While at the U of A, he also maintained his own design practise, designing annual reports, posters, signage and logos for corporate clients. He designed books for University of Alberta Press, developed signage systems for UofA Hospital, Edmonton Space Sciences Centre, and gave lectures and workshops across North America. He established the Alberta Chapter of the GDC in 1972. In 1985, he started a small letterpress business called Press at Pilot Bay, in Kootenay Bay, BC.

Since his retirement from the UofA in 2000, he now splits his time between Cincinnati (where his wife, Jane Merks, teaches graphic design) and British Columbia interior, where he produces limited edition artists’ books and prints through his letterpress business.


Eiko Emori
Bio to come.


Walter Jungkind
Walter was born March 9, 1923 in Zürich, Switzerland, served an apprenticeship as designer/ lithographer with the publishing house Orell Füssli AG, and studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich.

After travelling and working throughout Europe he continued his studies in London in 1950, where he also practiced freelance design and consulting. 1960–68 he taught graphic design and photography at the London College of Printing and Graphic Art.

In 1968 he was invited as Visiting Professor to the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, where he was instrumental in establishing the Division of Visual Communication Design and where he subsequently was promoted to Professor.

Walter Jungkind initiated and co-designed with his colleagues a number of international design exhibitions at the University, among them Intergraphic; Dutch Design for Government Institutions; Language made visible; Book design in Switzerland and Swiss Museum Posters; and he provided the concept for the exhibition Graphic Design for Public Service at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Zürich in 1977. In 1979 he produced and hosted a series of five television programs on Language made visible for CTV/ the national University of the Air.

His teaching/design practice focussed on exhibition design, visual identity and typographic design and on photography for design. He established design guides for the university and its publications. Jungkind was commissioned by Parks Canada to produce, with his students, a series of interpretation posters and a mural and initiated an international poster competition for the Universiade 83.

He was on the organizing committee of the international conference on Design for Need at the Royal College of Art in London, England, in 1975.

In 1976 he served as a jury member of the Warsaw Poster Biennale and for the Canadian National Look of Books Awards. Beside contributions to international design magazines he wrote the entry on Graphic design for the first (1986) edition of The Canadian Encyclopedia for Hurtig Publishers. He is featured in the international Who’s Who in Graphic Arts, volume 2, De Clivo Verlag, Zürich, 1986.

Walter Jungkind initiated and chaired the organizing committee of the Icograda Edugraphic 75 conference at the University of Alberta, which was the first international conference on design education in North America

1974–77 Walter Jungkind served as president of the international council of graphic design organizations (icograda), and for many years served as Canadian delegate to ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale). As president of Icograda he was invited to bring fraternal greetings to the ICSID (International Council of Industrial Design) congress in Moscow in 1976. He provided the theme and structure for the 1979 Icograda congress in Zürich and Lausanne.

In 1981 he was on the organizing committee and represented Icograda at the congress on Design Evaluation in Chicago. In 1981 he made a presentation to the joint ICSID/Icograda/IFI congress in Helsinki, Finland. In 2000 he was an honourary guest at the first Icograda congress in South East Asia in Seoul, Korea. Walter Jungkind was a founding member of the Society of Graphic Designers in Canada, first serving as chairman of the Education Committee, and subsequently three years as its President.

Among his honours are the Icograda Award for Design in the Educational Field, Vienna 1972, the Medal of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 1976, an Award of Excellence from the Type Director’s Club of New York in 1979, the Chairman’s Award of Merit of the National Design Council of Canada 1979 and a Citation of Merit from the Chairman of the National Design Council in 1982. He served several years as Chairman of the Canadian Advisory Committee on International Signs and Symbols of the Standards Council of Canada and as Canadian delegate to the International Standards Organization (ISO) in Geneva.

Walter Jungkind is not only a Fellow of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada he is a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers of Great Britain.


Jan van Kampen
Jan van Kampen’s 40 year graphic design career started with his 1965 graduation from the former Ontario College of Art in Toronto. Between 1965 and 1972 he worked for four prominent design firms in Toronto and Amsterdam. In 1972 he founded his own company specializing in corporate image and package design assembling an impressive portfolio of national and international clients. In 1987 he sold the firm to be able to devote his full attention to his 1986 appointment as head of department of Communication and Design at OCAD After completing a 10 year term he continued teaching full time until his formal retirement at age 65 in 2001. Jan continued as part time instructor at OCAD until 2005.

Since 1972 Jan has been a faithful member of the GDC. In 1976 he was elected president of the Ontario Chapter; from 1980 to 1982 he served as president of the National Council.

Over the years Jan has been asked to jury numerous design shows and competitions and lecture at various institutions in Canada and abroad. His most treasured recognition is the 1984 National Design Council Citation for Professional Design Excellence.

Jan takes pride in having been among those pioneers who pulled graphic design from the realm of commercial art and have it recognized by business and government as a distinct specialization and true profession.


Jules LaPorte
Bio to come.


Anthony Mann
Tony Mann was born in England in 1927. He trained as an industrial designer at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts, graduating in 1951, and practiced as a consultant exhibition and graphic designer in London before emigrating to Toronto in 1962. His interest in modern architecture had led him to believe that a new formalism was needed to systematise asymmetric typography and the first issue of the magazine Neue Graphik, in 1958, showed the existence of a cohesive new functionalist tradition, linking Modern Swiss and German design with the International Style.

It was difficult to find clients in England who were ready to accept the philosophy behind this approach, but in Canada he found a more receptive attitude to new ideas. The pioneering work of Ernst Roch and Rolph Harder in Montreal had already achieved recognition and Ernst’s corporate identity program for CN, which he did with James Valkus, was becoming identified internationally with modern Canadian design.

After a short period as a designer at CBC Tony was hired by Cooper & Beatty, Typographers, to replace Allan Fleming as creative director. Alan had built upon the early work of Carl Dair in creating a corporate identity for the company which had great influence upon Canadian design and regularly won recognition throughout North America. From this privileged position Tony was able to work consistently in the International Style, redesigning the corporate image and through the active advertising program reaching a wide design audience.

He joined a dedicated group of typographic designers meeting regularly as the Type Directors Club. Although most of them were committed to a more classical typography, they were generous in their acceptance of him and discussion his ideas and he was sorry to see TDC disbanded in favour of the wider graphic design concerns of the GDC.

In 1966 he approached Roch and Harder with the idea of forming an inter-disciplinary design group and together with Al Faux, a Canadian industrial designer, they opened offices in Toronto and Montreal under the name Design Collaborative. The Toronto office tended to concentrate more upon 3D projects but Tony continued to design for C&B and to develop information graphics projects, working mainly with architects, planners and government.

His 40th birthday prompted a review of his role in design. He had become disillusioned by the way in which much of the early idealism of post-war design had been lost, and realized that design was only as good as the use to which it was put by the client. He reluctantly resigned from the group to find a new direction.

When he was offered the chance to set up a new design program at the Nova Scotia College of Art he accepted the position of Chair of a separate Design Division and assembled a team of leading designers, direct from practice, who were also interested in finding a more socially responsible role for design education. After long involved discussion the Division introduced a four-year Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Design,the first Canadian design degree in an English-speaking college.

The focus of the program was upon information design geared to the local needs but soon included a new Environmental Planning department based upon the need for long term development in Nova Scotia. Both were driven by a shared sense of social responsibility and the programs initially shared core courses. The graphics faculty included Frank Fox (from James Valkus), Gerhard Doerrié (from Paul Arthur) and Horst Deppe who had already been running typographic design courses at the College. Ludwig Sharfe (from Design Collaborative Montreal) and Jurgen Hoffman (from Bill Newton) also joined the full-time faculty, which uniquely shared the same design philosophy with a strong typographic bias within the International Style.

Tony concentrated upon teaching first term and general courses and he developed a Design History course which traced the development of the modern movement. But when Hanno Ehses joined the faculty (from Germany) in 1974 he challenged the idea of teaching of any one particular formalism and persuaded the team that the program should concentrate upon the process of communication itself and the appropriate use of visual rhetoric. Under his leadership semiotics became the basis of the teaching and Tony revised his history course to provide an overview of graphic design styles in the 20th Century, analysing their origins and usages, investigating the isolates, sets and patterns through which they could be understood, discussing the social and technological. influences which informed them.

The typographic focus was relaxed and students were encouraged to use styles and media appropriate both to the message and to the audience. Design was seen as a discipline in its own right, irrespective of areas of practice, opening up the program to other disciplines involved in form-giving and communication.

After 1974 Tony continued to teach at NSCAD for the fall term, while spending the rest of the year making toys and automata for adults and public installations until, in 1998, he finally retired from teaching.

In 2002 he is still fully engaged in making one-of-a-kind automata, surrounded by sheep in the depth of the English countryside.


Neville Smith
Jim Donoahue, one of Canada’s best known trademark designers, says, “I’ve known Neville for more than twenty years. In the early days he was one of the few designers outside the city whose work Toronto designers knew and respected. I still have two framed posters of his: the wonderful one he did for the Black Cat Café and another for the National Aviation Museum. If you put them side by side they are very different types of posters—which shows his versatility—and I would have been happy to have done either one.” Theo Dimson, who like Smith and Donoahue is a Fellow of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, adds “I’ve always been impressed by Smith’s work, especially the posters. They are very innovative and elegant, with an interesting use of colour. Although Neville is a terrific guy, he is one of the few designers I know who is completely uncompromising in the quality of his work. He never gives in to trends. In fact, I feel safe to say that he is one of the most important graphic designers in Canada.” — Applied Arts Magazine

Born in Shawville, Quebec in 1939, Neville grew up in Ottawa; the son of a career soldier with a rich heritage of Irish, French and Métis culture. He pursued an early love of art after high school, working with designer and painter Gerald Trottier creating exhibits for the Federal Department of Agriculture. Trottier not only inspired Smith with his design knowledge, he helped the young man put his priorities in order. Recalls Smith, “after nine months he said he would fire me if I didn’t go to art school.” Thus motivated, he moved to Toronto to attend the Ontario College of Art, taking two years off half way through to work as an animator for Crawley Films in Ottawa.

Inspired by the preparations underway for Canada’s Centennial celebration and Expo ’6’, Neville Smith joined the Canadian Government Exhibition Commission after graduating in 1964. His first assignment was to refine the maple leaf design for the new Canadian flag. Within three months Smith was promoted to the International Design section. From 1965 to 1969 his show designs included the Frankfurt Fur Fair in Germany, the International Metal Show in Chicago and the International Water Fair in Poland. He was also involved in the numerous graphic assignments including work for the Canadian embassies in London and Oslo.

In 1968 Neville Smith was asked by the Chief Designer Frank Mayrs to work on the visual identity package for the Canadian Participation Expo ’70, in Osaka, Japan. This was a great honour; he considered Frank Mayrs to be the best design director he had ever had the privilege to work with. A national competition followed for the pavilion’s exhibit design. Smith was selected to the team and worked in Ottawa and Japan. Soon after he returned to Canada Neville focused on the private sector and formed Some Group Studio in 1971. The Group included four associates all interested in going back to their roots in print design. They received national recognition for their work in advertising, corporate identity and graphics in the 1970’s. Neville Smith Graphic Design was established in 1975 allowing Neville to work as the principal designer, providing professional services in all areas of visual communication.

A member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts, Neville Smith was nominated as a Fellow of the GDC in 1983. He was one of the founding members of the GDC Ottawa Chapter and served as Chairman of the Selection Committee between 1975 and 1985.

He has served as a judge for numerous award shows including the Advertising and Design Club of Canada and the Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators in Communications (CAPIC). At present Neville is a member of the Advisory Committee on Design at Algonquin College in Ottawa.

Neville Smith has received over two hundred national and international awards for design and art direction including, gold awards from the Toronto Art Director’s Club, the Advertising and Design Club of Canada, the Award of Distinction for Corporate and Visual Identity from Design Canada, awards of Distinctive Merit from the Art Director’s Club of New York, awards of Excellence from the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, Best of 80’s Show, gold awards from the Advertising and Sales Association of Ottawa, gold and silver awards from both Studio and Applied Arts magazines. Recognized worldwide his work has appeared in various books on design including publications in Canada, USA, England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Japan and Australia.

Studio Magazine, Canada, published a seven page article about Neville and his work in 1988 and included one of his illustrations on the cover.

In 1989 Graphis Press Corp., Switzerland published Graphis Corporate Identity 1. The book included Neville Smith’s work for the National Aviation Museum. Forty-five corporate identity programs from around the world were selected for their merit, with commentaries by Saul Bass and Eugene J. Grossman.

The Supon Design Group, Washington, D.C., in 1992 published successful logos worldwide featuring 23 acclaimed logo designers, including eight pages on Neville Smith and his work.

A special article entitled ‘Beautiful Simplicity’ appeared in the September 1995 issue of Applied Arts magazine. The five page story also displayed some of his more recent work.

In 1999 the Royal Ontario Museum selected work produced in Canada between 1949 and 1999 from the Advertising and Design Club of Canada’s 50th Anniversary show, for their permanent collection. Three of Neville’s works were included in the Museum’s Contemporary Culture Collection.

For forty years Neville Smith has provided professional experience in all areas of graphic design and communication. In recent years his focus has been on book design, stamp design and illustration.


Ulrich Wodicka
Ulrich was born in 1930 in Berlin. Upon completion of his studies, he chose a career in agriculture and trained and studied in Germany. In 1953, he emigrated to Canada as a “fully qualified farm worker.” After a short stay on a farm in Ontario, he settled in Montreal and worked in the service sector and telecommunications industry. In 1959, he changed direction and started formal design training at schools in Montreal.

His design career began in 1964 when Ulrich joined the Canadian Government Exhibition Commission in Ottawa. Four years later, he accepted a position as graphic designer at Statistics Canada, where he was responsible for the design of publications and material for the national census. In 1973, he joined Information Canada to work on the new corporate identity program of the government (Federal Identity Program). The following outline of the program’s history and scope helps to explain his roles and responsibilities as a senior design advisor.

The government had introduced the program in response to recommendations of the 1969 Task Force on Government Information. Several historical events preceded this decision, namely, the adoption of the Canadian flag in 1965, the centenary of the Canadian confederation and Expo‘67, and the proclamation of the Official Languages Act in 1969.

All these events focused attention on Canada’s national identity and, consequently, on the government’s visual identity.

The scope of the program proved to be extensive, and it is considered to be one of the largest corporate identity programs undertaken by a national government. During the eighties, an estimated 18,000 facilities, 16,000 government vehicles, and a multitude of forms, stationery items, published material and advertisements were identified in accordance with the program’s guidelines. Now in place for over three decades, the Federal Identity Program continues to be applied by over 100 federal institutions in all regions of Canada.

Initially, Ulrich’s work focused on the development of design standards for the various applications such as stationery and signage. This work was based on considerable research to get a clear understanding of government operations and methods to identify the various services and facilities. It soon became apparent that implementation of the new identity would be a major challenge for the small design office. At the time, the concept of corporate identity was unknown in government; moreover, anything related to graphic design was being perceived as temporary and bound to change when a new administration came to power.

In 1976, the Treasury Board of Canada took over the program and its focus changed. To implement the new identity effectively, a policy was needed and Ulrich’s role expanded. This meant acquiring additional skills to develop a new policy on visual communications, corporate identity and design. Being a first, the policy of the Federal Identity Program attracted considerable interest among provincial governments, public institutions, and also some foreign governments.

His work was challenging, because the program also had to meet political objectives of the government. In 1980, the “Canada” wordmark was introduced as the government’s global identifier. This required changes to the policy and design standards, and further broadened the program’s scope. In addition to his responsibilities for the corporate identity, Ulrich applied his knowledge in other areas. For example, he helped to develop the government’s first communications policy, was the advisor on the creation of titles for government institutions, and developed guidelines on the use of plain language in government communications. In summary, Ulrich helped to develop one of the largest and most complex corporate identity programs undertaken by a government. His association with the program ended after almost two decades when he retired in 1992.

Ulrich’s involvement with the GDC began in 1978 when he helped Eiko Emori and others founded the Ottawa Chapter. He served on the first executive board and assisted in raising the profile of graphic design in the capital. In 1983, he joined the National Council and contributed to a major revision of the Society’s constitution. During years when the GDC was without a national secretariat, he provided logistical support in Ottawa.

In 1993, the GDC decided to publish a national journal on graphic design. This led to a new task for Ulrich when he joined Mary Ann Maruska as co-editor of the Graphic Design Journal. Published from 1993 to 1996, the Journal tried to encourage dialogue on design issues, to promote excellence in design practice and education, and to record the history of graphic design in Canada. At the time, it was an ambitious undertaking for the GDC.

He served on various Canadian and international standards committees in the area of signs and symbols. The international standardization of graphic symbols was his special interest, and he became a recognized resource on the subject. Over many years, Ulrich made important contributions to standards on graphic symbols by ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and to the Canadian standard on signs and symbols for the workplace. In the course of this work, he collaborated with the late Paul Arthur, with Walter Jungkind and Jorge Frascara.

In the course of his career, Ulrich came into contact with designers and experts around the world. He was a member of the International Institute for Information Design (Austria), and the Information Design Association (United Kingdom), and he participated in congresses of Icograda (International Council of Graphic Design Associations) and the Design Management Institute (Boston). Ulrich wrote articles for national and international journals on aspects of corporate identity, signs and symbols, and design management, and made presentations on these subjects to audiences in Canada and abroad.

In 1983 he was named a Fellow of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada in recognition of significant contributions to Canadian graphic design.


Chris Yaneff (1928-2004)
Chris Yaneff was born and educated in Toronto. He studied at the Ontario College of Art, and also studied advertising and marketing at the University of Toronto. He joined Maclean Hunter Publishers in 1949 as art director of The Financial Post. In 1956, he founded Chris Yaneff Limited, a design counsel. The firm was soon expanded to include public relations and advertising.

He has numerous awards for the trademarks and packagings around the world, which have been exhibited in such leading design publications as Graphis, Graphik, Modern Publicity, print, CA, Typo Mundus 20, and other trademark books.

Chris Yaneff explains his design philosophy as “although I feel graphic design is a modern dynamic business, I prefer to live and work in a traditional environment surrounded by antiques, traditional and modern paintings and sculpture. For us this has created a unique, harmonious working atmosphere that enables us, I believe, to effectively blend the past with the present and future.” he continues, “our basic approach to designing is rooted very strongly in the areas of marketing and advertising. Our corporate symbol designs are always created as tools for visual communication, to capture public imagination and response. I believe in conducting intensive research programs as a base for our design developments.

In our designs, we work very hard to create a unique, yet simple, strong statement. Our approach to packaging is quite the same and might well be described as a trademark approach to packaging.”

Chris joined the GDC (TDC) in 1957, a year after its inception, along with Allan Fleming. He was President of the Ontario Chapter in 1982.

Chris Yaneff passed away on April 30, 2004.