THE IBM POSTER PROGRAMwas first initiated by Ken White, a staff graphic designer, during the late 1960s. White, who had studied under [Paul] Rand at Yale University, was recommended by him to lead the graphic design efforts within the new IBM Design Center at Boulder. Shortly after, Ken added two new designers to his staff, John Anderson and Tom Bluhm.
The story behind the book The IBM Poster Program: Visual Memoranda is fun because it is really about us sharing a gift. It began in 2016, when retired IBM industrial designer John Stram, of Kansas City, Missouri gave Auburn University a collection of industrial and graphic design work from the IBM Design Center at Boulder where he had worked 40 years earlier. Part of this gift included a stack of over 90 posters strikingly designed and produced within the Design Center for the sole purpose of informing and educating IBM’s employees.