Women in Design:
Barbara Stauffacher Solomon
Environmental graphics is a design discipline that combines traditional graphic design with spatial thinking, architectural, interior and sometimes landscape design. For many years, this was kept to functional wayfinding instead of a bold expression and extension of its environment. Then came Barbara “Bobbie” Solomon.
Known as the inventor of Supergraphics, Solomon is a single mother who designed “because I needed something to eat,” and was the first American trained by Armin Hoffman in the Swiss design tradition. She got her first big break developing the logo and branding for the innovative Sea Ranch community.
For the building interiors and exteriors, limited budget and resources forced Solomon to think beyond typical wayfinding concepts. Her solution combined a new Californian sensibility with her formal design training to create bold yet minimal murals of color, form and type that enhanced the spatial relationship instead of “ignoring” it.
While there have been multiple exhibitions of her iconic work, Solomon at 94 remains active today working on projects ranging from typefaces to books to murals. Her body of work has remained an inspiration from designers to moralists to architects.
She also has a new book out that you can purchase through our friends at Colpa Press: https://lnkd.in/gBNtNGfj