This is the first detailed study of the work of Bulgarian graphic designer Stefan Kanchev (1915 – 2001), the artist behind more than 2,000 logos.
As an artist in a socialist country, he enjoyed a career that no western designer could even dream of, receiving state commissions with astonishing constancy and frequency. Many large and well-known companies and institutions in Bulgaria adorned themselves with his logos, a large portion of which have withstood the test of time and continue to be used, imprinted on the national consciousness to such a degree that erasing them would be unthinkable.
His life’s work is documented in this book, insofar as it was possible to find the materials today and gather his numerous sketches and drawings. It illustrates why and how Stefan Kanchev has earned himself the reputation of one of the most notable masters of logotype of our time.
“In his work, he was a lone wolf, possessed by his art, but at the table he was a Bohemian. Eccentric in conversation, he likely seemed endlessly arrogant to some. But he was a genius. At the time, only an Anton Stankowski, if we stay in Germany, or the American Paul Rand could match his heights. But the Iron Curtain hid him from our eyes! The moment has long since come for us to take heed to that which the West could not see and appreciate for political reasons or due to an inflated sense of self-worth.”
Prof. Roland Henss, Germany