Rudolph de Harak, also Rudy de Harak (April 10, 1924 – April 24, 2002), was an American graphic designer. De Harak was notable as a designer who covered a broad spectrum of applications with a distinctly modernist aesthetic. He was also influential as a professor of design.

Career

De Harak was born in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

. After serving in World War II, de Harak was influenced by two lectures given by

Will Burtin Will Burtin (1908–1972) was a graphic designer from Cologne, Germany, known for interrelating design and scientific concepts within his exhibits. He was an influential designer, educator, and theorist in Germany and the United States. He arrive ...

and

György Kepes György Kepes (; October 4, 1906 – December 29, 2001) was a Hungarian-born painter, photographer, designer, educator, and art theorist. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus (later the School of Design, t ...

which compelled him to pursue graphic design. Along with

Saul Bass Saul Bass (; May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) was an American graphic designer and Academy Awards, Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and logo, corporate logos. During his 4 ...

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and others, de Harak helped found the Los Angeles Society for Contemporary Designers before he moved to New York City to become art director for '' Seventeen'' for just 18 months. At the same time, de Harak drew illustrations for ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' and soon began his long tenure in teaching. De Harak founded New York-based design studio de Harak & Associates in 1950. In 1985 he was joined by designer Richard Poulin, who later became partner and assumed the role of de Harak & Associates’ principal, renaming it as de Harak & Poulin Associates. De Harak served as the Frank Stanton Professor of Design at the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

for 25 years, and was visiting professor at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred, New York, United States. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the statutory New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The In ...

, Parsons,

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

and other schools. He designed a three-story

digital clock A digital clock displays the time digitally (i.e. in numerals or other symbols), as opposed to an analogue clock. Digital clocks are often associated with electronic drives, but the "digital" description refers only to the display, not to the ...

installed on the exterior of 200 Water St. (previously 127 John St.) in New York City. The clock consists of "72 square modules with numerals that light according to date, hour, minute and second". He also designed a neon-illuminated entrance and a scaffold covered with brightly covered canvas outside. De Harak was a member of the 1989

Art Directors Club Hall of Fame The Art Directors Club Hall of Fame was established in 1971, by the Art Directors Club of New York, a professional organization in the design and creative industries. The Art Directors Club selects its honorees from those "who have made significant ...

. He was the recipient of a 1992 AIGA Medal.

Influences

De Harak's work was influenced by

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

and the

International Typographic Style The International Typographic Style is a systemic approach to graphic design that emerged during the 1930s–1950s but continued to develop internationally. It is considered the basis of the Swiss style. It expanded on and formalized the modern ...

. He was also influenced by

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

op art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create optical illusions. It began in the early 20th century, and was especially popular from the 1960s on, the term "Op ...

and pop art.

References

Notes

* Heller, Steven, "Rudolph de Harak, 78, Artist And Environmental Designer", The New York Times, April 30, 2002
The New York Times
* Heller, Steven, "Rudolph de Harak – A Playful Modernist", ''Baseline'' 45, edited by Mike Daines and Hans Dieter Reichert, Bradbourne Publishing, 2004. * Heller, Steven, "A Humanist's Modernist",

AIGA The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity. The ...

Medalists at aiga.or
A Humanist's Modernist
* Forester, Russel, "Rudolph de Harak", Graphic Design Archive at rit.ed
Rudolph de Harak, Graphic Design Archive at rit.edu
* "Rudolph de Harak", the 1989

Art Directors Club The Art Directors Club of New York is an organization for art directors in New York City. It was founded in 1920, and has grown as an industry group, promoting art directors' work through exhibitions and awards, including the annual DESI award fo ...

Hall of Fame at adcglobal.or
1989 Art Directors Club Hall of Fame at adcglobal.org
1924 births 2002 deaths American graphic designers Cooper Union faculty AIGA medalists {{Graphic-designer-stub