Bodonation

Alan Fletcher (1931-2006)

I’ve just learned that my design hero, the living legend, Alan Fletcher has passed away on Sep 21 in in East Sussex, England. He was 74. Few days ago, I was still talking about inviting him as a speaker in one of my future conferences, if I ever get the chance.

But now he is gone.

Sad.

Born 1931 in Nairobi, Kenya to a British family, Alan went on to form Fletcher/Forbes/Gill in the 1960s, which eventually morphed in 1970s into what is Pentagram today. He was also one of the founders of D&AD, which became an important organisation for advancing and promoting British design. His works left an indellible mark on modern graphic design, not just on complex corporate identity programmes, but also on posters and book covers, where his spontaneous graphic wits and humor often shine through.

Steven Heller wrote in New York Times:

He died wearing a T-shirt with handwritten words taken from one of his
posters: “I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way."

Quoting Times UK:

Fletcher once said that he hoped “to get younger as I get older”, and
succeeded. Intellectually open and insatiably curious, he was the
antithesis of a grumpy old man, and befriended many younger designers.

As for me, I wish I had the honour to know him in person, not just owning a copy of The Art of Looking Sideways.

But it is too late.

* Reports at Pentagram, Design Museum, Guardian, Times, and The Independent.
Read the online tribute to Alan Fletcher hosted by Creative Review, includes postings by Brett Wickens, Erik Spiekermann, Michael C Place, Michael Johnson and Vince Frost. Read Michael Johnson’s memoir here.

* Update - Sep 28, 2006 - Design Observer - Michael Bierut.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 26th, 2006 at 9:36 am and is filed under design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.