Colin Forbes (graphic designer)

Colin Forbes (graphic designer)
Name	Colin Forbes
Caption	Colin Forbes, graphic designer
Birth date	1928
Death date	2022
Nationality	British
Occupation	Graphic designer, author, educator
Known for	Founding partner of Pentagram

Colin Forbes (graphic designer) Colin Forbes was a British graphic designer, author, and educator notable for co-founding the design firm Pentagram and for his impact on corporate identity, publication design, and international design collaboration. He worked across London, New York, and global markets with clients in publishing, architecture, arts institutions, and corporate sectors, influencing generations of designers through practice, writing, and teaching.

Early life and education

Forbes was born in 1928 in Bristol, England, and grew up during the interwar period and World War II. He studied at the West of England College of Art and later at the Royal College of Art, where he was exposed to peers and faculty associated with Modernist design, the legacy of Bauhaus, and the postwar design debates involving figures such as Gordon Russell, Herbert Read, Paul Nash, Edward Wadsworth, and Ben Nicholson. Early influences included publications and institutions like the Design Research Unit, the Council of Industrial Design, and exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Career and design practice

Forbes began his career in the 1950s in London working for design studios and publishers, contributing to projects for organizations such as the BBC, the Financial Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Times Educational Supplement, and the Royal Opera House. He later moved to New York City and worked with American firms, engaging with clients including Time Inc., Harper & Row, McGraw-Hill, IBM, and AT&T. His practice combined publication design, branding, exhibition graphics, and packaging for institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery, and the Tate Gallery. Forbes collaborated with contemporaries and rivals such as Alan Fletcher, Bob Gill, Saul Bass, Paul Rand, Massimo Vignelli, Milton Glaser, Ivan Chermayeff, and Tom Geismar.

Pentagram and partnership

In 1972 Forbes co-founded Pentagram with partners including Alan Fletcher, Theo Crosby, Kenneth Grange, and Mervyn Kurlansky (note: historically other founding partners included Bob Gill and Armin Hofmann in various accounts), establishing an ownership and partnership model aligned with firms such as IDEO and the Frog Design ethos. Pentagram grew into an international collective with offices in London, New York City, San Francisco, Berlin, and Austin, and worked for clients like The New York Times, MoMA, Oxfam, Sotheby's, American Express, Microsoft, Apple Inc., Nike, Sony, British Airways, and Unilever. Forbes championed the partner-led model that connected design practice with business strategy at institutions including Harvard Business School and the Royal College of Art where Pentagram partners lectured.

Major works and projects

Forbes led identity and publication programs for major clients, producing visual systems and corporate manuals for firms such as Citibank, Barclays, Lloyds Bank, Royal Mail, British Petroleum, Shell, and Rolls-Royce. He directed design for exhibition catalogues and monographs for architects and artists including Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano, Anish Kapoor, Henry Moore, and Barbara Hepworth. His projects encompassed signage and wayfinding for cultural venues like the Southbank Centre, the Barbican Centre, and the Hayward Gallery, and publication design for houses such as Phaidon Press, Thames & Hudson, and Faber & Faber. International commissions brought work for government bodies and institutions including the United Nations, the European Commission, the British Council, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Design philosophy and influence

Forbes advocated clarity, functionality, and typographic rigor influenced by practitioners and movements such as Jan Tschichold, Eric Gill, Neville Brody, Adrian Frutiger, Max Bill, Armin Hofmann, Josef Müller-Brockmann, and the International Typographic Style. He emphasized the integration of graphic design with architecture and exhibition practice drawing from figures like Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, and Alvar Aalto. As an author and editor he contributed to discourses alongside writers and critics such as Steven Heller, Ellen Lupton, Paul Rand, Rick Poynor, and John Maeda. His pedagogical influence extended through teaching engagements and juries at the Royal College of Art, Central Saint Martins, Parsons School of Design, Yale School of Art, Cooper Union, and the School of Visual Arts.

Awards and recognitions

Forbes received honors and awards from organizations including the Chartered Society of Designers, the Royal Society of Arts, the British Design & Art Direction (D&AD), AIGA, Society of Typographic Designers, Type Directors Club, and the International Council of Design. He was featured in retrospectives at institutions like the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Design Museum and his work was included in collections at the Smithsonian Institution, the British Library, and the National Portrait Gallery. Professional recognition included lifetime achievement awards and fellowships from bodies such as the Royal College of Art and honors linked to the Order of the British Empire.

Personal life and legacy

Forbes maintained residences in London and New York City during his career and was active in networks connecting European Union cultural programs, transatlantic design exchanges, and philanthropy with organizations such as UNESCO and Amnesty International. His legacy persists through Pentagram, alumni who led firms like Fletcher/Forbes/Gill, Sagmeister & Walsh, Pentagram London, Studio Dumbar, and MetaDesign, and through students who became notable designers at institutions like Pentagram, IDEO, Fjord, Wolff Olins, Landor Associates, and Saffron Brand Consultants. Exhibitions, publications, and teaching continue to cite his approaches alongside those of Alan Fletcher, Bob Gill, Naresh Khanna, Louise Fili, Wolfgang Weingart, and Karel Martens.

Category:British graphic designers Category:1928 births Category:2022 deaths