Tibor Kalman

Template:Short description Template:Improve images Template:Infobox person Tibor George Kalman<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (Template:Langx; July 6, 1949 – May 2, 1999)<ref name="Heller-1999" /> was an American graphic designer of Hungarian origin, well known for his work as founder of design studio M & Co. and editor-in-chief of Colors magazine.<ref name="Heller" /><ref name="Independent">Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Kalman was born on July 6, 1949, in Budapest, to parents Marianne I. (née Deezsoffy or Dezsőffi) and George Tibor Kalman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He became a United States resident at the age of seven in 1956, after he and his family fled Hungary to escape the Soviet invasion, settling in Poughkeepsie, New York.<ref name="Colors">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kalman attended Our Lady of Lourdes High School.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Both of his parents had Jewish ethnic roots and converted to Catholicism to avoid persecution, so "Kalman only became aware that he was Jewish at the age of 18".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1967, he enrolled in New York University (NYU) to study journalism and history.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> While at NYU, he wrote for a student newspaper,<ref name=":0" /> joined Students for a Democratic Society, a leftist student organization,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> and took part in Anti-Vietnam war protests.<ref name=":1" /> He dropped out of NYU in 1970 and traveled to Cuba to harvest sugar cane and learn about Cuban culture as a member of the Venceremos Brigade.<ref name="Colors" /><ref name="ADC">Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

In 1971, Kalman returned to New York City where he was hired by Leonard Riggio for a small bookstore that eventually became Barnes & Noble. A college dropout with no formal training in design, Kalman claimed that working on window displays at the store was his opportunity to "get out of the basement where (he) was alphabetizing books".<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref> As the store grew into a national chain, he became the creative director of their in-house design department, where he created advertisements, store signs, shopping bags, and the original B&N bookplate trademark.<ref name="ADC" /><ref name="Heller-1999">Template:Cite news</ref> As the head of Barnes & Noble's design team for 11 years, Kalman was behind their brand identity design.<ref name=":2" />

M & Co.

Template:See also In 1979, Kalman – along with his wife Maira Kalman,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Carol Bokuniewicz, and Liz Trovato – started the design firm M & Co., which did corporate work for such diverse clients as the Limited Corporation, the new wave rock group Talking Heads, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, the Whitney Museum,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Restaurant Florent in New York City's Meatpacking District.<ref name="Florent">Template:Cite web Quote: Florent Morellet "left most of the 1950s luncheonette features intact, and gave Tibor Kalman and M & Co. Template:Sic to create ads and graphics that cultivated a Florent culture that survives today and extends well beyond the walls of the space."</ref> He sought to challenge mundane design thinking and aspired to create unpredictable work.<ref name="Heller" />

By the 1980s, Kalman was known for being "the 'bad boy' of graphic design" because of his antics and radical consciousness. He believed that award-winning design was only possible when the client was ethical, and frequently called other designers out when he did not agree with their actions. He defined good design as a benefit to everyday life and should be used to increase public awareness of social issues.<ref name="Heller">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Heller-1999" /> Kalman adopted a vernacular style as a way to protest corporate International Style which was the primary design style of the time.<ref name="Heller-1999" />

Artforum and Interview magazines

Kalman acted as art director of Artforum magazine in 1987–1988, and as creative director of Interview magazine in 1989–1991,<ref name=":3" /> collaborating with the same editor, Ingrid Sischy, at both publications. He left his post at Interview after accepting an editor-in-chief position at Colors.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Colors magazine

Template:See also Kalman and Oliviero Toscani started the Benetton-sponsored magazine Colors in 1991.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="theguardian">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Two years later, Kalman closed M & Co. and moved to Rome, to work exclusively on Colors.<ref name="Independent" /> Billed as "a magazine about the rest of the world", Colors focused on multiculturalism and global awareness. This perspective was communicated through bold graphic design, multilingual typography with texts in seven languages,<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> and juxtaposition of photographs and doctored images, including a series in which highly recognizable figures such as the Pope and Queen Elizabeth were depicted as racial minorities.<ref name="Colors" /><ref name="Heller" />

Personal life

From 1981 up until his death, Kalman was married to the illustrator and author Maira Kalman (née Berman).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Alam-2018">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Heller-2003">Template:Cite web</ref> They met while attending NYU.<ref name="Heller-2003" /> Together they had two children, Lulu Bodoni and Alex Onomatopoeia.<ref name="Alam-2018" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Death and legacy

The onset of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma forced Kalman to leave Colors in 1995 and return to New York. In 1997, he re-opened M & Co. and continued to work until his death on May 2, 1999, in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico.<ref name="Colors" /><ref name="Heller-1999" /> Kalman was posthumously awarded the 1999 AIGA medal as the "design profession's moral compass and its most fervent provocateur".<ref name="Heller" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Publications

• Tibor Kalman: Perverse Optimist, a book about Kalman's work and that with M&Co, was published by Princeton Architectural Press in 1999. Tibor Kalman (Designer); Peter Hall, Michael Bierut (Editors); Kurt Andersen, Steven Heller, Rick Poynor, Paola Antonelli, David Byrne, Jay Chiat, Jenny Holzer, Isaac Mizrahi, Florent Morellet, Leonard Riggio, Rebecca Robertson, Ingrid Sischy, Elizabeth Sussman, Olivero Toscani (Contributors) <ref name="Colors" /> Template:ISBN

See also

• First Things First 2000 manifesto
• List of AIGA medalists
• Colors
• Naked
• Remain in Light

External links

• Tibor Kalman in Artfacts
• Template:Cite web
• Art Directors Club biography, portrait and images of work
• Tibor Kalman on Pata Magazine
• Kalman's works in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum