Stuart Ash is a Canadian designer who rose to prominence in the late 1960s. He is known for creating strategic visual identities for Gottschalk + Ash, the Montreal-based design firm he co-founded with Fritz Gottschalk. He is widely regarded as one of Canada’s forefathers of worldwide graphic design.
Between 1957 and 1962, Ash studied graphic design at the Western Technical-Commercial School. In 1964, he received his bachelor’s degree from the Ontario College of Art and Design. He worked at Cooper & Beatty and Paul Arthur and Associates, among others, after graduating from high school. These advertising companies were among the most popular in Canada throughout the 1960s. They were well known for their large-scale advertising campaigns and typographic designs. He met Anthony Mann, Artistic Director and Typographer while working at Cooper & Beatty, and they collaborated on the design of the Canadian Centennial emblem.
He met Fritz Gottschalk, a Swiss designer while working on the centennial logo, and the two collaborated on the visual identity of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1965. Gottschalk + Ash was formed in 1966 when Ash and Gottschalk joined forces. This new firm immediately established a global reputation. He served as the agency’s director until his retirement in 2007. He was present at the contract signing between G + A and Entro, an environmental communication firm, in 2012.
Gottschalk & Ash’s visual universe is distinguished by its absence of adornment. Ornaments, according to the firm, are unnecessary. The message or information, however, must be clearly understood by the general population. As a result, G + A was primarily a corporate client. It has an international design that is straightforward, linear, and geometric. Their accomplishments demonstrate a play with space and composition. Furthermore, Helvetica is the prominent typography in their works. Their graphic works are distinguished by their cosmopolitan style, which is influenced by Swiss and Canadian influences.
G + A has established several offices across the United States and Europe over the years. They relocated to Toronto in 1972, then to New York in 1978. Gottschalk then travelled to Switzerland in 1979 to open an office in Zurich, while the Calgary office opened in 1997. G + A still has those offices in Toronto and Zurich today. Stuart Ash retired in 2007 and sold his Calgary and Toronto offices to DW + Partners, a business partnership active in Canadian design development.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Ash
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/stuart-ash
http://www.designculture.it/interview/stuart-ash.html
Image Sources:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centenial_Symbol.jpg#/media/File:Centenial_Symbol.jpg
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