19
25
born in Velbert, Germany
43
enlisted in the army
53
got his first design job
59
becomes art director at Twen magazine
Twen magazine, issue 9, 1964. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus. Photo by Willy Rizzo.
80
starts working at Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin
83
dies of a heart attack at his home in Tuscany, Italy
87
Logo ADC (Art Directors Club). adcawards.org
elected to the Hall of Fame of the Art Directors Club of New York
no one ran pictures bigger, cropped them tighter. —eye magazine
Twen magazine, issue 2, 1969. Page 88. Layout designed by Willy Fleckhaus. Photo by Charlotte March.
a second profession
After the war, Willy Fleckhaus began a career as a journalist, and during the 1950s he wrote on a wide variety of social and cultural topics, first for the Fährmann magazine and later for Aufwärts, a Cologne-based youth periodical of the German trade union movement. In 1953 Fleckhaus also took over the design of Aufwärts. His first layout featured minimal texts all accompanied by all-caps headlines and large-scale photos. The effect was raw and showed the hand of an amateur, but the beginnings of the signature style are present.
Aufwärts magazine, issue 12, 1956. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus. Poto by Horst Baumann.