Walter Landor

Walter Landor (9 July 1913 – 9 June 1995), born Walter Landauer in 1913 in Munich, Germany, was a brand design legend and the founder of Landor Associates. He was an acclaimed designer and a pioneer of branding and consumer research techniques widely used to this day. Landor Associates, the company he founded in 1941, has offices around the world and enjoys a significant reputation for rigorous strategic thinking coupled with groundbreaking creativity.

Walter Landor, date unknown (probably late 1970s).

"Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind," Walter Landor memorably stated. He had a particular gift for creating designs with broad popular appeal, such as the Coca-Cola script. Brands as diverse as General Electric, Japan Airlines, Levi Strauss, and Shell Oil all benefited from his vision and commitment.

In early life Landor's aesthetic sense was influenced by the Bauhaus and Werkbund design movements, as well as by his architect father. Following his studies at the University of London's Goldsmiths College, the 23-year-old Landor became the youngest Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

In 1939 Landor traveled to the United States as part of the design team for the British Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. He continued west to San Francisco and quickly decided to settle there. "For me it was a city that looked out on the whole world, a city built on the cultural traditions of east and west," he later said. "How could I live anywhere else?

Landor and his wife, Josephine, launched a design firm in their small flat, working from the living room table. Passionate about his work, he succeeded in attracting clients from a wide variety of fields, adding staff and relocating to larger offices as the need grew. In a move characteristic of his ebullient personality and original business style, Landor bought a retired ferryboat, the Klamath, in 1964 and turned it into his company's corporate headquarters.

Walter Landor working on the deck of the Klamath docked in San Francisco Bay (1960s).

In 1994 the Smithsonian Institution honored Walter Landor by establishing a permanent collection of his designs and packaging. Landor died in 1995 at the age of 81 , but his work is carried on by the company that bears his name.

His work included brands like Del Monte, Marlboro, Fujifilm, Tab and Bank of America. He also designed the corporate identities for many airlines, including Alitalia, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Cathay Pacific Airways, and Singapore Airlines.