Designpedia

Tibor Kalman

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Tibor Kalman emigrated to the US at age 7. He was raised in upstate New York, interviewed Timothy Leary for his high school newspaper, and left New York University for Cuba in 1970 to cut sugarcane in the Ten Million Ton Harvest. Kalman was educated in journalism. While working in New York as a clerk for Barnes & Noble, he arranged a window display one afternoon when the designer called in sick. His success and interest in the project eventually made him director of design for the bookseller, and led to the founding of M&Co., his own design agency, in 1979.

Beginning in 1990, Kalman was creative director of Interview [a magazine founded by Andy Warhol] and later became editor and art director of Colors, the magazine sponsored by Benetton, which became known for using provocative multicultural images to sell clothing. Kalman’s work [and, at times, his unruly behavior and abrasive commentary] has been both criticized and praised for its sexiness, obscenity and sensationalism.