentiments had become more relevant to that time. Kalman upon reading the issue urged “we should do this now” (Kalman, 1999). Thus, in 1999, 33 visual communicators, including Kalman, renewed the First Things First Manifesto (Barnbrook, 1999). It was published in respected magazines including Adbusters, Emigre, AIGA Journal of Graphic Design, Eye magazine and many other magazines and books globally (Barnbrook, et al., 1999). Some embraced the values put forward by the manifesto and others rejected them. However, the collaboration between these high profile designers, in an attempt to effectively shape the design industry, has been a considerable influence in the process and outcome of designs within the industry. This is shown through the once again renewed, 2014 First Things First Manifesto that attracted 1,653 signatories (Peters, 2014).

The supporting evidence affirms Kalman played a key role in the progression of the graphic design industry. His influence shaped the design industry and impacted the way designers visually communicate and perceive media. Thus, he had a considerable influence in creating a community within the industry that strengthens the expectations for conscious, moral values and beliefs within the design profession.

References

Barnbrook, J., Kalman, T., Lupton, E., McCoy, K., Poynor, R., Miller, A., et al. (1999, n.d.). First Things First Manifesto 2000. Eye Magazine, 9(33). Retrieved from http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/first-things-first-manifesto-2000

Cole, P., Armstrong, C., Balkan, A., Gold, J., Kalbag, L., Mooij, A., et al. (2014). First Things First 2014. Retrieved from http://firstthingsfirst2014.org/

Colors Magazine. (2016). Retrieved April 19, 2016 from http://www.colorsmagazine.com

Cullen, M. (1996, n.d.). Reputations: Tibor Kalman. Eye Magazine, 5(20). Retrieved from http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/reputations-tibor-kalman

Eckstein, A. (2013). Great names in graphic design: Tibor Kalman. Retrieved from http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/great-names-graphic-design-tibor-kalman-7133661

Flask, D. (2009). Design Is History: Tibor Kalman. Retrieved from http://www.designishistory.com/1980/ tibor-kalman/.

Haber, M. (1999). Salon. Retrieved April 15, 2016 from http://www.salon.com/1999/05/19/kalman/

Heller, S. (1999, May 5). Tibor Kalman, 'Bad Boy' of Graphic Design, 49, Dies. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/05/arts/tibor-kalman-bad-boy-of-graphic-design-49-dies.html

Heller, S. (2011). Tibor Kalman Biography. Retrieved from http://www.aiga.org/medalist-tiborkalman/.

Kalman, T. (1998). AN ESSAY BY TIBOR KALMAN. Retrieved from http://www.changethethought.com/an-essay-by-tibor-kalman/

Kalman, T., Miler, J. A., Jacobs, K. (1991, March/April). GOOD HISTORY/BAD HISTORY. Print Magazine, n.d. Retrieved from http://type3.professor-kowalski.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/1_GOOD-HISTORY_BAD-HISTORY.pdf

Lupton, E. (1992, n.d.). High and low (a strange case of us and them?). Eye Magazine, 2(7). Retrieved from http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/high-and-low-a-strange-case-of-us-and-them

Makovsky, P. (2006). Restaurant Florent – 1985. Metropolis Magazine. 37. Retrieved from http://www.metropolismag.com/April-2006/Restaurant-Florent-1985/

Retro and vernacular design. (2015). Retrieved 24 April, 2016 from http://www.historygraphicdesign.com/the-age-of-information/postmodern-design/544-retro-and-vernacular-design

Sacramento State University. (n.d.). First Things First. Retrieved from http://www.csus.edu/indiv/f/forrestj/gphd20_materials/13_action.pdf

Toscani, O., & Kalman, T.(1993, June). Race. Colors, (4), pp. 3-14.