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design in all aspects of
Canadian cultural life. He revolutionized more than the design department at UTP; he also revolutionized the relationship between editors, designers, and production and marketing employees, inspiring all with his camaraderie and brilliant innovation. This ability to inspire and galvanise disparate professionals was also a hallmark of his work in advertising and in typographic design, when those professions were not the flat hierarchies they have since become. His early death was a great loss to family and friends, but his work as a designer, collaborator and teacher continues to reverberate through the Canadian design world and beyond.
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393:—won AIGA awards in 1969. The following year, Fleming designed a logo for the Metropolitan Educational Television Authority and one for Gray Coach Lines, and was appointed to the National Design Council. Fleming also found time for civic duty, designing posters for the "Stop the Spadina Expressway" movement spearheaded by Jane Jacobs, Marshall McLuhan and William Kilbourn. Also in 1971, another UTP book,
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Beatrice Warde, gave an address on North
American graphic design, and persuaded Ken Rodmell, then living in London, to return to Toronto to work for him at Cooper & Beatty and join Jim Donoahue who by then also worked in the creative department at C&B. In 1961, Fleming became vice-president and typographic director in charge of creative services at C&B.
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August he experienced further heart problems which forced him to cut back on various activities. A highlight of the year was being made a fellow of the
Ontario College of Art, the first year this honour had been given, alongside the painter A.Y. Jackson. Another NFB book, "Canada", won the Leipzig World's Most Beautiful Book prize.
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a hand in guiding the final design execution of the
Canadian flag. Although it's attributed to others, it bears many of his typical design stylings and hallmarks and that he was hired by the federal government is indicated in his archives, according to his daughter. It has stood as one of the best national flag designs ever done.
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and the AIGA among others. As well as paying work for companies such as
General Motors, London Life, the Hudson's Bay Company, and others, Fleming produced witty and effective advertising ephemera for C&B itself. He also designed the "Type-o-file," an innovative pick-and-mix box of type specimens arranged by family.
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Brothers. That same year
Fleming was commissioned to design a new logo for Ontario Hydro (launched 1965), as well as the crest, letterhead, and other related materials for the new Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario (architect Ron Thom). In April 1963, Allan and Nancy's third child, Susannah, was born.
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In
September 1957 Fleming joined Cooper & Beatty Typesetters as typographic director and designer. The range and flair of the work he effected for C&B garnered attention internationally, and brought in a host of awards from the New York Art Directors Club, the Type Directors Club of New York,
208:
Between 1937 and 1939 the young Allan was hospitalized in Sick
Children's Hospital in Toronto because of an ear infection that required radical surgery and caused the permanent loss of hearing in his left ear. He never forgot the trauma. In 1939 Allan and his mother travelled to California as part of
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calls "his persuasive presentation style and genuine brilliance with words." Nor can it convey the attentive and inclusive style that made
Fleming such an inspiring colleague and friend: one from whom all who were interested could learn. He was an indefatigable mentor, teacher and public champion of
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He resigned from Burton Kramer
Associates Ltd in March 1976, joining Burns Cooper Donaohue and Fleming the following month. The range of his work from that office covered his complete editorial redesign for Canada's newspaper The Financial Post, a logo for media company Torstar, packaging design for
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Fleming was promoted in 1965 to vice-president and associate general manager, creative department at MacLaren Advertising. Fleming was involved that year in Liberal Party campaign materials – an election the Liberals won. Although he has never received any credit for it, it's very likely that he had
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Fleming married Nancy Barbara Chisholm in 1951. Working at the advertising firm Art and Design Service, he was involved with clients such as Ford, Helena Rubenstein, and Kaiser-Frazer. In April 1953, the Flemings relocated to England for two years, where Fleming studied letterforms and the design of
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It was a tumultuous year: in March he also left his wife and family and set up house with an editor from UTP, Prudence Tracy. A solo exhibition of Fleming's work curated by Alvin Balkind opened at the Vancouver Art Gallery; the exhibition also travelled to the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, and
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As of January 1974 Fleming became a director of the industrial design firm Kuypers Adamson Norton Ltd. and launched the CBC symbol with Burton Kramer. St Thomas's Anglican Church in Toronto commissioned him to design a logo for its centennial, and continued to design philatelic materials for Canada
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In 1973, Fleming joined Burton Kramer Associates as one of two principals, alongside Kramer. Among other projects during that period, the firm developed the new visual identity for the CBC and for Reed Paper. Concurrently, he also incorporated as Allan R. Fleming Graphic Design Consultants, but in
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In June 1971 Fleming had a heart attack while in Halifax and then a few months later a paralyzing stroke, forcing him to go on disability leave from UTP. He didn't stop working, designing philatelic materials for Canada Post such as a stamp with the artist Alma Duncan, first-day covers for the Paul
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From late June to early September 1960 Fleming travelled to the UK and Europe on a Canada Council for the Arts grant, meeting among others Jan Tschichold, Karl Gerstner, and Gunter Gerhard Lange of the Berthold type-foundry. He exhibited work at Monotype House Gallery in London at the invitation of
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While revolutionizing the look of scholarly books at UTP, Fleming also continued to do a wide variety of other design jobs for the Canada Council, Galanty Productions, Gramercy Holding Ltd, Jordan Wines, Philip and Noah Torno, the Hudson's Bay Company, and other MacLaren Advertising clients. With
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In 1968 the first hint of heart trouble occurred. Fleming was unwell that spring, and left MacLaren Advertising in May, though he continued to be on the board of directors and served as a creative consultant. That month he shifted gears to become chief of design at the University of Toronto Press
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Besides launching the CN symbol in 1960, Fleming redesigned the Bank of Nova Scotia logo, and worked on projects for Dow Chemical Company, Salada Foods, Jordan Wines, Vickers and Benson, Eaton's, and of course Cooper & Beatty. He began designing more books, such as the Montreal Museum of Fine
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Back in Toronto, he attended Western Technical Collegiate from 1943 to 1945 in the commercial art stream. When he was 15, in 1944, his father died of bone cancer. From 1945 until 1947 Fleming worked as an illustrator in the mail order-advertising department of the T. Eaton Company, and then until
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corporate logos of all time by design historian Alice Rawsthorn . In this same year he designed an innovative and gritty fundraising brochure in an unusual photo-documentary style for the United Church of Canada, as well as "Printing and Social Change" by Marshall McLuhan, which was published in
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magazine. After a tumultuous nine months there, during which Fleming radically redesigned the look of the magazine, he was hired as executive art director at MacLaren Advertising Company Ltd. Its clients included General Electric, General Motors, Hockey Night in Canada, Imperial Oil, and Lever
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1962 was another busy year for Fleming. He designed a logo for the Montreal Trust Company; letterhead for Hawker Siddeley Canada; graphics and the logo for Toronto's Malton Airport (architect John B. Parkin); all signage, monumental lettering, and the foundation stone for Massey College at the
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In 1959 the New York industrial design firm James Valkus commissioned Fleming to create a new logo for Canadian National Railways as a key part of Valkus' company-wide corporate redesign programme. The resulting logo, launched in 1960, is still in use today and acclaimed as one of the top 50
38:
237:. He became head of typography at the college, a post he held until 1961. He also set up an independent graphic design studio in his home in November 1955, hiring his then student, Ken Rodmell, as his assistant a year later. It was in this period that Fleming designed his first book.
413:: Howard was a close family friend, the wife of poet Richard Outram. And, in exchange for books for his considerable collection, Fleming also began designing stationery and catalogues for Monk Bretton Books, an antiquarian book dealer specializing in fine press books.
421:, the monthly Canadian book trade magazine, ran a feature on AF, and he continued to make regular contributions to professional gatherings. By 1972 Fleming had returned to UTP, but not for long: he suffered another debilitating heart attack early in the year.
453:
This outlined trajectory of Allan Fleming's career gives a sense of his personality and energy if only by demonstrating the sheer quantity and variety of his undertakings, but a simple chronology can't adequately suggest what Brian Donnelly in issue 63 of
381:(now today as the Toronto Catholic District School Board), the NE Thing Company logo, and a style guide for Canada Post that set the bar for the next 20 years. As a public educationalist, he was also a driving force behind such exhibitions as
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In 1966 Fleming became a MacLaren's director; by then he was responsible for the work of sixty-three staff in creative services. Among other accomplishments that year, seven of Fleming's projects were chosen for exhibition in
353:(UTP), a post that was created for him, and an association he maintained until his death in 1977. UTP was then the fourth largest university press in North America, publishing an average of eighty to a hundred books a year.
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master printer Ernie Herzig, he set up another small press, Martlet Press, which produced among others high-quality photography books with the National Film Board. A UTP Christmas keepsake,
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157:, he was vice president and director of creative services at the typographic firm Cooper and Beatty Ltd. when he designed the new CN logo in 1959. In 1962, he became art director for
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coming back to Toronto from the opening there, Fleming suffered a stroke. In late December Fleming had a cardiopulmonary collapse, from which he died on 31 December.
397:, translated by the renowned literary scholar and painter Barker Fairley and illustrated by one of Fleming's protégés, Randy Jones, won yet another AIGA award, and
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University of Toronto (architect Ron Thom); annual reports and invitations; and much more. But in November 1962, he left C&B in order to become art director at
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by the International Association of Printing House Craftsmen. Fleming also established his first private press that year, the Tortoise Press, whose first book was
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type and books, being mentored by such eminent English designers and design historians as Stanley Morison, Oliver Simon, Herbert Spencer, and Beatrice Warde.
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won the World's Most Beautiful Book prize at the Leipzig International Exhibition of Book Arts. 1971 saw Fleming designing the United Church of Canada's new
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Kane and British Columbia centennial stamps, and writing and hosting a program for CBC TV entitled "Calligraphy: My Love Affair with the Alphabet."
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When the Flemings returned to Toronto in May 1955, Allan set up as a freelance designer with illustrator Lewis Parker and taught part-time at the
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Allan Fleming Collection of Digitized Images, Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University Libraries, Toronto, Ontario
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Lorraine Monk of the National Film Board, Still Photography Division, commissioned Fleming to design the sumptuous NFB Centennial book,
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385:(Art Gallery of Ontario), and appeared on Robert Fulford's TV program, 'On Books'. Two of UTP's publications designed by Fleming --
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Fleming also co-organized (with Franklyn Smith) a number of significant exhibitions of internationally acclaimed designers such as
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1951 became a layout artist with Art Associates Studio and an art director with the advertising firm Aikin McCracken.
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433:, which is still used by UTP for this monumental editorial project, and another AIGA award-winner, Clarence Tracy's
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150:, and for revolutionizing the look of scholarly publishing in Canada, particularly at University of Toronto Press.
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Allan Fleming Papers, Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University Libraries, Toronto, Ontario
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Allan Robb Fleming was the son of Isabella Osborne Fleming, a nurse, and Allan Stevenson Fleming, a clerk with
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361:, by Kettle Point School and Anne and Alex Wyse, won an AIGA '50 Books of the Year'. The Martlet Press's own
344:, for which he was awarded the Centennial Medal of Canada and a gold medal for book design at Graphica '67'.
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his recuperation; attending the Hollywood Premier of "The Wizard of Oz" formed an indelible impression.
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409:, done for the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council. Closer to home, Fleming's Martlet Press published
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405:, in tandem with designer and UTP colleague Laurie Lewis. A notable UTP book that year was
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Cooper & Beatty Fonds (MS297), Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto
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This article is about the Canadian graphic designer. For the Australian librarian, see
649:, edited by Martha Fleming". Devil's Artisan: A Journal of the Printing Arts 63. 2008.
640:, edited by Martha Fleming". Devil's Artisan: A Journal of the Printing Arts 62. 2008.
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http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/allan-fleming-the-man-who-branded-a-nation
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MacKenzie Seeds and an award-winning album cover for singer-songwriter Sylvia Tyson.
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National Design Council of the Canadian Department of Industry (Design Canada), 1965
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Canada's Canadian Painters in Watercolour and Folk Painters of the Canadian West
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In 1969 Fleming designed both a symbol and the launch publications for the new
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magazine. From 1963 to 1968, he was director of creative services at
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285:. Peter Fleming, Nancy and Allan's only son, was born in August.
627:"Allan Fleming Graphic designer famous for CN's striking logo".
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Post. His work with UTP that year included the template for
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Art at the Service of Intention: Graphic Designers at Work
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MacLaren Advertising Fonds (R4467), Archives of Ontario
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Maclean's magazine, MacLaren advertising, Ontario Hydro
165:. From 1968 to 1976, he was the chief designer at the
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logo, designing the best-selling 1967 Centennial book
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Canada: A Year of the Land/Canada, du temps qui passe
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Canada: A Year of the Land/Canada, du temps qui passe
138:(7 May 1929 – 31 December 1977) was a Canadian
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Isabella Osborne Fleming and Allan Stevenson Fleming
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205:. They were both Scottish immigrants to Toronto.
260:Allan Fleming at the launch of the CN logo, 1960
731:Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
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614:"A closer look at the logo that defines CN"
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363:John Fillion: Thoughts About My Sculpture
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411:Twenty-Eight Drawings by Barbara Howard
267:Printing Progress: A Mid-Century Report
582:St. Thomas's Anglican Church (Toronto)
186:Society of Graphic Designers of Canada
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522:Centre for Medieval Studies, Toronto
91:Western Technical-Commercial School
537:Metropolitan Separate School Board
379:Metropolitan Separate School Board
142:best known for having created the
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304:cover by Fleming, 3 November 1962
178:Alliance Graphique Internationale
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431:The Collected Works of Erasmus
184:, and the first Fellow of the
174:Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
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399:The Economic Atlas of Ontario
387:The Economic Atlas of Ontario
660:External links (collections)
281:and the National Gallery of
638:Allan Fleming's Many Worlds
348:University of Toronto Press
167:University of Toronto Press
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721:Canadian graphic designers
695:National Gallery of Canada
647:In Allan Fleming's Archive
605:National Gallery of Canada
334:Canada: A Year of the Land
203:Canadian National Railways
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619:Canadian National Railway
600:"A.R. Fleming Collection"
480:Canadian National Railway
144:Canadian National Railway
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16:Canadian graphic designer
365:also won an AIGA award.
81:Toronto, Ontario, Canada
691:A.R. Fleming Collection
172:He was a member of the
116:Martha, Peter, Susannah
552:Ontario Science Centre
375:Ontario Science Centre
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235:Ontario College of Art
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182:Ontario College of Art
108:Nancy Barbara Chisholm
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273:, by Richard Outram.
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736:Artists from Toronto
449:Influence and legacy
163:MacLaren Advertising
456:The Devil's Artisan
377:, a symbol for the
221:Getting established
21:Allan Percy Fleming
629:The Globe and Mail
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302:Maclean's Magazine
279:Paul-Emile Borduas
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180:, a Fellow of the
131:Allan Robb Fleming
30:Allan Robb Fleming
697:, Ottawa, Ontario
435:The Rape Observ'd
419:Quill & Quire
359:The Alphabet Book
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74:December 31, 1977
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567:Gray Coach Lines
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140:graphic designer
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100:Graphic Designer
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631:. 1978-01-03.
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391:Rural Ontario
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76:(1977-12-31)
716:1977 deaths
711:1929 births
369:Last decade
271:Eight Poems
197:Early years
55:May 7, 1929
705:Categories
593:References
192:Chronology
97:Occupation
51:1929-05-07
524:, 1968–76
311:Maclean's
159:Maclean's
121:Parent(s)
87:Education
176:and the
153:Born in
113:Children
65:, Canada
693:at the
252:CN logo
63:Ontario
59:Toronto
584:, 1974
569:, 1970
554:, 1969
539:, 1969
497:, 1962
482:, 1959
403:Hymnal
336:, 1967
277:Arts'
105:Spouse
686:CCCA
389:and
71:Died
45:Born
135:RCA
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61:,
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49:(
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