Spotted #8
Adrian Dinsdale
When the National Theatre was constructed in London in the 1970s, a competition was held for its new identity. It is widely documented that the winning design was by FHK Henrion, one of the leading pioneers of corporate identity in Britain and a name familiar to all students of graphic design. In fact, most of those students will utter his name when the famous NT mark is put before them.
The truth however is a little different. Henrion permitted his assistants to submit some of their designs as part of the presentation to the National Theatre team and, much to his surprise, it was one of these which ended up being chosen. Designed by Ian Dennis, the iconic National Theatre logo continues to be widely used over 40 years later. And Mr Dennis has always been discreetly modest about the whole affair.
Other things we've spotted this week.....