Remembering John Morgan (1973 – 2025), a designer and typographer dedicated to the arts

The graphic designer John Morgan has died at the age of 52. Deeply embedded in the creative industries, Morgan was a contemporary designer with a rare typographic sensibility, an innate understanding of the precision and subtlety required to craft and deploy letterforms and handle text and print.

As well as highlighting his talent in Wallpaper*, where we nominated him one of the best 20 graphic designers in 2012, I also had the pleasure of working closely with John and his team back in the early days of his practice. The work he undertook – pro rata – for a small design history journal was just as thorough and focused as his larger commissions, reflecting not only his dedication and passion but also his commitment to details.

John founded Morgan Studio in 2000 and was initially based in the high-ceilinged clerks’ offices above the Paddington station concourse. It was an apt location, for history and memory always played a part in the studio's work as well as his self-initiated projects.

The latter included Klasse John Morgan, a series of publications and posts related to his teachings at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he had been the Professor of Design, Typography and Book Art since 2016. John also lectured at Central St Martins and his own alma mater, the University of Reading, where he studied under the late Ken Garland and also taught on the MA Book Design course from 2007 to 2016.

Books were very much central to the output of Morgan Studio. His own Usylessly, a deep dive into the aesthetics of the surviving copies of the first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses was a case in point, as was an early project, working under Derek Birdsall, on the redesign of the Common Worship Prayer Book.

Another notable project was the commission to design the signage, exhibition graphics and monograph for David Chipperfield’s directorship of the 13th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. Titled ‘Common Ground’, Chipperfield’s curatorship was widely hailed as a return to the values of simplicity and longevity, qualities that shone through in Morgan Studio’s elegant serif typeface and layouts. John was also responsible for the design of David Chipperfield’s monograph, as well as art directing Chipperfield’s work with Driade.

Other projects included exhibition design – such as The World of Charles and Ray Eames at the Barbican, designed in collaboration with 6a Architects – and collaborations with Edmund de Waal, art publishers Hamiltons, Valentino and many more. He also co-founded the digital foundry Abyme with Adrien Vasquez. One of his last projects was the creation of publishing imprint Ten Thousand Angels Press, which will publish Usylessly (edition two) later this year followed by his final book, Baskerville’s Teardrop Explodes: A Selection of Books as Muses.

John Morgan combined an appreciation of high and low culture with a dedication to perfection. His love of print was evident, as was his skill as a typographer. He was deeply embedded in many facets of modern cultural life, through design, teaching and his own extensive knowledge and treasured collection of books. The very opposite of a superstar designer, John was humble, friendly and endlessly inquisitive. He is survived by his wife, Claire, and their three children.

John Morgan, 6 January 1973 – 2 September 2025

MorganStudio.co.uk