Carl Brett
Bio to come.

Theo Dimson
Bio to come.

Gerhard Doerrié (1936–1984)
Gerhard Doerrié was known for his exceptional skill as a designer and an educator. Born in Celle, Germany, he grew up in the forests of Lower Saxony in the care of his Russian-German grandmother. As a young man he aspired to go to art school, but none had yet reopened after the war, and he went to work instead as an apprentice to a typesetter. After finishing his apprenticeship, he went on to the Werkkunstchule Hannover, where he completed the graphic design programme with honours, and then studied in Paris on a Walter Gropius Foundation Scholarship.

In 1961, Gerhard came to Canada and participated in the re-design of the Canadian National Railway graphic identity with the firm of James Valkus Inc. Montréal/New York and later taught at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. In the sixties he became Design Director at Paul Arthur & Associates in Ottawa. From 1971–1974, Gerhard was head of the Department of Visual Communication at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in Halifax. Later on, through contacts with his associates and former students from Halifax, he was instrumental in the forming of the Atlantic Chapter of the GDC.

Professionally, Gerhard’s work included the signage system for Carleton University, environmental design and visual information systems for Mercy Hospital in Chicago and hospitals in Washington, Puerto Rico and Florida. He received numerous awards for his graphic design work from, among others, the Montréal and Toronto Art Directors Shows, and the New York Type Directors Club. He was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1973. Gerhard’s experimental work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Gerhard Doerrié died in Berlin in February 1984. As a graphic designer and a teacher of graphic design, Gerhard contributed significantly to the profession in Canada. He is remembered for his boundless creativity and his great personal strength.


Burton Kramer
Burton Kramer was a member of the GDC Board for 9 years and served as President and Vice-President. He was involved in the change of direction, name and goals of the Society from TDC to GDC. The change from an Ontario to a National Society was initiated during his term as GDC President.

In 1967, he founded the design firm, Burton Kramer Associates Ltd, later renamed Kramer Design Associates Ltd, specializing in corporate identity, signing and publication design. The work of the Kramer office has been published and awarded and exhibited world wide.

Burton made possible the publication of Graphic Design Canada for GDC, covering  work of the period 1966–68. In 1973 he wrote the introduction to the Canadian section of Top Symbols and Trademarks of the World for Deco Press, Milan, Italy. In 1975 he organized a special issue of IDEA Magazine, Tokyo, Japan (with an exhibit in Tokyo) on ‘Graphic Design in Canada’; in addition, he wrote an introductory editorial on Canadian Design for the IDEA special issue.

In 1975, Kramer researched and co-authored, with Laurie Lewis, a comprehensive brief to the Canadian Government on the subject of Graphic Design and Sales Taxation.

He served as juror for a number of GDC sponsored exhibitions, and worked for the organization on a variety of committees. In 1974 he became one of the first Canadian members of AGI, Alliance Graphique Internationale. He was first listed in Canadian Who’s who in 1974, and is listed in Who’s Who in Graphic Art, Who’s Who in American Art, Contemporary Designers and Who’s Who in The World.

Kramer taught advanced Corporate and Graphic Design at OCAD for 21 years, is currently a member of the Board of Arts Toronto and a former board member of the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario. In 1999, Kramer was awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by Arts Toronto.

He holds an FA (Yale) in Graphic Design and a BSc in Visual Communication from the Institiute of Design, Chicago. Kramer was a Fulbright Scholar at the Royal College of Art, London. He is also one of the first 3 recipients of an Honorary Doctorate, D.Des., from OCAD. In 2003 Kramer received The Order of Ontario for his contributions to the cultural life of the Province.


Peter Dorn
Peter Dorn was born 1932 in Berlin, Germany, where he attended public and high schools, served his apprenticeship as a compositor and studied graphic design in night
classes.

Coming to Canada in 1953, Dorn remarked “I experienced the typical newcomer cycle of working at odd jobs until my English improved and I was able to work as a journeyman compositor at several typehouses in Toronto as well as for printers in Port Arthur, Calgary and Vancouver.”

While in Toronto, he attended night classes where he studied typography and design under Frank Newfeld and Carl Dair at the Ontario College of Art, Toronto.

Influenced by Carl Dair, Dorn established a Private Press in 1963, The Heinrich Heine Press. Many of the works of the Press received national and international awards over the years. From 1963-1970 Dorn served as the director of the Guild of Hand Printers.

In 1964 he was invited to join U of T Press, where he worked as a compositor. Under the guidance of Harold Kurschenka, Dorn started to design for the art department of their printing plant. After Harold left the Press, Dorn was appointed to the position of typographer for the plant.

The Akademie für grafik un Buchkunst awarded Dorn a scholarship in 1968 to study for one semester in Leipzig, Germany.

In 1971 he was awarded a Canada Council Grant to further his studies and later that year he was invited by Queen's University at Kingston to establish the Graphic Design Unit as its director, a position from which he retired in 1995. While he held this position at Queen's Dorn also lectured part time (1979-86) as Teaching Master at St. Lawrence College, Kingston.

In 1974 Dorn was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada made him a Fellow in 1975. He served as National President of the GDC in 1978/79, and also as president of the now defunct Kingston Chapter in 1977/79.


Laurie Lewis
Laurie Lewis began her publishing and design experience in New York City with Robert Brownjohn and Ivan Chermayeff in the late 50s, in connection with Pepsi-Cola’s in-house magazine. She worked at Doubleday in the early 60s, acting as liaison between the book designers and the printing department. After moving to Toronto in 1963 she joined University of Toronto Press, where she worked very closely with Carl Dair during the production of his book Design with Type. When Allan Fleming joined U of T Press as Chief Designer in 1968 the Design Unit was formed and Lewis became Allan Fleming’s assistant. The department worked very closely together on major book productions, winning numerous awards both nationally and internationally.

In the early 1970s international book design awards were increasing the visibility of graphic designers in Canada. The federal government was promoting Canadian exports through Design Canada, then a division of Industry, Trade and Commerce. But without a national organization of designers, federal departments were unable to offer assistance to local design communities.

It became apparent that there was a need for a national organization of Graphic Designers. Well established groups existed in Toronto and in Montreal, and similar organizations were beginning in the Maritimes, the prairies, and on the west coast. The (then) Society of Graphic Designers, with an Ontario charter and with members in Toronto, Montreal and scattered across the country, wrote a proposal and approached Design Canada for assistance in forming a national organization.

Laurie Lewis, a professional member of the Ontario organization since 1969, and with institutional backing from University of Toronto, was in a position to facilitate national communications and liaison. A committee of regional representatives was formed and, with financial aid and logistic support from Design Canada, an inaugural meeting was held in Ottawa with the ultimate goal of drafting a national charter. Throughout 1973–1975 the National Committee of Regional Representatives met and teleconferenced to work out the details of a new national organization with chapters from coast to coast. Laurie Lewis served as Executive Secretary of the National organization of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada/Société des graphistes du Canada from 1973–1975, working with the regional representatives to establish a firm base for future chapters.

For her outstanding service to the design community, Laurie Lewis was made a Fellow of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada in 1975, proposed by Allan Fleming and Leslie Smart. She was vice-president of the Ontario Chapter from 1975 to 1977 and continued to support the full empowerment of all regional chapters.

Laurie Lewis was responsible for developing a coordinated visual identity system for University of Toronto and its subsidiary, University of Toronto Press, and for the design of publications of University of Toronto Press. She introduced computers to the design office at University of Toronto in 1984, with the original Macintosh 512K, and was instrumental in facilitating the changes that resulted from this transformational technology. In 1991 she took early retirement from University of Toronto in order to pursue her other interests in writing and publishing.

She has continued to encourage and support graphic design internationally through workshops in publication design in the third world, particularly in South East Asia and in South America, through volunteer assignments with the Canadian International Development Agency. She is the founder and director of The Artful Codger Press, established to encourage the publication of memoirs and life writings.