| Henry Steiner | |||||||
| Birth Date: | 13 February 1934 | ||||||
| Birth Place: | Vienna, Austria | ||||||
| Occupation: | Graphic designer | ||||||
| Alma Mater: | Hunter College Yale University University of Paris | ||||||
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Henry Steiner FCSD (; born Hans Steiner; 13 February 1934) is an Austrian graphic designer, known as the “Father of Hong Kong Design” – a moniker gained for his graphic designs that have shaped Hong Kong’s visual landscape. Best known for creating branding for many renowned Hong Kong based companies, most notably the iconic HSBC logo. Henry has also designed identities for various institutions, ranging from hospitality groups to media outlets. These include Standard Chartered, Unilever, Hongkong Land, Dairy Farm, IBM, and The Hong Kong Jockey Club – many still in use today.
Steiner helped pioneer the expression of identity through branding and capture the transformation of Hong Kong from the 60s onwards, incorporating Eastern symbolism into Western graphic design to not only capture a new and relevant identity for the flourishing mixed culture of Hong Kong, but to pave a way for graphic design as a profession in the city.
In Steiner’s book, Graphic Communications: Essay on Design he commented on his outsider status saying, “Ultimately, it is the context of a design which makes it cross-cultural and this is determined by the designer’s attitude. You don’t have to be an outsider but it helps. Perhaps a French designer, for example, could consciously and objectively communicate something about basic Frenchness to his compatriots but he would first need to be alienated in some way – as are most artists”.[1]
Steiner was included in Icograda's list of the Masters of the 20th Century in 2002, and was named a World Master by Idea magazine.[2] [3]
Steiner was born into an Austrian Jewish family as Hans Steiner. His parents, a dentist practising in Baden bei Wien and a seamstress, enjoyed "a nice bourgeois life" until the Anschluss in 1938. After many failed attempts to flee the country, his mother turned to help from a Hollywood film producer, Julius Stoeger, who agreed to assist in their escape. When the family arrived in New York City in 1939, an immigration officer changed Hans to Henry, since the former sounded "too German". Steiner studied at Stuyvesant High School and then Hunter College, where he decided to turn his deep interest in science fiction into a career in graphic design. He received a Master's degree in graphic design at Yale University, studying under Paul Rand and won a Fulbright Fellowship in 1958 to further his studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. He then returned to New York City and worked as design director for The Asia Magazine.[4]
In 1961, Steiner signed a nine-month contract for the magazine's launch in Hong Kong. Steiner did not return to New York but founded his own consultancy firm, Steiner&Co (Graphic Communications Limited) and settled in the Fragrant Harbour city which he continues to contribute to the graphic design of till this day. “Working in Hong Kong has provided me with a living visual vocabulary which would have been inaccessible and inappropriate in New York.”[5]
Perhaps the most renowned of Steiner’s contributions to corporate identities is the world renowned logo designed for The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Steiner developed the identity in 1984, based on the St. Andrew's cross, alluding to the Scottish heritage of the bank's founder.[4] [6]
Henry Steiner designed the Hong Kong banknote for the Standard Chartered Bank.[7] He noted that banknotes of the city had the rare practice of not featuring portraits, therefore he incorporated mythical Chinese creatures in his designs on the obverse side – the notes appeared in five denominations and showcased a hierarchy of aquatic, amphibious, terrestrial and celestial creatures.[4] [8] In 2003, Henry Steiner updated the designs incorporating the latest anti-counterfeiting technology, with the reverse featuring Hong Kong’s dynamic harbour from various time periods. In 2010s, he was commissioned for the last time to design banknotes which featured Chinese traditional and modern technology.[9] He also designed an unprecedented 150-dollar commemorative banknote for the bank's 150th anniversary in 2009, which featured the Standard Chartered Bank Building and a group of people representing Hong Kong's history watching over the coasts of Victoria Harbour.
In anticipation of the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club voted to change its colonial name. Steiner took this opportunity to re-evaluate their outdated and inconsistently applied mark. Rather than change it completely, he chose to revitalise the familiar monogram and reinforcing more than a century of brand equity. The familiar whip, horseshoe, and bridle initials were redesigned and placed within a striking new blue and yellow oval. This branding overhaul, reinvigorating a great tradition, was widely embraced by members and the public.
Established as The Hongkong Land Investment and Agency Co. Ltd. in 1889, Hong Kong’s premier developer and landlord needed to refresh its image in an increasingly crowded market. It faced the challenge of communicating its enduring status in an up-to-date way. Steiner shortened the brand name to “Hongkong Land” and devised an H mark combining the Chinese character for “longevity” with a floor plan. This design was one of the first in which Henry demonstrated his signature cross-cultural design style — the conscious incorporation of elements of Chinese vocabulary into his work.