Hasler, Charles (graphic designer)

Reference: CH/Date: c.1700-1980Extent: 123 boxes

Charles Hasler (1908-1992) was a typographer and graphic designer.

Hasler’s working life began in the modernist interwar years and was punctuated by both World War II and the Festival of Britain in 1951. Throughout his life, Hasler worked on a range of design commissions for various clients and lectured, researched and wrote, feeding his expertise back into the wider design community.

From 1942 to 1951, Hasler was an exhibition designer for the Ministry of Information and the Central Office of Information, working on  campaigns during World War II, such as ‘Dig for Victory’ and ‘Make Do and Mend.’

After the war, Hasler was a senior designer and chairman of the Typographic Panel for the Festival of Britain of 1951. He was responsible for designing the ‘Sea and Ships’ display and designed and produced the influential ‘A Specimen of Display Letters Designed for the Festival of Britain 1951’ for use by Festival architects, sign writers and designers. Today we would describe them as brand guidelines for the whole exhibition.

Hasler also worked as a freelance designer and produced posters and literature for the British Transport Commission from the 1940s to the 1960s, amongst other commissions.

As an author, Hasler wrote and published articles about typography and printing techniques. In 1979, he published ‘The Royal Arms: its graphic and decorative development‘, a comprehensive work on the development of the styles and decoration of the royal heraldic crests in Britain.

Hasler amassed a large collection of ephemera to support his work and teaching. His eclectic and very decorative collection has a wide range of publications and printed ephemera, including books, magazines, advertisements, type specimens, patterned papers, invitations, packaging, greetings cards, Victorian scraps, and sheet music, as well as some objects including a ball of string, matchboxes and a biscuit tin.

Hasler collected the work of his peer illustrators and graphic designers from the 1930s through to the 1950s, including Edward McKnight Kauffer, Enid Marx, Ashley Havinden and Abram Games.

The archive collection contains items relating to:

  • Exhibitions Charles Hasler worked on.
  • His work as a graphic designer.
  • Research material and proofs for his books and articles.
  • His personal archive.
  • Reference material and research notes.
  • His collection of ephemera, particularly from the Victorian era and related to the Great Exhibition.

The archive can be accessed through the University of Reading Special Collections Reading Room.

The library contains over 300 volumes, journals and periodicals related to graphic design, typography, printing, writing and art. There are a number of children’s books and a large collection of music scores.

The collection is a valuable resource for students, designers and anyone with an interest in mid-century typography, graphic design and the printed page.

More information

  • A full description of the Charles Hasler Collection is available via our online database.
  • A handlist for the archive collection can be found here.
  • Charles Hasler sends his greetings: The ephemera collection of a mid-century designer by  Jane Audas (Author), Phil Cleaver (Foreword), Zoe Hendon (Introduction), (Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture: 2015).