说五角设计是家公司,倒不如说它是一个设计联盟。它前身是五十年代末期成立的“ Fletcher 与 Forbes ”公司,创始人是 Alan Fletcher 和 Colin Forbes 。经过一些年的发展,这间小公司开始接纳新的合作伙伴,并将公司名字改为五角设计(Pentagram),主要从事平面、建筑和工业设计。
Pentagram 采取平等合作的原则,加入公司的设计师都属于合伙人,他们彼此独立,各自负责自己的设计小组和项目。这些年,新加入公司的设计师大多是在行业内已树立了一定名声、在业务上已有实际经验的人。目前公司的合伙人有 19 位。如今他们在伦敦、纽约、旧金山和和奥斯汀等地设有 5 个工作室,做了许多大型项目。
如文章开头所说,Pentagram 的新年问候非常有趣,是通过卡片传达的。“我们的卡片强调的是家庭团聚的趣味性,绝对、绝对不是为了推销自己。”合伙人之一的 Michael Bieru t说,他从 1990 年起就开始在 Pentagram 工作了。每一年,19 位合伙人中的一人会承担卡片的设计工作,他先是在全体大会上提出粗略提案,大家提意见,该设计师再在几个月后的秋季会议上提交最终版本。
2009 年,设计师 John Rushworth 和 Naresh Ramchandani 设计了与卡片相对应的性格字体测验; 2010 年,设计师 Angus Hyland 设计了一个优雅的小册子,它是一种罕见的字谜,可以供全家人合作着玩;而今年,Angus Hyland 和他的团队再次承载了设计卡片的任务,来看看过去 41 年里的卡片吧:
1974 Matches (John McConnell)
1975 A Book of Rhyming Slang (Mervyn Kurlansky)
1976 Patience Games for Playing Cards (Alan Fletcher)
1977 Cocktails (John McConnell)
1978 An A-Z of Limericks (Alan Fletcher)
1979 Science Amusante (Alan Fletcher)
1980 Take a Piece of String (David Hillman)
1981 Six Ways to Fold a Table-Napkin (John McConnell)
1982 Mora: The Play of Love (Mervyn Kurlansky)
1983 Yours Sincerely (Colin Forbes)
1984 A Fortunate Hand (David Hillman)
1985 Paper Airplanes (John McConnell)
1986 Paper Puzzles (David Hillman)
1987 Six Domino Puzzles (David Hillman)
1988 Chinese Horoscopes (Mervyn Kurlansky)
1989 Thirteen Ways to Tempt Fate (John Rushworth)
1990 How to Remember Not to Forget (John Rushworth)
1991 Identify Thirteen Mystery Objects (John Rushworth)
1992 L Enfance de la Cuisine (Michael Bierut)
1993 First Draw Your Circle (David Hillman)
1994 How Good Is Your Taste? (Michael Gericke)
1995 The Pressman s Hat (John McConnell)
1996 Six Tunes for Eight Wine Bottles (John McConnell)
1997 AL for Bet (John McConnell)
1998 Ladle Rat Rotten Hut (Michael Bierut)
1999 Crossword (John McConnell)
2000 All the King s Horses (John McConnell)
2001 Why do you say that? (David Hillman)
2002 Fitting Words (David Hillman)
2003 I m afraid I have a phobia (David Hillman)
2004 Collective Wisdom (David Hillman)
2005 Alpha to Zulu (David Hillman)
2006 The Alphabet: A Critical Assessment (Michael Bierut)
2007 Decipher (Harry Pearce)
2008 A Number of Numbers (Michael Gericke)
2009 What Type Are You? (John Rushworth)
2010 See Opposite (Angus Hyland)
2011 Today I m Feeling Turquoise (Domenic Lippa, Naresh Ramchandani)
2012 Darling, I got you a paperclip (Naresh Ramchandani, John Rushworth)
2013 Coyote v. Acme (Michael Bierut)
2014
2015
1975 A Book of Rhyming Slang (Mervyn Kurlansky)
1976 Patience Games for Playing Cards (Alan Fletcher)
1977 Cocktails (John McConnell)
1978 An A-Z of Limericks (Alan Fletcher)
1979 Science Amusante (Alan Fletcher)
1980 Take a Piece of String (David Hillman)
1981 Six Ways to Fold a Table-Napkin (John McConnell)
1982 Mora: The Play of Love (Mervyn Kurlansky)
1983 Yours Sincerely (Colin Forbes)
1984 A Fortunate Hand (David Hillman)
1985 Paper Airplanes (John McConnell)
1986 Paper Puzzles (David Hillman)
1987 Six Domino Puzzles (David Hillman)
1988 Chinese Horoscopes (Mervyn Kurlansky)
1989 Thirteen Ways to Tempt Fate (John Rushworth)
1990 How to Remember Not to Forget (John Rushworth)
1991 Identify Thirteen Mystery Objects (John Rushworth)
1992 L Enfance de la Cuisine (Michael Bierut)
1993 First Draw Your Circle (David Hillman)
1994 How Good Is Your Taste? (Michael Gericke)
1995 The Pressman s Hat (John McConnell)
1996 Six Tunes for Eight Wine Bottles (John McConnell)
1997 AL for Bet (John McConnell)
1998 Ladle Rat Rotten Hut (Michael Bierut)
1999 Crossword (John McConnell)
2000 All the King s Horses (John McConnell)
2001 Why do you say that? (David Hillman)
2002 Fitting Words (David Hillman)
2003 I m afraid I have a phobia (David Hillman)
2004 Collective Wisdom (David Hillman)
2005 Alpha to Zulu (David Hillman)
2006 The Alphabet: A Critical Assessment (Michael Bierut)
2007 Decipher (Harry Pearce)
2008 A Number of Numbers (Michael Gericke)
2009 What Type Are You? (John Rushworth)
2010 See Opposite (Angus Hyland)
2011 Today I m Feeling Turquoise (Domenic Lippa, Naresh Ramchandani)
2012 Darling, I got you a paperclip (Naresh Ramchandani, John Rushworth)
2013 Coyote v. Acme (Michael Bierut)
2014
2015