A major retrospective of acclaimed UK Graphic Designer to comes to  
CUBE, Manchester in 2010

Alan Fletcher: Fifty years of graphic work (and play)
RUNS : 21.01.09 – 03.04.09
PREVIEW: 6-9pm, Thursday, 20.01.09

PRESS LAUNCH: 4pm, Thursday 20.01.09
Please RSVP to: info@cube.org.uk

Described as ‘Britain’s best ever graphic designer’ by the Observer  
and ‘one of the giants of 20th Century design’ by the Guardian, CUBE  
Gallery is delighted to announce that a major retrospective of  
Britain’s most celebrated graphic designer is to be showcased in  
Manchester. Alan Fletcher was the most prolific Graphic Designer of  
the 20th Century and his legacy continues to influence global trends  
in graphic design. This will be the first time that Manchester and  
beyond will see such a vast and important retrospective archive  
celebrating 50 years of the designer’s work (and play).


John Cage 1993. Design by Alan Fletcher. © RA


Alan Fletcher: 50 years of graphic work (and play), curated by Emily  
King.

Alan Fletcher (1931-2006) was co-founder of Fletcher/Forbes/Gill in  
the 1960s and Pentagram in the 1970s and created enduring graphic  
schemes including the identities of Reuters and the V&A. In his role  
as Creative Director of Phaidon Press he had a major impact on book  
design and forged links with a new generation of graphic designers.

By synthesising the graphic traditions of Europe and the US into a  
spirited, witty and very personal style, Alan Fletcher has defined  
modern graphic design in Britain since the early 1960s. The exhibition  
at CUBE explores the ingenuity of Fletcher’s commercial work for high  
profile clients, including Olivetti, ICI and Lloyds, alongside the  
personal projects in lettering, collage and illustration, with which  
Fletcher has entertained himself – and us – over the years.


Alan Fletcher: 50 years of work (and play)
Admission £4/£3.50 concession
FREE to CUBE members.
Join CUBE now for as little as £10!

For more information and images, please contact:  
kit.turner@cube.org.uk, 0161 237 5525.
To enquire about pre booking tickets please contact info@cube.org.uk



ENDS

Notes for Editors

CUBE (Centre for the Urban Built Environment)
CUBE is one of Europe’s most exciting art, architecture and design  
centres, dedicated to broadcasting the ideas and issues that lie  
behind buildings, spaces and cultural networks that make up our built  
environment.
CUBE (Centre for the Urban Built Environment) 113-115 Portland Street,  
Manchester M1 6DW, Telephone: 0161 237 5525 Fax: 0161 236 5815, e- 
mail: info@cube.org.uk. www.cube.org.uk: Gallery Opening hours:

Monday - Friday 12:00 – 5:30, Saturday 12:00 -5:00




Design Museum
The Design Museum is one of the world’s leading museums devoted to  
contemporary design in every form from furniture to graphics, and  
architecture to industrial design. It is working to place design at  
the centre of contemporary culture.

www.designmuseum.org.uk



Alan Fletcher

Born to British parents in Kenya in 1931, Fletcher came to Britain as  
a five-year-old to be brought up in West London. Rejecting the rigid  
grooves of post-war middle class life, he enrolled in art school where  
his contemporaries included Derek Birdsall, Peter Blake, and future  
business partner Colin Forbes. As a student at the Royal College of  
Art, Fletcher won an exchange to study at Yale in the US, offering the  
opportunity to be taught by eminent designers such as Paul Rand and  
artist Josef Albers. He absorbed as much graphic design in 1950s  
America as possible, meeting and befriending important talents such as  
Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar. He even spent a  
spell in Los Angeles working as a freelance designer for the legendary  
titles designer Saul Bass. Fletcher returned to London via Milan at  
the end of the 50s, and in 1962 formed Fletcher/Forbes/Gill, later  
becoming Crosby/Fletcher/Forbes. He went on to co-found Pentagram in  
1972, which today, having continued the legacy for ideas, craft and  
professionalism, is widely acknowledged as a world-leading design  
company.

After leaving Pentagram in 1992, Fletcher set up his own studio in  
order to concentrate on the projects he found most interesting. He  
quickly amassed an impressive client list, among others Domus,  
Novartis, Knoll and was appointed Creative Director of Phaidon  
1994-2006. Fletcher set high design standards for the company’s books,  
with bestselling titles such as The Art Book and The Silver Spoon. He  
also detailed his personal design philosophy in his own publications  
including Beware Wet Paint, 1996, The Art of Looking Sideways, 2001,  
Maverick Postcards, 2004 and Alan Fletcher: Picturing and Poeting, 2006.



Kit Turner
Exhibitions Coordinator

CUBE
113-115 PORTLAND STREET.
MANCHESTER M1 6DW
T: 0161 237 5525
F: 0161 295 5880
W: www.cube.org.uk

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Present Exhibitions:

CUBEOpen 2009
CUBELab: Andrea Booker
London Bridge 800
22.01.2009 to 03.04.2009

Future Exhibitions:

Alan Fletcher: 50 years of work (and play)
21.01.2009 to 30.04.2009

For more info: http://www.cube.org.uk/exhibitions/

Opening Times:

Mon-Fri 12-5:30pm
Saturdays 12-5pm
Sunday closed