Peter Murdoch (born 1940) is a British designer whose career spans furniture, industrial and graphic design. He is best known for the Spotty Child’s Chair and related paperboard furniture developed in the 1960s, which became icons of the Pop art movement. Murdoch also worked in visual communication, including a role in the celebrated Mexico 1968 Olympic identity programme.
Design and History
Murdoch designed the Spotty Child’s Chair in 1963 while still a student at the Royal College of Art in London. The chair was made from a single die-cut sheet of laminated paperboard, coated with polyethylene, and sold flat-packed for home assembly. Production was handled by the American company International Paper, which sold the chair as a kit. The design was later extended into a range marketed as Those Things: Fibreboard Furniture for the Young, which included Chair Things, Stool Things and Table Things. Over 76,000 pieces from the range were sold in six months in 1967, retailing at less than £1 each. The range won a Design Centre Award in 1968. [1]
Murdoch’s furniture was notable for its printed surfaces. The Spotty chair featured a bold polka-dot pattern, while a later version of the children’s furniture used white and black lettering inspired by Op art, a design that won a Council of Industrial Design award. [2] The V&A holds an example of the Chair Thing described as “white with green spots,” made of polyurethane-coated laminated paper. [1]
Murdoch’s graphic design work is documented through his collaboration with Lance Wyman. In late 1966, the pair travelled to Mexico City to enter a two-week competition to design the graphics for the 1968 Olympic Games. They won the commission, and Murdoch was appointed director of special projects, responsible for signage systems, exhibition structures and torch design, while Wyman served as graphic design director. [3] Murdoch later opened his own London studio in 1968, which became known for graphic design, traffic signs and corporate identity work. [2]
Meaning and Symbolism
The printed patterns on Murdoch’s furniture carried direct visual meaning tied to the Pop and Op art movements of the 1960s. The Spotty chair’s polka-dot surface and the later black-and-white lettering patterns were integral to the design’s identity, giving inexpensive paperboard furniture a bold, contemporary graphic language. The V&A notes that the Chair Thing “captures the look and ethos of the Pop art movement of the 1960s.” [1] The lettered furniture, described as inspired by Op art, was recognised with a Council of Industrial Design award. [2]
Typography and Design
Documented typographic work by Murdoch appears in the Mexico 1968 Olympic identity. According to Lance Wyman, he and Murdoch together designed the “Mexico68” logotype during the competition phase in Mexico City. [4] The lettering followed the visual language of the emblem, with Wyman converting the bold lined lettering into a custom typeface. [5] Murdoch’s role in the programme was as director of special projects, which included signage systems and exhibition structures. [3]
No dedicated logo or wordmark for Peter Murdoch’s own furniture company or studio has been documented in the available research. His visual identity work is instead evidenced through the printed graphics on his furniture and his collaborative design work on the Mexico 1968 programme.
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