Tibor Kalman
Tibor Kalman used graphic design as a way to communicate social issues. He entered the profession with no formal training, allowing him to work without bias. His nickname was “The Bad Boy of Graphic Design”
United Colors of Benetton advertisement done by Tibor Kalman. Benetton was an Italian clothing company that was known more for it’s extreme ads than for their clothing. 1989
“We’re not here to give them what’s safe and expedient. We’re not here to help eradicate everything of visual interest from the face of the earth. We’re here to make them think about design that’s dangerous and unpredictable. We’re here to inject art into commerce.”
Tibor Kalman was the chief editor for the magazine “Colors,” and used the magazine as a form of political advertising. 1990 – 1993
Portrait of Tibor Kalman from the Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame, which he was inducted into in 2004
FUCK COMMITTEES (I believe in lunatics)
Culture used to be the opposite of commerce,
It’s about the struggle between individuals with
so long ago captains of industry (no angels in
jagged passion in their work and today’s faceless
corporate committees, which claim to understand the needs of the mass audience, and are
removing the idiosyncrasies, polishing the jags, creating a thought-free, passion-free, cultural
mush that will not be hated nor loved by anyone. By now, 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, carrying out
corporate strategies and increasing stock prices. Creative people are now working for the bottom
not a fast track to ‘content’- derived riches. Not the way they acquired wealth) thought that part of their responsibility was to use their millions to support culture. Carnegie built libraries,
Rockefeller built art museums, Ford created his
global foundation. What do we now get from our billionaires? Gates? Or Eisner? Or Redstone? Sales pitches. Junk mail. Meanwhile, creative people have their work reduced to ‘content’ or ‘intellectual property’. Magazines and
films become ‘delivery systems’ for product messages.
line.
But to be fair, the above is only 99 percent true.
Magazine editors have lost their editorial
I offer a modest solution: Find the cracks in the
of publishers (who work for committees of
who will understand that culture and design
independence, and work for committees
advertisers). TV scripts are vetted by producers,
advertisers, lawyers, research specialists, layers and layers of paid executives who determine
whether the scripts are dumb enough to amuse
what they call the ‘lowest common denominator’. Film studios out films in front of focus groups to determine whether an ending will please target
audiences. All cars look the same. Architectural decisions are made by accountants. Ads are stupid. Theater is dead.
Corporations have become the sole arbiters of
wall. There are a very few lunatic entrepreneurs are not about fatter wallets, but about creating a future. They will understand that wealth is
means, not an end. Under other circumstances they may have turned out to be like you,
creative lunatics. Believe me, they’re there and when you find them, treat them well and use their money to change the world. Tibor Kalman New York
June 1998
cultural ideas and taste in America. Our culture is corporate culture.
A cover of Colors magazine designed by Tibor Kalman, used to draw attention to the AID’s epidemic. 1994
“Fuck Committees” A piece written by Tibor Kalman to explain his position, and to put some of his intentions down in writing.
Kalman was often criticized for bringing such heavy attention to social issues. It was believed that he was only trying to gain attention for his company. The reality was he just had a lot to say, and he needed a way to show it.
A rejected “call to vote poster” designed by Kalman. It was commissioned by bistro owner Florent Morellet as a way of political advertising. This was similar to Benetton’s strategy, of using extreme political standings to gather attention for the companies, rather than using traditional advertisements.
An introductory page in Tibor Kalman’s book “The Perverse Optimist.” It briefly states one of Kalman’s views on Graphic Design, which is that Graphic Design should be a means rather than an end, and that it should be used to create a future.
“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.” - Stephen Heller, AIGA “Tibor Kalman.” ADC • Global Awards & Club. 2004. Accessed April 13, 2016. http://adcglobal.org/hall-of-fame/ tibor-kalman/. “Quotables: Tibor Kalman.” Graphic Design USA. Accessed April 13, 2016. http://gdusa.com/blog/quotables/ quotables-tibor-kalman. Heller, Steven. “Tibor Kalman.” AIGA. 1999. Accessed April 13, 2016. http://www.aiga.org/medalist-tiborkalman/. Kalman, Tibor, Peter Hall, and Michael Bierut. Tibor Kalman, Perverse Optimist. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, 1998. “Tibor Kalman : Design Is History.” Tibor Kalman : Design Is History. Accessed April 13, 2016. http://www. designishistory.com/1980/tibor-kalman/. “United Colors of Benetton.” United Colors of Benetton. Accessed April 17, 2016. http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/ fall01/braun/frames.html.
Designed and written by Emily Palermo Composed in Helvetica and Times New Roman, typefaces designed by Max Miedinger & Eduard Hoffman in 1957 and Victor Lardent in 1931 Printed from a Toshiba e studio 3555c on Hammermill 80 pound, cover Copyright © 2016 Emily Palermo, Portland Maine, Maine College of Art