THE IBM POSTER PROGRAM VISUAL MEMORANDA Robert Finkel and Shea Tillman

The IBM Poster Program: Visual Memoranda

In the late 1960s, IBM was one of the world’s pre-eminent corporations, employing over 250,000 people in 100 countries. While Paul Rand’s creative genius has been well documented, the work of the IBM staff designers who executed his intent outlined in the IBM Design Guide has often gone unnoticed.

Share:

In the late 1960s, IBM was one of the world’s pre-eminent corporations, employing over 250,000 people in 100 countries. While Paul Rand’s creative genius has been well documented, the work of the IBM staff designers who executed his intent outlined in the IBM Design Guide has often gone unnoticed. The poster designs by Ken White, John Anderson, and Tom Bluhm and photographer Rodger Ewy included in the newly released book by Lund Humphries, “The IBM Poster Program: Visual Memoranda,” represent some of the most creative examples of mid-century corporate graphic design, while offering a unique commentary into corporate employee communications of the period. They also embody the full extent to which Thomas J. Watson Jr.’s mantra, “Good Design is Good Business” permeated every facet of the IBM organisation, and created a lasting influence on curated corporate design in America.

IBM Book Cover 02
The IBM Poster Program: Visual Memoranda 6

“… a collection created under the spiritual auspices of Paul Rand and Elliot Noyes.”
Steven Heller, PRINT

The IBM Poster Program:
Visual Memoranda
byRobert Finkel & Shea Tillman

111 Color Poster Reproductions
136 Pages
290 × 240 mm
Sappi Magno Matt 170gsm Paper
Softcover, Thread Sewn Bound
ISBN: 9781848224704
Published by Lund Humphries

Order here

THE IBM POSTER PROGRAM VISUAL MEMORANDA Robert Finkel and Shea Tillman
THE IBM POSTER PROGRAM VISUAL MEMORANDA Robert Finkel and Shea Tillman
THE IBM POSTER PROGRAM VISUAL MEMORANDA Robert Finkel and Shea Tillman
THE IBM POSTER PROGRAM VISUAL MEMORANDA Robert Finkel and Shea Tillman

More graphic design articles

Members Content

Kohei Sugiura’s work spans an impressive range of mediums, including record jackets, publication covers, posters, exhibition catalogues, and stamps. He perfectly merged functionality and data visualisation with aesthetics. Drawing on his background in architecture, Sugiura applied a systematic, programmatic methodology to graphic design, similar to the approach of Swiss designer Karl Gerstner. 
A short free-to-access feature on Swiss Design. The movement was influenced by Bauhaus and De Stijl, sought clarity and visual unity, making it a powerful force in global graphic design that remains influential today.

Members Content

In December 1924, the Netherlands introduced children's stamps (Kinderzegels). Over the years, these stamps have featured designs by some of the most prominent Dutch designers, including Gerard Kiljan, P. Koch, Gerrit Noordzij, Otto Treuman, Robert Deodaat Emile ‘Ootje’ Oxenaar, Dick Bruna, Jan van Toorn, and Karel Martens.

Members Content

Takenobu Igarashi was born in 1944 in Tokyo and is best known for his typographic work as both a sculptor and designer. His work in over 30 permanent museum collections and continues to inspire designers today.

Members Content

Just like people, cities are complex systems. Planners and designers play a key role in making them function smoothly through well-designed signage systems and visual identities. These elements must not clutter the environment but instead serve to inform, direct, and warn the public effectively.  

Members Content

Notes on transit and network map design, including the iconic London Underground map by Harry Beck, the importance of visual clarity, and the role of accessible design in timetable design.

Members Content

A 1,500 essay on the transformative era of graphic design from the 1970s to the 1990s. Moving beyond the constraints of modernism, designers like Wolfgang Weingart and April Greiman redefined visual communication through bold experimentation with type, colour, and early computer graphics. This essay highlights how postmodernism and New Wave design introduced complexity, individuality, and digital innovation in to graphic design.

Members Content

Yoshio Hayakawa is one of Japan’s most influential post-war poster designers. His work represents a fusion of traditional Japanese art and European modernism often using soft, poetic brushstrokes and refined colour palettes and capturing the elegance of Japanese aesthetics while integrating the clean lines and bold visual language of Western design.