James "Leslie" Gardner OBE RDI (29 December 1907 – 25 March 1995) was a British museum and exhibition designer. Although most widely known for his exhibition work, Gardner also undertook illustration and ship design work. His archive is located at the

University of Brighton Design Archives The University of Brighton Design Archives centres on British and global design organisations of the twentieth century. It is located within the University of Brighton Grand Parade campus in the heart of Brighton and is an international research r ...

Early career

Educated at

Westminster School of Art The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. History The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum. H. M. Bateman described ...

, Gardner's career began as an apprentice for Cartier jewellers in 1923. After a period of international travel in the 1930s, Gardner returned to London and began working for the commercial design consultancy, Carlton Studios. His early commissions included advertising work for a number of clients, including

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

. Commissioned by their art director

Jack Beddington John Louis Beddington (1893–1959) was a United Kingdom advertising executive, best known for his work as publicity director for Shell in the 1930s and as head of the Ministry of Information Films Division during World War II. Biography Earl ...

, Gardner undertook poster and exhibition work for them.

Second World War

INF3-144 War Effort Bombing scene Artist James Gardner

Drafted into the Camouflage Training School at Farnham during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Gardner designed a series of inflatable deception projects which included

dummy tank Dummy tanks superficially resemble real tanks and are often deployed as a means of military deception in the absence of real tanks. Early designs included wooden shells and inflatable props that could fool enemy intelligence; they were fragile and ...

s and landing craft.James Gardner Archive
– The Archives Hub Gardner was also employed by the Ministry of Information as an illustrator at this time. In the 1940s, Gardner designed three non-fiction children's books for Puffin Picture Books.Penguin First Editions
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Exhibition and museum design

Following the war, the

Council of Industrial Design The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the prom ...

commissioned Gardner to oversee various exhibition projects; the most significant of these was the

Britain Can Make It ''Britain Can Make It'' was an exhibition of industrial and product design held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1946. It was organised by the '' Council of Industrial Design'', later to become the ''Design Council''. Background E ...

exhibition of industrial and product design in 1946. So began Gardner's career which included contributions to the Enterprise Scotland exhibition in 1947, and the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

in 1951, where he designed displays for the 'People of Britain' and part of the South Bank exhibition. He was also Chief Designer of the

Battersea Park Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies marshland recla ...

pleasure gardens. FoB-01

In 1953, Gardner designed the public decorations for

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

's Coronation. Trade shows were a key area of Gardner's work, both at home and overseas. He designed exhibition stands for

Central Office of Information The Central Office of Information (COI) was the UK government's marketing and communications agency. Its Chief Executive reported to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. It was a non-ministerial department, and became an executive agency and a ...

projects,

Ideal Home ''Ideal Home'' is a British home decorating magazine, published monthly (11 times a year) by Future plc Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span ...

exhibitions, and the United Kingdom Board of Trade. At the

Brussels World Fair Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...

in 1958 and

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

in Montreal, Gardner's exhibition designs presented ideas concerning British identity. According to Gardner, his aim was 'to offer quirky reinterpretations of people's expectations'. Gardner worked extensively for museums and on cultural heritage exhibitions; in 1962, he designed dioramas for the newly relocated

Commonwealth Institute The Commonwealth Education Trust is a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pro ...

in London, commissioning artists such as Barbara Jones to design murals. His 1972 'Story of the Earth' display for the

Geological Museum The Geological Museum (originally the Museum of Economic Geology then the Museum of Practical Geology), started in 1835 as one of the oldest single science museums in the world and now part of the Natural History Museum in London. It transfe ...

, London, was acknowledged as a significant breakthrough in science museum design and critically acclaimed and imitated worldwide. Amongst Gardner's other notable projects were: *

Pilkington Pilkington is a Japanese-owned glass-manufacturing company which is based in Lathom, Lancashire, United Kingdom. In the UK it includes several legal entities and is a subsidiary of Japanese company NSG Group. Prior to its acquisition by NSG ...

Glass Museum (1965) *

Evoluon The Evoluon was built in 1966 as a science museum by the electronics and electrical company Philips. It quickly became a landmark in Eindhoven, where Philips was headquartered at the time. The museum closed in 1989 and the building reopened as a ...

Museum, Eindhoven (1966) *Museum of the Diaspora, Tel Aviv (1978) *

Butterfly House A butterfly house, conservatory, or lepidopterarium is a facility which is specifically intended for the breeding and display of butterflies with an emphasis on education. Some butterfly houses also feature other insects and arthropods. Butterf ...

, Syon Park, London (1981) *The National Museum of Natural Science, Taiwan (1988) *

Tower of David Museum The Tower of David ( he, מגדל דוד, Migdál Davíd), also known as the Citadel ( ar, القلعة, al-Qala'a), is an ancient citadel located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem. The citadel that stands today dates to ...

, Jerusalem (1989) *

Museum of Tolerance The Museum of Tolerance-Beit HaShoah (MOT, House of the Holocaust), a multimedia museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, is designed to examine racism and prejudice around the world with a strong focus on the history of the Holocaust. Th ...

, Los Angeles (1993)

Other commissions

Alongside exhibition design, Gardner was also involved in mainstream industrial design and interior design commissions. These included a prestigious commission from the

Cunard Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...

cruise line to design the interior and superstructure for the QE2. His design for the ocean liner was described by The Council of Industrial Design as that of a "very big yacht" and with a "look hat wassleek and purposeful".

James Gardner (3-D Concepts) Ltd.

Together with Eve Harrison and Simon Muirhead, Gardner established James Gardner (3-D Concepts) Ltd. in 1978. The London-based company provided a specialist service in museum and exhibition design, from initial concept to installation.

Awards and accolades

Gardner received an OBE in 1947 for services in connection with the British Government Pavilion at the Universal and International Exhibition, Brussels. He was also elected a

Royal Designer for Industry Royal Designer for Industry is a distinction established by the British Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in 1936, to encourage a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. It is awarded to people who have achieved "sustaine ...

(RDI) in this year. In 1989 Gardner was awarded the

Chartered Society of Designers The Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) is a professional body for designers. It is the only Royal Chartered body of experienced designers. Its membership is multi-disciplinary – representing designers in all design, disciplines including I ...

Medal for outstanding achievement in industrial design.Chartered Society of Designers �
Minerva Medal Winners

Bibliography

*''War in the Air'', Penguin, lithographed by W. S. Cowell Ltd, 1940, ASIN: B000XA75J6 *''On the Farm'', Penguin, lithographed by W. S. Cowell Ltd, 1940 *''The Battle of Britain'', Penguin, lithographed by W. S. Cowell Ltd, 1941, ASIN: B0013EBH2M *''Exhibition and Display'', with Caroline Heller, B.T. Batsford, 1960, ASIN: B000XA0BMO *''Elephants in the Attic'', with Ralph Steadman, Orbis, 1983, *''The ARTful Designer: Ideas Off the Drawing Board'', James Gardner, 1993,

References

External links and further reading

Enterprise Scotland
British Pathé video showcasing interior of exhibition, 1947
Evoluon
BBC2 Trade Test Film, showing the Philips Evoluon technology exhibition, 1968
Works by Gardner in the Imperial War Museum collectionRoyal Designers for Industry & Britain Can Make It
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, James 1907 births 1995 deaths Alumni of the Westminster School of Art Artists from London British designers Exhibition designers Industrial designers Museum designers Officers of the Order of the British Empire British poster artists World War II artists