Art direction of Wolf Kaiser
Beginning in 1979, Knoll transitioned away from its previous reliance on independent graphic consultants—like Massimo Vignelli, Herbert Matter and Alvin Lustig—to in-house graphic staff. Following the acquisition of Knoll by Stephen C. Swid and Marshall S. Cogan, Wolf Kaiser was appointed the Art Director of Knoll International. With the goal of fostering a "flowering of ideas" and an "explosion of creative energy," Swid and Cogan hired Kaiser for his awareness of emerging "progressive" movements and subcultures. Informed by fashion and film of the time, Kaiser sought creative talent from outside the traditional pool, opting instead to hire those with their finger on the pulse—fashion photographer Guy Bourdin, erotic photographer Karin Székessy and architectural photographer Jacques Primois. Photograph on top by Karin Székessy and bottom Don Kennedy from the Knoll Archive.
