Comd Professor Arch Garland Dies

Sep 11, 2009

Arch Garland, graphic designer and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Communications Design department at Pratt Institute, died on Wednesday, August 12, after fighting a long, brave, inspiring, and amazingly cheerful struggle with brain cancer.

Joining the Pratt community in 1997, Garland was an indispensable faculty member in the Communications Design department, serving on both the Curriculum Review and Sophomore Review committees. As an instructor, he was a student favorite and his Senior Project classes were frequently the first to fill. Garland also served as the AIGA Faculty Liaison, acting as a mentor and guide to the student-run design group. During this time, he coordinated a well-received lecture from designer Chip Kidd and other events to promote students’ awareness and participation in professional design associations.

From 1996 to 1998, Garland was vice president and Education Chair of the New York chapter of the AIGA. He assisted the Joint Ethics Committee’s steering council in updating its Code of Fair Practices and co-programmed “Fresh Dialogue,” a celebrated lecture forum that explores emerging patterns in graphic design. Garland himself, lectured at a variety AIGA events as well as the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (Smithsonian Institution) on matters of design and education. His work has been included in numerous design references, including Emigré as well as its commemorative 10th-anniversary book, Emigré: The Digital Realm. He has contributed to Plazm, Gruppe Ten, Unholy Alliance, Sphere, Graphics International, and to the book, Influences: A Lexicon of Contemporary Graphic Design.

Garland earned a B.F.A from Louisiana State University and an M.F.A. in Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 1989, he founded Flyleaf, a graphic design firm specializing in the marketing and promotion of cultural and performing arts institutions.

A memorial will be held in his honor on September 13th at 1pm at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York.

©2010 Pratt Institute Communications Design Department. Website by Michael Gerbino and Tom Keenoy