Ink ran through the veins of my friend Martin Lee, an outstanding print producer who collaborated with many eminent designers and fine printers on some of the world’s most beautiful books. Career highlights include the remarkable Designed by Apple in California (2016). But over and above such bookish excellence, Martin, who has died aged 83, played an important bridging role between the disciplines of design and print; in the transition from analogue to digital print technologies; and through passing skills and knowledge from one generation to the next.
He was born William Martin Lee in Horsforth, Yorkshire, to Elinor (nee Mosley) and William Lee, a noted civil engineer, and had two younger sisters, Viv and Trisha. After Douai school, Martin trained as an accountant with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co (now KPMG). But he decided on a change of vocation, enrolling in a print management course at the London College of Printing, then joining Westerham Press, in Kent, in the early 1960s. There, still in his 20s, he was entrusted with the task of laying out the new, purpose-built press.
After a spell as a partner at the design studio HSAG, in 1975 he returned to Westerham Press as managing director. There he met Susi Kitson Montalto, who was working for the graphic design studio Omnific Limited, one of Westerham’s clients, and they married in 1977.
Leaving Westerham the following year, Martin worked briefly for Arabic Advertising & Publishing as a manager, then went freelance before becoming a partner at Omnific with the designers Derek Birdsall and Alan Kitching, in 1979. Though less feted than his former partners, it was Martin who ensured that Omnific’s design shone. His role was to help manage all steps of the print production process, and because he understood both designers’ and printers’ methodologies and demands intimately, he was able to master the sometimes fraught interface between the two with clarity and precision. This rare set of complementary skills enabled him to produce works combining excellence in both disciplines, which became his trademark.
When Derek became a visiting professor at the Royal College of Art in the late 1980s he invited Martin and Alan to join him as part-time tutors. It was there, as an MA student in 1990, that I met him: one of a generation of RCA designers to be inspired by his wisdom, insight and mentorship. Many went on to have long-term collaborations with Martin, who set up his own practice, Martin Lee Associates, in 2001.
His acuity and curiosity enabled him to quickly master new skills and processes, and as the industry moved from the analogue to the digital in the late 20th century, he helped translate established best practice into the emerging realm. His talents took him around the world, working with clients such as IBM, Yale University Press, United Technologies Corporation, Norman Foster and Apple. His legacy is not just a library-worth of beautiful books, but the methodologies he helped establish – a significant endowment to the many designers and printers he worked alongside.
He is survived by Susi, their son, Anthony, and daughters, Louise and Alexandra, and four grandchildren, and by Viv and Trisha.
