Donald Brun (1909-1999) was one of the most influential Swiss graphic designers and poster artists of his time. His work is humorous, fun and eye-catching. He used a palette of bright colours, often depicting stylised animals and inanimate objects taking on human traits.
His images were condensed down to their elemental message; simple, yet thoughtfully and intelligently designed. Take, for example, the smoking cockerel in his Gauloises poster (pictured above, 2nd row, on the right); not only is the bird’s body an angled packet of the cigarettes, his comb is a lick of fire and his legs are composed of matchsticks.
He was commissioned by many big companies such as Swissair, Perrier, Persil and Bata. He created the Pavilion for Chemistry at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958; the event famous for bringing us the Atomium. Unfortunately, I can’t find any images of the building.
He has a huge back catalogue and many of his designs, especially his advertising posters, are readily available. Original vintage examples and new prints can be found on Amazon, art.co.uk, Artnet and eBay.
Image credits:
Invaluable