The Artist

Bob Salpeter’s career began in New York. After studying at the School of Industrial Art (1949–1953) and the School of Visual Arts in New York (1956–1958) Bob Salpeter worked at various design firms including IBM (1960–1971) designing product literature and exhibits. With Arthur Appel in 1971, he programmed an IBM 360 to produce the first known computer-generated origami. At IBM, he was mentored and deeply influenced by Paul Rand. Famously fired from IBM for creating an ad campaign introducing a new product: with a headline “The IBM 72 has something no other typewriter has. Balls.”

Going out on his own, in 1972, Salpeter was commissioned to create the Human Variation Exhibition at The American Museum of Natural History and the History of Golf exhibit, at the World Golf Hall of Fame. His work has been exhibited at the Louvre Museum in Paris and is collected in archives throughout the world.

He has received numerous awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, The Art Directors Club of New York, Type Directors Club and Design International in Paris, among others.