Introduction
Richard Hollis (born 1934) is one of the most influential figures in British graphic design. Hollis has worked as a printer, a magazine editor, a print-production manager, a book writer, a teacher and a graphic designer.
Hollis was born in London and studied art and typography at Chelsea School of Art, Wimbledon School of Art and Central School of Art and Crafts in London before moving to Paris in the early 1960s.
Back in the UK he designed the quarterly journal Modern Poetry In Translation, became the art editor of the weekly magazine New Society and later created John Berger’s Ways of Seeing(a highly influential book based on a BBC television series) – in two stages Hollis designed the visual identity and marketing material for the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London. He also co-founded the School of Design at West of England College of Art.
He is perhaps best known for his best-selling Graphic Design. A Concise Historyand more recently Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style, 1920-1965. Hollis' body of work consistently suggests a strong connection between graphic design and the cultural and social conditions that inspire it.
Personal life
Hollis was elected Royal Designer for Industry in 2005; he lives and works in London.