Marcello Minale (December 15, 1938 – December 30, 2000) was a world-renowned Italian designer, writer and a former international

oarsman Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

Early life

Marcello Minale was born into an Italian naval family in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

in 1938, the son of a colonial administrator and former naval captain who became a local city mayor in Aziziya, Libya.

Education and formative influences

After studying art and architecture at the Technical Institute of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Minale won his first assignments for an architectural magazine in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and for a Scandinavian company in charge of interior design and graphic design in Rome. Minale worked briefly for the

Young & Rubicam VMLY&R is an American marketing and communications company specializing in advertising, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the merger of VML, founded in 1992, and Young & Rubica ...

advertising agency in Rome before moving to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in 1961 to be part of the golden age of

Scandinavian design Scandinavian design is a design movement characterized by simplicity, minimalism and functionality that emerged in the early 20th century, and subsequently flourished in the 1950s throughout the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, ...

working firstly as a designer for Taucker and then as Art director for Mackkinointi Uiherjuuri – both Finnish advertising agencies. It was at the Industrial Design School in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

where Minale was introduced to Scandinavian Modernism – amongst his seminal influences were the Finnish designers

Tapio Wirkkala Tapio Veli Ilmari Wirkkala (2 June 1915 – 19 May 1985) was a Finnish designer and sculptor, a major figure of post-war design. Life and work Wirkkala was born in Hanko in 1915. He attended the Töölö co-educational school in Helsinki. His fa ...

and Alvar Aalto whose style was a world away from the Baroque Italian household in which he had grown up.

Work

In 1962, Minale came to Britain to work as a designer in London, again for

and met his future partner Brian Tattersfield. Two years later, the duo formed Minale Tattersfield during a period that coincided with a new generation of young London design firms including

Wolff Olins Wolff Olins is a British advertising agency and corporate identity consultancy. It was started in 1965 and has offices in London, New York City and San Francisco. It now employs some 150 designers, strategists, technologists, programme managers ...

and Fletcher/Forbes/Gill. These fledgling firms were jettisoning the old commercial-artist tradition in favour of a more simple and pared-down style of visual communication much influenced by Bill Bernbach in New York. Minale made sure his fledgling design firm got noticed. The firm even introduced its own corporate logo – the "Scribble", a loose, free-form, pencil-drawn counterblast to the formal graphic conventions of the time. With Tattersfield the quieter foil to Minale's exuberant frontman, the partnership swiftly prospered. Its client list grew to include:

Thames TV Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

, London Transport,

British Airports Authority Heathrow Airport Holdings is the United Kingdom-based operator of Heathrow Airport. The company also operated Gatwick Airport, Stansted Airport, Edinburgh Airport and several other UK airports, but was forced by the Competition Commission to se ...

, Nestle, Harrods, NatWest,

Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operate ...

, Imperial War Museum,

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the ' ...

, Sydney Olympics and many more.

Design establishment contribution

Minale contributed widely to the British design community, helping to launch and fund

Blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

, and over the years became a mentor to many young designers. A favorite phrase of his was ''“keep moving”'', and his energy, thoughtfulness and generosity of spirit inspired many who worked with him. Minale was President of

D&AD Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. I ...

between 1981–2 and a Fellow of 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 ...

. Minale also contributed to the design establishment as an author and was published a variety of books on visual identity, branding and the business of design including the only design-led book looking at the modern service station. He also devoted time and energy to writing and to illustrating four children's books. In his obituary Marcello Minale was described by Jeremy Myerson in

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

as 'one of British commercial design's most colourful and original practitioners' and 'a man of wide interests whose flair and expertise put him at the forefront of British design for three decades.'

Awards

Minale Tattersfield has received more than 300 international awards for design creativity and design effectiveness. They include: 13 Silver awards from the

– the prestigious President's Award for outstanding contribution to British Design, and 3 Gold awards from

Art Directors Club of New York The Art Directors Club of New York is an organization for art directors in New York City. It was founded in 1920, and has grown as an industry group, promoting art directors' work through exhibitions and awards, including the annual DESI award for ...

. In 2012 Minale was named eighth most awarded designer of the last five decades by the D&AD with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement: Designer Award.

Personal life

Away from design, Minale's two great passions were his family and his rowing: * Minale was twice married: first in 1963 (source: freebmd.org.uk) (dissolved 1974), to Ebba Oljemark, with whom he had a son, Marcello; and second in 1975, to Roberta Broadbridge, with whom he had two sons Manlio, a brand consultant and Massimo, who is studying architecture at Cambridge. * An international medal winner in rowing at the 1956 European Championships,Later to become the World Championships Minale's love of the sport remained firm, becoming the chairman and President of the

Tideway Scullers School Tideway Scullers School is a rowing club on the Tideway of the River Thames next to Chiswick Bridge in Chiswick, London. The club previously held the headship for the Head of the River Race (2009), the largest UK eights event, and the senior s ...

between 1995 and 2000.

Published works

Design books

How to design a successful petrol station
Booth-Clibborn Editions, 2000 ()
How to Keep on Running a Successful Design Company
Booth Clibborn Editions, 1999 ()

() Booth-Clibborn Editions, 1998
How to Run & Run a Successful Multidisciplinary Design Company
Internos Books, 1996 ()
The Leader of the Pack
Elfande, 1993 () * Minale Tattersfield Creative Unit, 1965 (ASIN: B001P534KC)
The Image Maker: Biography of Minale Tattersfield
Booth-Clibborn Editions, 1995 ()
Design: The World of Minale Tattersfield
Booth Clibborn Editions, 1990 ()
The Best of British Corporate Design
Booth Clibborn Editions, (), 1989
Best of British Packaging
Booth Clibborn Editions, 1988
Design a la Minale Tattersfield
Booth Clibborn Editions, 1986/7

Children's books

Tomo the Water Dragon
Dobson Books Ltd, 1977 ()
The Black Pencil
Dobson Books Ltd, 1974 ()
Tree That Couldn't Fly
Dobson Books Ltd, 1972 ()
Creatures Great and Small
1965 (ASIN B000K6JR5I)

Design work

Furniture, industrial and interior design

* 'MTP 1' chair designed by Minale Tattersfield & Partners Ltd. for MTP Furniture, 1972. (VADS

* 'Grid' armchair with frame designed by Minale Tattersfield & Partners Ltd. for MTP Furniture, 1972

* Ceramic wall tiles designed by Minale Tattersfield & Partners Ltd. for Cedit, Italy, 1969

* Bench for use on underground station platforms. Designed by Minale Tattersfield & Partners Ltd. as part of proposals for the modernisation of Northern Line stations for London Transport, c. 1977. (VADS

* Various furniture designs by Marcello Minal

* Shower system designed by Minale Tattersfield & Partners Ltd. for Aqualisa, 1978. (VADS

* Base of knock-down table designed by Minale Tattersfield & Partners Ltd. for Zanotta (company), Zanotta, 197

* Cast iron road signs for Much Wenlock in Shropshire, commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee, 1977 (VADS

* Posters and other examples of graphic design with chairs and tables designed for Zanotta, MTP Furniture and Cubic Metre Furniture. 198

Posters

* Mural/wall panels with cricket ball motif for the Oval underground station, c. 1977. (VADS

* British Airports at The Design Center, Museum of Modern Art (poster), 1980 (MoMA

* Milton Keynes will be good for your healt

poster, 1973 (V&A) * Milton Keynes. The kind of city you'll want your family to grow up in (poster), 1973 (V&

* Where is Milton Keynes? (poster), 1973 (V&A

* Milton Keynes. A new city comes to life (poster), 1972 (V&A

*Milton Keynes: The City's Future (poster), 1970 (V&A

*Cubic Metre (poster), (V&A

References

External links

* Minale Tattersfield's official websit

* Logo Designers – Marcello Minal

* In 1988, Michael Bryce joined with design consultants Marcello Minale and Brian Tattersfield in London to form Minale Tattersfield Bryce and Partners becoming an international partner of the Minale Tattersfield Design Strategy Group working across corporate identity, branding and urban design. DF: 105KB

* IDEA NO.78 : Five Young Designer

* The Best Designs Never Seen, RED, The Design Council, September 16, 200

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minale, Marcello 1938 births Logo designers British graphic designers Italian graphic designers 2000 deaths