Bob Gill

Robert Charles Gill (January 17, 1931 – November 9, 2021) was an American illustrator, graphic designer and author. Prolific and influential creative, Gill was notable for his concept-driven designs that blended graphic design and illustration, and popularized the use of visual puns and short, direct copy.

Together with Alan Fletcher and Colin Forbes, Gill co-founded British design company Fletcher/Forbes/Gill that after his departure grew into the international consultancy Pentagram. They also founded D&AD, a long-standing British educational organization in design and art direction.

Gill was known for his work as design educator and as author and designer of many widely referenced books on graphic design, advertising and visual culture. He also co-created 1977 Broadway musical Beatlemania, illustrated multiple children's books, and designed film titles for films and TV.

Early life and education Robert Charles Gill was born on January 17, 1931, in the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised by a single mother, Frieda Gill (née Gotthelf), who struggled to earn a living as a piano teacher. Gill also acted as a film title designer, referred to as a production designer, for several films of Ray Harryhausen.

In 1960, after an interview in a New York hotel room for a job in London, he moved to the UK to work for an advertising agency Charles Hobson.

Fletcher/Forbes/Gill On April Fools' Day 1962, Gill, Alan Fletcher and Colin Forbes established Fletcher/Forbes/Gill design studio, the forerunner of Pentagram. It was one of the first designer-led agencies in London. In addition to the three founding partners, Fletcher/Forbes/Gill (commonly abbreviated as F/F/G) initially only employed two assistants and one secretary, and worked out of a former mews house near Baker Street in London. Their early clients included Penguin, Pirelli and Time Life.

In 1962, Gill, Fletcher and Forbes also started the British Design and Art Direction, a long-standing educational organization now known as the Designers and Art Directors Association, abbreviated as D&AD.

Graphic design: Visual Comparisons, a 1963 book co-authored by the three partners of F/F/G, sold more than 100,000 copies. and urging him to join a then-unknown band The Rolling Stones.

In 1967, Gill, reluctant to grow the company, He also proposed a peace monument for Times Square, for which Gill wanted to collect military junk from all over the world, pile it 40 feet high, spray it matte black, and mount it on a block of white marble. The New York City Fine Arts Commission rejected the project. An early proponent of concept-driven advertising and graphic design,

Gill is an author of more than 20 widely referenced He was elected to the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 1991 Gill died on November 9, 2021, in Brooklyn, aged 90. Graphic design: visual comparisons, New York: Reinhold, 1964 Bob Gill's Portfolio, Amsterdam: Wim Crouwel / Stedelijk Museum, 1967 Bob Gill’s Portfolio, London: Lund Humphries, 1968 I Keep Changing, New York: Scroll Press, 1971 | Bob Gill's New York, London: Kynoch Press, 1971 Ups & Downs, Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1974 Forget All the Rules You Ever Learned About Graphic Design, Including the Ones in this Book, New York: Watson-Guptill, 1981 Bob Gill, so far., London: Laurence King Publishing, 2011 |