Richard Poulin on His Career + the Work of Rudolph de Harak

Design Milk is happy to share the second lecture of the 2023/2024 academic year of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies Design Conversations Lecture Series featuring the multi-hyphenate, Richard Poulin. The Southern California designer, artist, educator, and author discusses his extensive career which has been divided between professional practice and academia. Having spent over 30+ as Design Director and Managing Partner at the multidisciplinary practice Poulin + Morris, he’s well-versed in all aspects of design, including graphic, environmental, interior, and exhibition. In the talk, Poulin discusses his “organic” and “fluid” generalist approach to design, and how he’s constantly evolving his approach in order to accommodate the ever-changing world.

front cover of a pink and white graphic design book

Rudolph de Harak Graphic Designer: Rational Simplicity book by Richard Poulin

His love of books and sharing design with the world led him to release, Rudolph de Harak Graphic Designer: Rational Simplicity, a tribute to one of the most influential graphic designers of the mid-twentieth century. Poulin goes on to talk about de Harak’s life and work, and the importance of history and why every designer should know about it in order to be successful.

man standing at an angle with armed reached in front holding hands

Richard Poulin speaking at The Vignelli Center for Design Studies

Watch the full talk below to hear more about Poulin’s career, the life and work of Rudolph de Harak, and more!

WATCH:

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black and white photo of two older men with white hair talking to a man with back facing camera

Richard Poulin and Massimo Vignelli

Three shopping bags in yellow, red, and blue with white print featuring the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum of Art shopping bags designed by Rudolph de Harak and his team

view into blue boxy tunnel with neon white lights wrapped around and a black figure in distance

127 John Street, New York: Project by Rudolph de Harak and Emery Roth & Sons, 1968

To learn more about The Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT, they have launched digital access to the archives through Google Arts & Culture, joining over 2000 cultural institutions from around the world. The initial launch includes nearly 900 high resolution images of artifacts from the archives so that now anyone with access to the Internet and Google Arts & Culture can search the Vignelli archives or browse it by color or chronological order.

This lecture is presented with the support of RIT’s MAGIC Center.

This lecture series is made possible in part by the generosity of RIT Alumnus, Chris Bailey, and Bailey Brand Consulting.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.