Artist Info
Derek Birdsall
1934 Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire
1949-1952 Enters Wakefield College of Art
1952-1955 Wins scholarship to Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.
1955-1957 National Service on ROAC printing unit in Cyprus
1957 first commercial commission from Balding & Mansell printers in London. Balding & Mansell continue to print his work as a supplier
1960 Birdsall designs his first Penguin covers
1961 Designs literature for Lotus Cars and for Pirelli, including three of the now famous Calendars; also designs packaging for Morphy Richards (domestic appliances) and Dorothy Gray (cosmetics)
1960-70 Art-directs magazines including Town, Nova and Twen
1963 Elected to the Alliance Graphique Internationale
1970 Re-styles Penguin Education series; also commissioned by Mobil Oil to design Pegasus, their magazine for world-wide distribution which eventually ran for 20 years in six languages. The commission was followed by several print advertising briefs and books for Mobil companies all over the world
1977 Designs Monty Python book for a fee comprising temporary membership of the comedy group and 1/7 of the royalties
1980-97 Designs several major art catalogues
1983 Made Royal Designer for Industry (RDI); founded Omnific Studios
1987 Art Directors Club of New York gold award
1988-92 more magazine design and art-direction, including The Independent Magazine and the first issue of the Sunday Telegraph Magazine
2000 Wins the commission for a new edition of the Book of Common Worship, the book of liturgical forms and services belonging to the Church of England.
2004 Designs a set of commemorative stamps for the Royal Society of Arts 250th anniversary
2005 Awarded Prince Philip Designers Prize.
Wrote ‘Notes On Design’, (Yale University Press, 2005),
He has taught at London College of Printing, , the Royal College of Art, and Central Saint Martins
