April Greiman
graphic designer (1948)
April Greiman was born in New York on March 22, 1948. She is one of the most influential American graphic designers of her generation, and among the first to integrate computer technology into graphic design.
Her training began at the Kansas City Art Institute (1966–1970), where she was exposed to the principles of Modernism thanks to teachers trained at the Basel School of Design, such as Inge Druckrey, Hans Allemann, and Chris Zelinsky. She subsequently studied at the Allgemeine Künstgewerbeschule Basel (now the School of Design), where she explored the international style and experimental spirit of Wolfgang Weingart and Armin Hoffmann, which shaped her eclectic and transgressive approach to traditional Modernism.
After completing her studies in Switzerland, Greiman worked as a freelancer and associate professor at the Philadelphia College of Art.
In 1976, she moved to Los Angeles, where she founded her studio, “April Greiman, Inc.” She directed it until 2004.
In Los Angeles, she was a key figure in the "California New Wave" movement, collaborating with photographer Jayme Odgers.
From 1982 to 1984, she directed the Visual Communications department at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), renaming the program from "Graphic Design" to "Visual Communications" to reflect a broader vision of the discipline. She has also taught at Woodbury University, the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and since 2019, she has been a professor at the Roski School of Art and Design at the University of Southern California (USC).
April Greiman's stylistic hallmarks are the fusion of technology, science, word, image, color, and space, a multidisciplinary approach that exploited the potential of the computer long before it was adopted by mainstream graphic design.
He helped define "New Wave" or "Swiss Punk Typography," characterized by breaking with rigid modern typographic rules, featuring inconsistent spacing, variable type weights, and non-orthogonal compositions, often intentionally exploiting pixelation and digital "mistakes" as aesthetic elements. His work gave rise to a subcategory called "Techno Wave" thanks to his integrated use of computer and multimedia elements in graphic composition.
Among his most significant works are the 1978 "CalArts" poster, created in collaboration with Jayme Odgers, a symbol of the California New Wave, and the poster for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, which used visual elements that were innovative for the time.
In 1975, he created the catalog and exhibition "The Taxi Project" for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, curated by Emilio Ambasz.
The iconic project "Does it make sense?" for Design Quarterly is another notable example of her free and innovative style.
She works for discerning clients in the design industry, communications firms, and cultural institutions, often winning commissions through word of mouth due to the quality and originality of her work.
April Greiman is a pioneering graphic designer who has helped transform the world by integrating digital technologies, influencing postmodern graphics, and developing a highly personal and innovative style that combines various visual and technological languages to reflect the complexity and multiplicity of contemporary reality.
