Professor Phil Baines, 1958-2024

The Central Saint Martins community is immensely saddened at the passing of a friend and colleague.

Through his work as a graphic designer, author and educator, Phil encouraged everyone to look again and look everywhere. He thrived in the possibilities of lettering, in how the forms that carry language carry meaning too. From the intimacy of the printed page to public memorials, his work spanned material and scale but always had the same inventive rigour at its heart.

A graduate of St Martin’s School of Art, he began teaching as a visiting lecturer in the 1980s and became permanent staff at the newly-named Central Saint Martins in 1991. He became a Professor in 2006, in recognition of his continuing contribution to knowledge and the wider discipline.

Over more than three decades of teaching, Phil opened-up the world of letters to others. His lettering walks, which he began in the late 90s, were just one example of his accessible approach and curiosity to his subject. He believed deeply in learning through objects and curated the Central Lettering Archive at Central Saint Martins alongside his long-time collaborator Catherine Dixon, Graphic Communication Design Stage Leader. Phil collected abundantly, picking up letters abandoned on public transport or acquiring shop signs that now cover our College walls.

He was ever-generous with his depth of knowledge, sharing both the traditions and transgressions found in typography’s history. He inspired successive generations of designers now working across the globe.

Last November the first retrospective of Phil’s work was held at Central Saint Martins’ Lethaby Gallery. Extol brought together his body of work but ­also past colleagues and students in communal reflection on his deep contribution to our community and the discipline of graphic design itself. We continue to be thankful for that moment on hearing this sad news.