Winter 1993
Why I left Yale
From Armin Hofmann
In Eye no. 8 vol. 2, a special issue dealing with American graphic design, I was mentioned as a former Yale University professor and the former director of the design programme at the Basel School of Design. In connection with a general discussion about education conducted by Ellen Lupton with Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, assertions were made about me which are not in accordance with the truth.
It is stated in the introduction to the interview that Paul Rand encouraged me to resign from my position at Yale University after over 30 years of teaching there. The truth is that I resigned on account of remarks on education made by de Bretteville which were published in Graphis. In this article, de Bretteville made comments about the Basel educational model, for which I was responsible at the time, in a manner that made any further co-operation seem impossible.
Armin Hofmann, designer, educator, Basel, Switzerland
First published in Eye no. 11 vol. 3, 1993
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