Tibor Kalman
Template:Short description Template:Improve images Template:Infobox person Tibor George Kalman<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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 editor-in-chief of Colors magazine.<ref name="Heller" /><ref name="Independent">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Early lifeEdit
Kalman was born on July 6, 1949, in Budapest, to parents Marianne I. (née Deezsoffy or Dezsőffi) and George Tibor Kalman.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He became a United States resident in 1956, after he and his family fled Hungary to escape the Soviet invasion, settling in Poughkeepsie, New York.<ref name="Colors">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and took part in Anti-Vietnam war protests.<ref name=":1" /> He dropped out of NYU, and in 1970 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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
CareerEdit
In 1971, Kalman returned to New York City where he was hired by Leonard Riggio for a small bookstore that eventually became Barnes & Noble. He later 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> In 1979, Kalman – along with his wife Maira Kalman,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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, and Restaurant Florent in New York City's Meatpacking District.<ref name="Florent">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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" /> Kalman also worked as creative director of Interview magazine in the early 1990s.<ref name="Colors" />
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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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" />
Colors magazineEdit
Template:See also Kalman and Oliviero Toscani started the Benetton-sponsored magazine Colors in 1991.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="theguardian">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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 lifeEdit
From 1981 up until his death, Kalman was married to the illustrator and author Maira Kalman (née Berman).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Alam-2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Heller-2003">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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 legacyEdit
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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
PublicationsEdit
- 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 alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Tibor Kalman in Artfacts
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