Henri Kay Henrion

Henri Kay Henrion (born Heinrich Fritz Kohn, Nuremberg, Germany) (1914–1990), was a German graphic designer.

After leaving school he went to Paris, and worked in textile design sweatshop before studying with poster designer Paul Colin. In 1936 he moved instead to England, to work in poster design. He designed a Modern Architectural Research (MARS) Group of architects. During Second World War he was interned as an alien but subsequently worked for the Ministry of Information designing posters for campaigns like Dig for Victory, Aid the Wounded, and Grow More Food.[1]

After the war he became art director at Contact Books and also designed two of the pavilions for the Festival of Britain. Subsequently he worked in the then emerging field of corporate identity - ensuring that a company’s visual identity is consistent throughout every medium it uses to communicate with the public. His clients included British European Airways, KLM, Tate & Lyle, The National Theatre, and the Post Office.[2]

Henrion lectured at the Royal College of Art from 1955 to 1965 and was head of Visual Communication at the London College of Printing from 1976 to 1979.[3]

Henrion was a member of the Artists' International Association, the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers (later the Chartered Society of Designers), and the Council of Industrial Design; in 1952 he became one of the earliest members of Alliance Graphique Internationale, in which designers from all over the world could meet and share ideas.

He was elected a Royal Designer for Industry in 1959, and was appointed MBE in 1951, OBE in 1985.[1] Henrion's archive and library are located at the University of Brighton Design Archives.[4]

Henrion married the British sculptor Daphne Hardy in 1947. Together they had two sons and a daughter. But she left him in the 1970s.

Gallery

Profile of a young man in red stripes against a blue backgro Wellcome L0026427 
Action Stations Art.IWMPST16460 
His Needs Come First Art.IWMPST16454 
Winter Meals from a Well-planned Plot Art.IWMPST17019 
Poison Gas Exhibition Art.IWMPST3682 



References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gentleman, David (Sep 2004). Henrion, (Frederick) Henri Kay (1914–1990). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
  2. ↑ Wainwright, David (1967). "Red letter days for the Post Office". Design Journal 1967. pp. 32–35. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  3. ↑ "London Transport museum poster collection".
  4. ↑ "University of Brighton Design Archives: FHK Henrion Archive and Research Library".