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Bradbury Thompson was a graphic designer who was born in 1911 in Topeka, Kansas. At a young age, Thompson had an affinity for visual arts and was encouraged by his family to do art. At junior high school, he became interested in book design and typography and later took art classes in high school and became an editor for the school’s paper and designer for the yearbook. He later attended Washburn College and designed the yearbook covers for the undergraduates. Although he graduated in 1943, he spent the next 5 years in Kansas working at a large local printing company called Capper Publications where he would design yearbooks and magazines. Thompson later moved to New York City where he became the art director for Rogers-Kellogg-Stillson printing firm and then at Mademoiselle magazine, a consulter for Westvaco Corporation, and later a teacher at Yale University. He worked on many projects but some notable ones include a 16 page promotional booklet and 60 issues of Westvaco’s magazine which shows Westvaco’s printing capabilities, designing wartime magazines for the Office of Wartime Information, his monograph “The Art of Graphic Design”, The Washburn College Bible which was a typography bible which would influence many designers, and many more. Thompson’s work made typography more easier to read and was also unique and it showed that he had a love and passion for typography and design principles unlike any other designer at the time.

I enjoy looking at Thompson’s work. His style is very colourful, playful, and very conceptual and he still manages to convey what the message of the product is. I like how he uses CMYK colours for his designs which give it a unique look and how he plays with simple shapes and type to make the designs look more dynamic.

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Sources

https://library.rit.edu/gda/designers/bradbury-thompson

http://www.designishistory.com/1960/bradbury-thompson/

https://www.aiga.org/medalist-bradbury-thompson