Eddie Opara.

Born in London in 1972, Eddie Opara studied graphic design at the London College of Printing and Yale Uni- versity. He started working at a few firms after he graduated and then went on to building his own firm, The Map Office in 2005. In 2010 he went on to join New Yorks design firm pentagram, bringing all of his other Map Office designers with him, and being the first ever black partner of the company. Much more a designer than an artist, he works on varied types of project briefs such as brand identity, publications, environments, interactive installations, websites, user interfaces and software. 

Above are examples of a project that Opara did for UCLA Architecture and Urban Design. The first image is the Identity he created, the second some of the designs out of the catologue, and the third a snapshot of there website which he akso designed himself. His work stands out as clean and stylish. Nothing to bright and gairesh, much more sleek and interesting using unusual shapes and patterns. It is clear that looking through his work he has taken big influence from the swiss designers and the bauhaus that became big in the 20th centuary.

He started out his career based on his love for designing posters. In interviews he often talks about design with a purpose, that is shared and contributing to the greater good.

I think that he is a good designer to take notes from as he is very aware of his clients and the job as well as just making things look good. He talks about ‘design thinking’ where he views himself as a psycologist listen- ing to his clients wants and needs, and also picking up on other things about them and their personallity so that he can fully understand them and their needs.