Royal
Designers

Colin Forbes was born in London in 1928. He graduated from the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. After graduating, Forbes returned to the Central School to become Head of Graphic Design. By 1960 he had left teaching, and two years later, formed Fletcher/Forbes/Gill with Alan Fletcher and Bob Gill. In 1972 the firm Pentagram originated, when Colin joined with two fellow graphic designers, Alan Fletcher and Mervyn Kurlansky, along with architect Theo Crosby and product designer Kenneth Grange. Pentagram’s unique partner structure still flourishes to this day. Colin was a 1991 recipient of the AIGA medal; awarded the Silver medal Biennale International Art Book Prize, Israel in 1975; and the President award for the Designers and Art Directors Association, London in 1977. He was Chairman of the Stanford Design Forum, Stanford University in 1988. Colin has written several books on design.