Norman Arthur Potter (17 April 1923 – 22 November 1995) was a

cabinetmaker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...

, political dissident, poet and author of ''What is a Designer?''

Life

By trade, Potter was a cabinetmaker and designer, a minimalist decades before the term became fashionable. He was a

Christian anarchist Christian anarchism is a Christian movement in political theology that claims anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels. It is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answ ...

and was imprisoned several times for his political actions. In 1949, he set up a workshop at Corsham in Wiltshire that produced modern furniture. In the late 1950s, Potter attained a full-time position teaching design at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

. In 1964, Potter, along with several colleagues, established a Construction School at the West of England College of Art and Design in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. Potter sustained his political activism through this period, joining the student revolts of 1968. It was also in 1968 that Potter wrote ''What is a designer.'' A little over twenty years later, he followed up with ''Models & Constructs'' in 1990. Potter died of a heart attack in 1995 while bicycling in Falmouth."Norman Potter, 1923-1995." Robin Kinross. ''Unjustified Texts: Perspectives on Typography.'' London: Hyphen Press, 2002. pp. 68-71.

Books by Potter

*''What is a designer: things, places, messages.'' London:

Hyphen Press Hyphen Press is a London publisher of books on design and typography. Hyphen Press was founded by Robin Kinross in 1980, but has published nearly all of its books beginning in the 1990s. Hyphen Press has produced about thirty books on a diver ...

, 2002. () *''Models & Constructs: margin notes to a design culture.'' London:

, 1990. () In the late 1960s Potter taught at Chesterfield College of Art and Design and had a great effect on their Environmental Design where he showed that the ability to write reports and be creative with a typewriter was just as important as drawing and design.

Notes

1923 births 1995 deaths 20th-century anarchists 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British poets Anarchist writers British anarchists British Christians British designers British male poets Christian anarchists {{Anarchist-stub