Dan Friedman

The New Wave era stretched limits of legibility; type broke from the grid structure. Not only was David Friedman known for his major contribution to the Postmodern and New Wave typography movements, but he was also a talented educator and furniture designer. From 1970 to 1973, he taught at Yale University and from 1972-1975, he was the chairman of the board for the design department at Purchase College. Friedman encouraged his students to push typography past legibility.

To make his designs distinctive, he used a lot of sans-serif and slab serif fonts to make them full of energy and eccentricity, despite often using black and white in his works. Friedman always chose to pursue projects that had a personal meaning and not professional interest. Unfortunately, Friedman passed away at the age of 49 in 1995. The design world lost a gifted icon but he left a legacy that has and will continue to inspire generations of artists and designers.