Tribute: I Miss Helmut Krone For those of you who may not know who Helmut Krone was, he was the guy who literally changed the look and feel of advertising. He brought the minimalist principle of Bauhaus design to every aspect of advertising he touched. He's a legend in the ad biz, and a legendary character as well. He's only been gone a week at the time of this writing, but I keenly miss both of these components of this complex man. On the professional side of life Helmut created such campaigns as "We Try Harder" for Avis and the classic Volkswagen ads that launched that company to an improbable success story that made marketing history. In short, the idea was the key ingredient that drove Helmut to his perfectionist masterpieces. That's in sharp contrast with the arbitrariness found in most design and advertising these days. When this site was in design I found myself asking him in my mind what he would think of this screen or that graphic. I wanted to show him this medium which, given its limitations of bandwidth, so suited his minimalist principles. There is a bit of Helmut in every page of this site that he never saw and now never will. I often find myself thinking, what would Helmut say about this given situation? I don't believe I am unique here - many art directors and writers in the advertising world I am sure often mentally reference him. They too ask, "what would Helmut think?" He would have been amused at the crudeness of this medium and would have designed within its boundaries to deliver something to the screen that was accessible and brought great utility with it, while maintaining a refined sense of aesthetics. I went to a memorial service for him this past week where one of his colleagues remarked that Helmut was light years ahead of any 25 year old. He was 72. That colleague was right on the money. I saw work that Helmut did 13 years ago that would still look like it was from the future today. He was just so far ahead of us all.
I realize how privileged I am to have known this genius of a man. He
obviously had a keener eye than anyone else on the planet. But it went much
beyond that, as you can imagine. His sense of timing was exquisite, his
choice of words impeccable. And while many found him aloof and forbidding,
I find myself repeating stories about him that reveal a sense of humor as
finely honed as his art. So it isn't just the astonishing output I
will miss, it's the man himself. He's so much part of me and what I do.
This needed to be said. It will always need to be said. |
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