Michael Wolff (graphic designer)

Michael Wolff was born in London on 12 November 1933[1] to Russian parents fleeing post-Soviet revolutionary persecution. He grew up in London during WW2 and attended various preparatory schools before being evacuated to a small village in South Devon. He attended Caldicott School in Farnham Royal and then Gresham’s School in Norfolk.

In 1951 Wolff was accepted into the AA School of Architecture.[2]

In the early 1960s Wolff went into partnership with James Main in Camden Town, London and Wally Olins joined a few years later. In 1965 Wolff Olins[2] was formed and became corporate identity specialists consulting to Volkswagen/Audi, Renault, The Labour Party, Apple Records, Camden Council, Citigroup, 3i, Waterstones, WHSmith and Bovis amongst others. Michael Wolff left Wolff Olins in the 1980s to work for various corporate clients before founding Michael Wolff and Company which he currently leads.[2]

In 2009 Wolff was made a senior fellow of the RCA.[3] In 2012 he was appointed visiting professor at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. He is a former president of both the D&AD[4] (Design and Art Directors Association) and the Chartered Society of Designers.[5] In 2011 Wolff was made an RDI (RSA's Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry).[6]

Wolff is patron of the Inclusive Design Challenge with the Helen Hamlyn Centre at the Royal College of Art,[7] a member of the Government sponsored Design and Technology Alliance against crime[8] and a former chairman of the Legible London initiative with Transport for London.[9]

In 2021 Michael Wolff was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Medal by the London Design Festival [10]

Michael Wolff's book 'Leap before you look - The zen of branding' will be published in 2024 [11]

• Michael Wolff and Company
• Wolff Olins