Willy Fleckhaus - ADC • Global Awards & Club

5/2/2015 Willy Fleckhaus : ADC Global Awards & Club

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TwitterFacebookLinkedInPinterestGooglePlusEmailDIED SEPTEMBER 12, 1983

Willy Fleckhaus

When Willy Fleckhaus died

suddenly of a heart attack in

September of 1983, the design

world lost one of its most innovative

and stimulating citizens.



Born in Velbert, Germany in 1925, Willy Fleckhaus

began his career as a trained journalist and editor.

During the 1950s, he wrote for and edited many

publications specializing in various subjects, from

religion and politics to national labor issues.

1959 was a very good year for Willy Fleckhaus. It

marked his association with the birth of one of the most

intellectually compelling and graphically exciting

magazines the world would see:Twen.

Twen, short for twenty, catered to the first generation of

young German adults who came of age after the end of

World War II. It was published from 1959-1970 when

deepening political and intellectual thought, combined

with increasing sexual awareness, captured the

attention of its spirited audience.Twenwas unmatched

in its avant-garde visuals, layouts, typography and fine,

literary content.

The late fifties and early sixties were considered

renaissance periods for redesigning magazines.

Fleckhaus andTwenwere indeed at the forefront of such

a renaissance. WhatOtto Storchwas toMcCalls,Allen

Hurlburtwas toLookandHenry Wolfwas toShow,

Willy Fleckhaus was toTwen.



Fleckhaus, though not a designer by trade, was acutely

aware of howTwenshould look. The format and

content obviously reflected the vitality of its readers.

He developed a unique design theme based on gut

feelings and the trendy subject matter of the magazine.

Published monthly,Twens covers consisted of eye-

catching photos or feature copy on black backgrounds.

Fleckhaus enjoyed using one typeface in contrasting

colors to highlight specific articles.Twens table-of-

contents page was different each and every month.

They were a marvelous pastiche of layouts adorned

with stunning visuals; specifically tailored to each

issues topics. In essence, they were perfect segues to

what awaited its readers on succeeding pages.

Twenwas unsurpassed when it came to overall design,

exhilarating photography and illustration. Fleckhaus

always managed to startle, challenge and eventually

persuade the readers eye and mind into the opinionated

world ofTwen. His uncanny ability in selecting visuals

by some of the worlds finestArt Kane, Pete Turner,

Will McBride, Irving Penn,Richard Avedon, Tomi

Ungerer and Hans Hillmann, madeTwens impact even

more captivating.

Fleckhaus was, in effect, a master of visual montage.



He was to magazine design what Sergei Eisenstein was

to film. Each, through selective cropping, framing,

reducing and enlarging, were able to elicit specific

editorial and emotional responses from readers and

viewers alike. Power of this magnitude was indeed a

stroke of genius!

Such power led to many internal problems atTwen. The

actual editor became, for all intents and purposes, a

ceremonial position. The job was reduced to a

revolving door of resignations and damaged egos.

As its readership matured and specific social issues

died or shifted, so did the appeal ofTwen. In 1970, the

last of many publishers forced Fleckhaus to resign

andTwenfolded soon after, thus ending an era of

magazine brilliance.

Like most successful designers, Fleckhaus pursued

other interests. From 1960, he designed countless book

covers forSuhrkampandInsel Verlagsin Frankfurt. His

highly sophisticated yet simplistic designs, along with a

penchant for selecting or creating the right typefaces,

shattered the old adage, You cant judge a book by its

cover! If Fleckhaus designed a book jacket, chances

are it became a best seller.



Fleckhauss book jackets mirrored his covers

forTwenin that they both lured readers into the

exciting literary world that awaited them between the

covers. His designs, no doubt, put him in high esteem

with both publishers and authors alike. All profited

financially and grew in popularity from his jacket

designs. During a Stuttgart Typographers Seminar in

1980, Fleckhaus claimed to create a cover a day!

In 1976,Suhrkamppublisher, Siegfried Unseld wrote a

book chronicling Fleckhauss immense contribution to

book design. It was entitled:Der Marienbader Korb.

The book, privately published, remains a visual feast

and historical retrospective into yet another dimension

of the creative mind of Willy Fleckhaus.

In 1974, Fleckhaus became Professor of Graphic

Design at Essen University and held the same position

from 1981 at Wuppertal University. It was only natural

that eager design students wanted to learn from the

master. Fleckhaus taught and nurtured only the best and

most promising. Bauhaus influences, coupled with the

inspirational teachings ofAlexey Brodovitchand close

friend Max Bill, gave students a working education

they couldnt get anywhere else.

There are many Willy Fleckhaus protgs sprinkled



throughout the world today. One of the most heralded is

Hans-Georg Pospischil, art director

ofFrankfurterAllgemeine Zeitung Magazin, a position

he has held since Fleckhauss death in 1983.

Hans-Georg Pospischil took Professor Fleckhauss

design course for two reasons: curiosity and the

satisfaction of a university requirement. After three

weeks, Fleckhaus unearthed Pospischils potential and

immediately got him a job as an art director for a

magazine in Hamburg. Pospischil recalls: Fleckhaus

never criticized a students work. You found your

design mistakes and corrected them yourself. He taught

you to think like a professional, not a student.

Six months later, Fleckhaus called Pospischil back from

Hamburg and asked him if he wanted to become his

assistant on a new publication venture, one that was to

again change the way people look at magazines. The

date was Friday, March 7, 1980another milestone in

the life of Willy Fleckhaus. The very conservative daily

tabloidFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitungdecided to

publish a weekly magazine supplement. Fleckhaus,

remembering how much he enjoyed working inTwens

stimulating environment, readily accepted the job as art

director.



Through his innovative design principles,F.A.Z.

Magazineachieved the reputation of being the most

beautiful and widely read publication in the world!

Though editorially the antithesis ofTwen,F.A.Z.

Magazinedeveloped a style reminiscent of its

predecessor, only better and more sophisticated.

Fleckhauss covers for the magazine exuded style.

From the elegant Gothic typeface to the compelling,

almost sfumato-like visuals, they were common threads

for all editorial and graphic inside matter. As an

example, one cover features a realistic illustration of a

can of red paint. We turn to the table-of-contents page.

It centers around a photograph of a tube of spurting

blue paint. Subsequently, an article on the power of the

color red appears. The eye-popping double-bleed layout

is awash with color. Peter Kramers vivid illustration of

a brown, wood paintbrush, dripping and streaking

across the spread with red paint is absolutely

marvelous!

Week after week, page after page, Fleckhaus tempted

his readers with such visual artistry. His revolutionary

magazine designs were, in sum, achieved through

structured, carefully planned chaos. The timely nature

of a weekly supplement made for interesting subjects



on which to report. Fleckhaus, at times, flexed his

journalistic muscles and also contributed editorially to

the magazines success.

Even in his private life, aside from his devotion to

family, fine food and wines, Fleckhauss work was his

pleasure. In the third glorious year of his reign

atFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Magazin, Willy

Fleckhaus died at his home in Tuscany. There will

never be another Willy Fleckhaus. Yet, the vast legacy

of work and the list of immensely talented disciples he

left us prove the Genius of Magazine Design is still

very much alive.

Please note: Content of biography is presented here as it was published in 1987.

Willy Fleckhaus - ADC • Global Awards & Club

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