Alan Fletcher (1931-2006)
Design's heart has skipped a beat.Alan Fletcher passed away on September 21, 2006. He passed on almost three years from the day that links myself, a good friend - Karla, the Raven Press at the University of Delaware, and Alan Fletcher. I had the good fortune of meeting the founder of Pentagram while studying abroad in the summer of 2003.
It's sad that we sometimes only chose to look back and celebrate someone's life once they pass, but that is what I did upon hearing the news. I looked for the journal I kept that summer. In it I found a small paragraph of thought from the day that we sat on Alan's floor.
It seems that simplicity was what I took away from the visit. Alan Fletcher seemed to work from a blank canvas and add only what was needed. There was no fluff or decoration. The message was communicated by the least means necessary, and by doing so surprised the audience with minimalistic intelligence. His work was always smart that way.
I also recall Alan being rather unable to elaborate on his abilities. Like masters of all crafts, he seemed to make it all look effortless. Asking him to describe the way he worked was like asking Tiger Woods what his hands were doing mid-swing. I imagine that you think about it, practice it, improve it, but when you're at the height of your game, there is no direct thought, only action.
Alan was rather open to us, despite his stature. He was the equivalent of a pop idol for many of us. When given the choice between meeting Bono or Alan Fletcher that day, I dare say that many of us would have chosen to see Alan. Despite this, he sat and entertained our questions and musings without any arrogance or sense of privilege. He either chose to ignore his place in the design world, or trivialized it to the point of ultimate humility.
One of Alan Fletcher's book shelves, which speaks volumes to his humble nature.What I will recall most is the deed that Alan Fletcher agreed to do, on the part of the students that summer. He allowed us to commission him to create a mark for a fledgling letterpress studio, back across the pond, at the University of Delaware. The press had been the pet project of two university professors, Ray Nichols and Bill Deering. It was their hope to pass along the idea to students that "type has weight." Alan certainly understood this, and when asked if he would create a logo for the press he not only agreed, but he delivered an piece that was as perfect as perfect could be for that task.
The mark he created was a hand-drawn blob (if you will), with penned beak, an eye formed from a small circular sticker and a hand drawn asterisk, finished with two fledgling lines of legs. The playfulness of the construction, the simplicity of the design, and the youth of the raven itself embodied everything that Raven Press was at that point. To say that our professors were pleased when we surprised them with the design would be a vast understatement.What Alan had done was show his incredible generosity through the most important means - design. Many know him for the ways he contributed to the world of design in very public and popular ways. I will always remember him for the generosity he showed to a group of aspiring creatives, who hoped to soak up a fraction of his greatness that day.
Thank you Alan. You will be missed.
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