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Tibor Kalman

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Tibor Kalman
טיבור קלמן
Born( 1949 -07-06)July 6, 1949
Budapest, Hungary
DiedMay 2, 1999(1999-05-02) (aged 49)
Vega Alta, Puerto Rico
NationalityAmerican
EducationNew York University
Known forgraphic design
Colors magazine
Spouse
​
(m. 1981)​
Children2
Parents
  • George Tibor Kalman (father)
  • Marianne I. Dezsõffi (mother)
AwardsAIGA medal (1999)

Tibor George Kalman[1] (Hebrew: טיבור קלמן; July 6, 1949 – May 2, 1999)[2] was an American graphic designer of Hungarian origin, well known for his work as editor-in-chief of Colors magazine.[3][4][5]

Early life

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Kalman was born on July 6, 1949, in Budapest, to parents Marianne I. (née Deezsoffy or Dezsőffi) and George Tibor Kalman.[6][7][8] He became a United States resident in 1956, after he and his family fled Hungary to escape the Soviet invasion, settling in Poughkeepsie, New York.[9] Both of his parents had Jewish ethnic roots and converted to Catholicism to avoid persecution, so "Kalman only became aware that he was Jewish at the age of 18".[10]

In 1967, he enrolled in New York University (NYU) to study journalism and history.[11] While at NYU, he wrote for a student newspaper,[11] joined Students for a Democratic Society, a leftist student organization,[12][13][14] and took part in Anti-Vietnam war protests.[15] He dropped out of NYU, and in 1970 traveled to Cuba to harvest sugar cane and learn about Cuban culture as a member of the Venceremos Brigade.[9][16]

Career

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In 1971, Kalman returned to New York City where he was hired by Leonard Riggio for a small bookstore that eventually became Barnes & Noble. He later became the creative director of their in-house design department, where he created advertisements, store signs, shopping bags, and the original B&N bookplate trademark.[16][2] In 1979, Kalman – along with his wife Maira Kalman,[17] Carol Bokuniewicz, and Liz Trovato – started the design firm M & Co., which did corporate work for such diverse clients as the Limited Corporation, the new wave rock group Talking Heads, and Restaurant Florent in New York City's Meatpacking District.[18] He sought to challenge mundane design thinking and aspired to create unpredictable work.[3] Kalman also worked as creative director of Interview magazine in the early 1990s.[9]

By the 1980s, Kalman was known for being "the 'bad boy' of graphic design" because of his antics and radical consciousness. He believed that award-winning design was only possible when the client was ethical, and frequently called other designers out when he did not agree with their actions. He defined good design as a benefit to everyday life and should be used to increase public awareness of social issues.[3][2] Kalman adopted a vernacular style as a way to protest corporate International Style which was the primary design style of the time.[2]

Colors magazine

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See also: Colors magazine

Kalman and Oliviero Toscani started the Benetton-sponsored magazine Colors in 1991.[19][20][21] Two years later, Kalman closed M & Co. and moved to Rome, to work exclusively on Colors.[4] Billed as "a magazine about the rest of the world", Colors focused on multiculturalism and global awareness. This perspective was communicated through bold graphic design, multilingual typography with texts in seven languages,[15] and juxtaposition of photographs and doctored images, including a series in which highly recognizable figures such as the Pope and Queen Elizabeth were depicted as racial minorities.[9][3]

Personal life

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From 1981 up until his death, Kalman was married to the illustrator and author Maira Kalman (née Berman).[22][23][24] They met while attending NYU.[24] Together they had two children, Lulu Bodoni and Alex Onomatopoeia.[23][25]

Death and legacy

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The onset of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma forced Kalman to leave Colors in 1995 and return to New York. In 1997, he re-opened M & Co. and continued to work until his death on May 2, 1999, in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico.[9][2] Kalman was posthumously awarded the 1999 AIGA medal as the "design profession's moral compass and its most fervent provocateur".[3][26]

Publications

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  • Tibor Kalman: Perverse Optimist, a book about Kalman's work and that with M&Co, was published by Princeton Architectural Press in 1999. Tibor Kalman (Designer); Peter Hall, Michael Bierut (Editors); Kurt Andersen, Steven Heller, Rick Poynor, Paola Antonelli, David Byrne, Jay Chiat, Jenny Holzer, Isaac Mizrahi, Florent Morellet, Leonard Riggio, Rebecca Robertson, Ingrid Sischy, Elizabeth Sussman, Olivero Toscani (Contributors) [9] ISBN 1568982585

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Tibor George Kalman in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007". Ancestry.com. Social Security Administration. 1999.
  2. ^ a b c d e Heller, Steven (1999-05-05). "Tibor Kalman, 'Bad Boy' of Graphic Design, 49, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  3. ^ a b c d e Heller, Steven. "Tibor Kalman". AIGA | the professional association for design. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  4. ^ a b Poynor, Rick (17 May 1999). "Obituary: Tibor Kalman". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  5. ^ Haber, Matthew (May 19, 1999). "Tibor Kalman: A highly innovative and influential designer, the onetime editor of Colors magazine died May 2". Salon.com. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  6. ^ "Obituaries: Tibor Kalman, Graphic Designer With Social Focus, Dies at 49". WWD. 1999-05-10. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  7. ^ "Marianne Kalman". USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  8. ^ "Kalman, George T.". Newspapers.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. 13 June 2003. p. B08. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Tibor Kalman | Contributors | COLORS Magazine". www.colorsmagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  10. ^ Antonelli, Paola; Kalman, Tibor; Bierut, Michael (1998). Perverse Optimist. Booth-Clibborn Editions. p. 54. ISBN 9781861540928.
  11. ^ a b "Road to somewhere". Design Week. 1999-05-14. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
  12. ^ Lazere, Arthur (1998-01-01). "Tiborocity: Design and Undesign by Tibor Kalman, 1979-1999". CultureVulture. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
  13. ^ Hockenberry, John (1998-12-03). "DESIGN NOTEBOOK; The Splendid Rage Of Tibor Kalman". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
  14. ^ "Eye Magazine | Feature | Reputations: Tibor Kalman". Eye Magazine. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
  15. ^ a b Munro, Silas; Coles, Stephen; Gaiter, Colette (2022). Strikethrough ! typographic messages of protest the official catalogue for the 2022-2023 exhibition [Letterform Archive, San Francisco, 23.07.2022 - 14.01.2023]. Letterform Archive. San Francisco (Calif.): Letterform Archive. p. 215. ISBN 978-1-7368633-0-5.
  16. ^ a b "Tibor Kalman". ADC • Global Awards & Club. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  17. ^ "M & Co. Biography, People: Collection of Cooper Hewitt". Cooper Hewitt Museum. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  18. ^ Makovsky, Paul (March 20, 2006). "Restaurant Florent – 1985: A New York restaurateur creates a cultural hub by combining politics with design, activism with good food". Metropolis. Retrieved 2010-01-03. Quote: Florent Morellet "left most of the 1950s luncheonette features intact, and gave Tibor Kalman and M & Co. free reign [sic] to create ads and graphics that cultivated a Florent culture that survives today and extends well beyond the walls of the space."
  19. ^ "Colors Magazine". Benetton Group (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  20. ^ Armstrong, Stephen (2002-05-27). "The story of Benetton's Colors magazine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  21. ^ "Benetton: Colors # 1". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  22. ^ "Tibor Kalman in the New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907–2018, License 7442". Ancestry.com. New York City Municipal Archives. 1981.
  23. ^ a b Alam, Rumaan (April 30, 2018). "The Singular Magic of Maira Kalman, at home with the beloved writer and illustrator". The Cut.
  24. ^ a b Heller, Steven (Spring 2003). "Reputations: Maira Kalman". Eye Magazine. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  25. ^ Pearlman, Chee (2001-11-01). "FIRST LOOK; Unleashing Her Inner Child". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  26. ^ "AIGA Medals Bestowed on MFAD Faculty". MFA Design. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
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