SEGD Fellow, Richard Poulin, Presents His Latest Book: Rational Simplicity: Rudolph de Harak, Graphic Designer

Please join the SEGD Boston chapter and AIGA Boston Thursday February 9, 2023 from 6-9pm for a special evening with Richard Poulin discussing his new book, Rational Simplicity: Rudolph de Harak, Graphic Designer. Richard is an SEGD fellow and award-winning designer, educator, author, and artist. His career spans forty years in graphic, environmental, interior, and exhibition design where he divides his time between professional practice and academia. In his new book, Richard celebrates his mentor and unsung hero of mid-century modern design through featuring images of his work along with rarely shared collages, paintings, and remembrances from friends, family, students, and colleagues.

Inspired by modernism, Rudolph de Harak was one of the most influential American graphic design pioneers. His design work included everything from album covers, book jackets, and branding to furniture, exhibitions, and museums, often incorporating innovative and experimental photographic techniques and exploring abstraction, geometry, and color. With an early career beginning in Los Angeles to working as a design consultant and educator in New York City, de Harak’s clients include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Columbia Records, Esquire magazine, McGraw-Hill Publishing, and the Cummins Engine Company, among many others. Rational Simplicity: Rudolph de Harak, Graphic Designer is the first publication to document de Harak’s career.

“Rational Simplicity: Rudolph de Harak, Graphic Designer (Thames & Hudson) is a valuable addition to the chronicling of modernism and was worth the wait.
It is a big book that gracefully covers his graphic (notably book covers) and interior design, writing and philosophy, and is filled with just the right amount of historical, professional and personal detail. Poulin has given us an ideal monograph.”
—Steven Heller, The Daily Heller, August 25, 2022

The event will be held at Sasaki’s new Boston office, located at 110 Chauncy Street in Boston’s Leather District. The office is easily accessible from Chinatown and South Station. Food and beverages will be served.

Click here to RSVP on Eventbrite

Details:
Thursday February 9, 2023 from 6-9pm
Sasaki, 110 Chauncy Street, Boston, MA 02111

Schedule:
6:00 p.m.–6:45p.m. Doors open and check-in and tours
7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. Presentation and discussion
8:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. Book signing and reception

Tickets + Prizes:
Free Registration
Registration is required
SEGD/AIGA/BSA Members will be entered into our door prize raffles!

Thank you to Sasaki for allowing us to host in their beautiful new office space to Design Communications Ltd for sponsoring our event refreshments!

About Richard Poulin

Richard Poulin is a designer, educator, author, and artist. Throughout his career he has focused on a generalist approach to all aspects of design, including graphic, environmental, interior, and exhibition design, dividing his time between professional practice and academia. He was Design Director and Managing Partner of Poulin + Morris Inc., a New York City-based multidisciplinary design consultancy he co-founded in 1989 with Douglas Morris. As a highly-respected educator, he was an adjunct professor at Cooper Union and the School of Visual Arts for over two decades and a recipient of a research grant in design history from the Graham Foundation for the Advanced Studies in Fine Art. Richard is also a recipient of a Fellow from the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD), the profession’s highest honor; and his work is in the permanent design collections of the Denver Museum of Art, Letterform Archive, Library of Congress, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

He is the author of several books on graphic design, typography, and design history which have been translated into eight languages and used by students and practitioners worldwide. Richard’s new book, a monograph on the life and work of Rudolph de Harak—Rational Simplicity: Rudolph de Harak, Graphic Designer—traces the rich and varied career of one of the masters of American mid-century modernist graphic design and was released in the Fall of 2022 by Thames & Hudson (London). As an artist, his most recent solo exhibition, entitled “Visual Essays: Elemental Singularities” was at the Brian Marki Fine Art Gallery in Palm Springs, California. His fine art has also been exhibited throughout the United States and is in the collections of several private collectors.

Richard lives in Palm Springs, California.

You can follow his work or contact him on Instagram @richardpoulin or richardpoulin.net

When & Where
Thu, Feb 9, 2023 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Sasaki
110 Chauncy Street
Boston, MA 02111