Ken Garland
Introduction '''Ken Garland''' (19 February 1929 – 20 May 2021) was a British graphic designer, photographer, writer and educator. Garland is known for his writing on design and the prolific work of his studio Ken Garland & Associates.
Early life and education Garland was born in Southampton, and he grew up in Barnstaple, north Devon. In 1945, he enrolled at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol and served in the Parachute Regiment after graduation where he was sent to Lübeck, Germany in 1948.He later studied design at London's Central School of Arts and Crafts, graduating in 1954.His classmates included Derek Birdsall, Alan Fletcher, Colin Forbes, Peter Wildbur and Philip Thompson. That same year, he married Wanda Wistrich.
Career After graduation, Garland became the art editor of ''Furnishings'' magazine. In 1956, he became art editor of ''Design'' magazine, the trade journal of the Society of Industrial Arts, until 1962.This period was a foundational for Garland’s future work and was commissioned to go to Switzerland to survey Swiss graphic design. In 1962, he left ''Design'' to form his own studio, Ken Garland & Associates.Garland was politically active throughout his career, notably as a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Garland produced material for the CND from 1962–68.It was during this time that he redrew the peace sign to the simplified, bold graphic widely used today.Garland taught throughout his career at the Central School of Art and Design (1986–91), University of Reading (1971-99), Royal College of Art (1977–87) and University of Brighton, among other institutions.Garland was a prolific writer. His work has been published in ''Baseline'', ''Blueprint'', ''Creative Review'' and ''Eye'' magazine. He is the author of five books on design, including ''Graphics Handbook'' (1966), ''Illustrated Graphics Glossary'' (1980), ''Mr Beck’s Underground map'' (1994) and ''A word in your eye'' (1996).In 2008, Garland founded Pudkin Books with his wife, artist Wanda Garland (Wistrich). Pudkin is known for a series of picture books each on the theme of "A Close Look at..." a particular subject.He died on May 20, 2021, of cancer.
Garland & Associates Garland established Ken Garland & Associates in 1962.Ken Garland & Associates employed a rotating group of designers over its 47-year period including Robert Chapman, Ray Carpenter, Trilokesh Mukherjee, Gill Scott, Patrick Gould, John O'Neil, Norman Moore, Frank Hart, Daria Gan, Colin Bailey, Peter Cole, Ian Moore, Paul Cleal, Richard Marston and Anna Carson. Garland insisted that work made at the studio was a team effort.The studio's clients included Galt Toys, Abbatt Toys, Race Furniture, the Butterley Group, Dancer & Hearne, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Barbour Index, the Labour Party, Paramount Pictures and the Ministry of Technology and Keniston Housing Association.
First Things First manifesto Garland's most famous piece of writing about the ethics of graphic design is the First Things First manifesto, published in 1964.This text argued for a return to humanist design, positioned against mainstream advertising: "in favour of the more useful and more lasting forms of communication". Garland recalled first scribbling it down during a meeting of the Society of Industrial Arts: "I found I wasn't so much reading it as declaiming it ... it had become ... that totally unfashionable device, a Manifesto. "The manifesto was signed by other designers including Edward Wright, Anthony Froshaug, Robin Fior and Ken Briggs. The text was widely circulated, reprinted several times in design journals and even ''The Guardian''.In 1999, the manifesto was re-signed by 23 prominent graphic designers and critics, and republished as the First Things First 2000 manifesto. It appeared in Adbusters magazine. Both manifestos have been widely written about and republished. In 2012, Garland published "Last Things Last" in ''Eye'' no. 83, vol. 21, which, among other things, refuted the division between designers and clients, of "us and them", in favour of designer / client partnerships.
Further reading *Adrian Shaughnessy,  ''Ken Garland: Structure and Substance''. Unit Editions, 2012.
References
External links *  Ken Garland and Ken Garland & Associates*  ‘First Things First’ in ''Emigre'' no. 51*  Reputations interview with Ken Garland in ''Eye'' no. 66 *  ‘Catch them before they vanish’ featuring Pudkin Books, on the ''Eye'' magazine blog*  Pudkin Books