Les Mason Collection: Gail Mason Devine Archive

Collection relating to the career of Les Mason (1937-2016) in Australia, held in 13 boxes. It includes biographical materials, correspondence, fliers, letterheads, packaging posters, magazines, slides, transparencies and film.
Graphic designer and art director Les Mason (1924-2009) was born in California in 1924, and studied painting and interior design at Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles. When he set up his first practice West Coast Designers (1958) abstraction and pop art were at their peak. In the role of art director, conceptualiser, artist, photographer and typographer Mason was, when he left for Australia, the epitome of the new graphic design professional. He arrived in Melbourne in 1961, accompanied by his wife Pat (graphic designer and typographer) to work as an art director with the advertising agency USP (United Services Publicity) Benson. There he made his mark with an award-winning campaign for Shell Australia. The following year the Masons opened their own agency Les Mason Graphic Design (1962-1981), where he worked until 1979, relocating to Perth, Western Australia in 1981.
Les Mason Design produced award winning advertising campaigns, packaging, corporate identities, printed collateral, architectural graphics for a wide range of clients such as: Tarax, Peters, Bowater-Scott, Comalco Aluminium, Wynvale Wines, Philip Morris, State Bank of Victoria, Australian Paper and Pulp, Preservene Soap Powder, Sigma Laboratories, the Salvation Army, Melbourne Zoo and the Victorian Arts Centre. 
In 1966, Mason was approached by Allan Holdsworth of Lawrence Publishing to design a magazine for the Food and Wine Society of Australia ─ Epicurean (1966-1979), the first magazine in Australia dedicated to the love of food and wine. Mason was given absolute creative freedom which he embraced treating the magazine as a progressive artwork combined with playful yet rigorous typography and layouts by Pat Grainger. Pat left the partnership in 1972, marrying art director, Brian Grainger and moving to England. Without the aid of computers Mason and his small, highly talented team did everything by hand, producing the bi-monthly publication for another seven years until the death of Alan Holdsworth in 1979. On the death of the magazine’s founder, so too did Mason’s involvement with the magazine ending a uniquely creative period portraying food and wine as art. Phaidon (England) included his Epicurean work in 2024, amongst what they considered the 500 greatest print designers since 1477 in the publication ‘Graphic Classics’. 
In 1970, freelance writer Gail Devine was commissioned by Les Mason to develop conceptual ideas for Hayes Advertising. Mason was Design Consultant to the agency. Their collaboration went on to win many Australian and international print and television awards for Hayes’ varied mix of institutional and not for profit clients.  Fred Schepsi, now internationally recognised as a Film Director produced several of their television commercials for the Salvation Army, The State Bank of Victoria, Canberra Television and Preservene Soap Powder.
In 1981, he and writer Gail Devine moved to Perth, Western Australia, where together they ran a consultancy working for the WA Government, and clients such as Woodside, Transperth, Festival of Perth. In 1987 they married, and both began working in art and printmaking. They each had their own studio and shared a press at their rural property on the Helena River, Guildford producing many works. Mason never cared to exhibit and the Estate of Les Mason holds numerous works on paper and canvas never seen by the public. 
Les Mason was made a member of the elite Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and the New York Type Directors Club in 1975. Mason was inducted into the Australian Graphic Design Association’s (AGDA) Hall of Fame in 1996, and the Design institute of Australia’s Hall of Fame in 2024. Les Mason died in 2009 attending the AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale) Conference in Istanbul.

本数据集收录莱斯·梅森（Les Mason, 1924-2009）在澳大利亚职业生涯相关的藏品，共计13箱。藏品涵盖生平资料、通信往来文件、传单、信头纸、包装海报、杂志、幻灯片、透明胶片与电影胶片。
作为平面设计师与艺术总监的莱斯·梅森1924年生于美国加利福尼亚州，曾于洛杉矶乔伊纳德艺术学院（Chouinard Art Institute）学习绘画与室内设计。1958年他创立首家工作室「西海岸设计师事务所（West Coast Designers）」时，抽象艺术与波普艺术正处于鼎盛时期。彼时，梅森身兼艺术总监、概念设计师、艺术家、摄影师与字体设计师数职，在赴澳之际已然是新一代平面设计专业从业者的典范。1961年，他偕妻子帕特（同为平面设计师与字体设计师）抵达墨尔本，入职广告公司USP（联合服务宣传公司本森分部, United Services Publicity Benson）担任艺术总监，并凭借为澳大利亚壳牌公司打造的获奖广告企划崭露头角。次年，梅森夫妇创立了自己的事务所「莱斯·梅森平面设计工作室（Les Mason Graphic Design, 1962-1981）」，他在此工作至1979年，随后于1981年迁往西澳大利亚州珀斯。
莱斯·梅森设计事务所（Les Mason Design）曾为众多客户打造获奖广告作品、包装设计、企业视觉识别系统、印刷宣传物料与建筑平面图形，服务客户包括：塔拉斯（Tarax）、彼得斯（Peters）、宝华斯科特（Bowater-Scott）、科马尔科铝业（Comalco Aluminium）、温维尔酒庄（Wynvale Wines）、菲利普莫里斯（Philip Morris）、维多利亚州银行（State Bank of Victoria）、澳大利亚纸浆与造纸公司（Australian Paper and Pulp）、普雷斯维恩洗衣粉（Preservene Soap Powder）、西格玛实验室（Sigma Laboratories）、救世军（The Salvation Army）、墨尔本动物园（Melbourne Zoo）与维多利亚艺术中心（Victorian Arts Centre）。
1966年，劳伦斯出版公司（Lawrence Publishing）的艾伦·霍兹沃思（Allan Holdsworth）邀请梅森为澳大利亚食品与葡萄酒协会设计刊物《美食与美酒》（Epicurean, 1966-1979）——这是澳大利亚首本专注于美食与葡萄酒文化的专业杂志。梅森获得了完全的创作自由，他将这本杂志视为一件兼具先锋性的艺术作品，由帕特·格雷恩杰（Pat Grainger）负责活泼且严谨的字体设计与版式编排。1972年，帕特离开合作团队，与艺术总监布莱恩·格雷恩杰（Brian Grainger）结婚后移居英国。在没有计算机辅助的年代，梅森与他精干且极具天赋的小团队全程采用手工制作，持续发行这本双月刊长达七年，直至1979年艾伦·霍兹沃思去世。随着杂志创始人的离世，梅森也终止了与该刊的合作，这段将美食与葡萄酒作为艺术进行呈现的独特创作时期就此画上句点。2024年，英国费顿出版社（Phaidon）在其出版物《平面经典》（Graphic Classics）中，将梅森为《美食与美酒》创作的作品纳入「1477年以来全球500位最伟大印刷设计师」名录。
1970年，自由撰稿人盖尔·迪瓦恩（Gail Devine）受梅森委托，为海斯广告公司（Hayes Advertising）构思创意概念。梅森当时担任该公司的设计顾问。他们的合作凭借为海斯广告服务的各类机构与非营利客户项目，斩获多项澳大利亚及国际平面与电视广告奖项。如今享誉国际的电影导演弗雷德·谢普西（Fred Schepsi）曾为他们执导多支电视广告片，客户包括救世军、维多利亚州银行、堪培拉电视台与普雷斯维恩洗衣粉。
1981年，梅森与盖尔·迪瓦恩一同迁往西澳大利亚州珀斯，二人共同创立了一家咨询事务所，服务对象包括西澳州政府，以及伍德赛德（Woodside）、珀斯交通局（Transperth）、珀斯艺术节（Festival of Perth）等客户。1987年，二人结为夫妻，随后各自投身艺术与版画创作。他们在吉尔福德的海伦河沿岸拥有各自的工作室，并共享一台版画印刷机，在此创作了大量作品。梅森向来不愿公开展出自己的作品，因此莱斯·梅森遗产信托中留存有大量从未对外公开展示的纸本与布面艺术作品。
1975年，梅森获邀加入顶级国际平面设计师联盟（Alliance Graphique Internationale, AGI）与纽约字体设计师俱乐部（New York Type Directors Club）。1996年，梅森入选澳大利亚平面设计协会（Australian Graphic Design Association, AGDA）名人堂；2024年，他又入选澳大利亚设计协会名人堂。2009年，梅森在出席于伊斯坦布尔举办的国际平面设计师联盟（AGI）年会时逝世。