NAPOLI
John McConnell
John McConnell [Design]: NAPOLI. Lissone, Italy: Arti Grafiche Meroni, [1985]. Original impression. 38.5 x 26.5 - inch [97.79 x 67.31 cm] trim size image printed via offset lithography on thick rag sheet. A nearly fine, fresh example with faint wear to the lower right corner.
38.5 x 26.5 - inch [97.79 x 67.31 cm] poster designed by Pentagram’s John McConnell “A poster commissioned by Napoli ’99 Foundation as a contribution towards the cultural image of the city.”
The Naples NinetyNine Foundation sponsored a series of 25 posters from 1984 – 1986 with the primary objective of contributing to the knowledge, promotion and enhancement of cultural heritage of Naples and Southern Italy.
The 25 participating designers were Walter Allner, Stuart B. Ash, Saul Bass, Bruce Blackburn, Pierluigi Cerri, Ivan Chermayeff, Giulio Confalonieri, Heinz Edelmann, Gene Federico, Alan Fletcher, Jean-Michel Folon, André François, Milton Glaser, Tomás Gonda, F H K Henrion, David Hillman, Takenobu Igarashi, Mervyn Kurlansky, Italo Lupi, John McConnell, Armando Milani, Art Paul, Tullio Pericoli, Arnold Schwartzman, and Massimo Vignelli.
Their interpretations of the city cover a wide range of themes: architecture, poetry, music, the earthquake, pollution, Vesuvius. The 25 posters have been exhibited in Naples, Rome, Los Angeles, Dundee, and Lahti. The project won the award for the best social graphics at the 1987 Lahden Biennal Exhibition. Collect them all!
John was director of Pentagram Design for 31 years before re-establishing McConnell Design in 2005. John is involved in all areas of graphic design for a broad range of clients including corporate identity, packaging and signage programmes, to posters, books and print. From 1983 to 1990 he was a board director responsible for design for Faber & Faber. John has also been a non-executive director of Cosalt Plc and is a member of the Royal Mail Stamp Advisory Committee. John has won many international awards including gold and silver D&ADs and the President’s Award for outstanding contribution to design, plus an American Art Directors Club award and a gold medal at the Warsaw Biennale. He served as President of the D&AD in 1986, a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Arts, and is a Royal Designer for Industry. In December 2002 John was awarded one of only two special commendations for the Prince Phllip Designers Prize.