The Diary of A Designer: Whitworth Manchester

Commissioned by the Whitworth for the Tibor Reich retrospective this twenty metre wall titled ‘Diary of a Designer’ traces Tibor’s development as a designer and photographer. These photographs, taken between 1950 and 1960, parallel his success as one of the foremost textile designers of the period. Tibor was known for his pioneering use of photography in design, in particular a process he trademarked called ‘Fotexur’, ‘Fo’ for photography and ‘Texur’ for texture.

A keen amateur photographer, it was during a family trip to St Mawes, Cornwall in 1950 that Tibor started capturing nature on film. Inspired by the textures of the rocks and patterns found on the beach, Tibor’s early albums juxtapose family snaps with studies of natural forms.