Hans Arnold Rothholz, 1919-2000

Hans Arnold Rothholz was born in Dresden in 1919. He arrived in Britain with his mother in 1933 and later enrolled at the Reimann School, where he studied commercial art and display design (1938-9), after study at the Willesden School of Art. During the Second World War, because of his German nationality, he was interned in Liverpool, on the Isle of Man and in Canada.

Back in London in 1942, Rothholz designed posters for various clients, among them the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and the Post Office. In the late 1940s he designed promotional material for Wembley Stadium including the Olympic Games of 1948. In 1951 he was commissioned to work on the Land Travelling Exhibition for the Festival of Britain. Other clients from this time include airlines BEA and BOAC, the tea company Perera, and the shoe company Splendida. A keen Scout, Rothholz designed the programme for the World Scout Jamboree when it was held in Britain in 1957. He designed murals and graphic schemes for the Bacon & Egg restaurants and the Grill & Cheese chain. Throughout the 1960s he re-branded Winsor & Newton art materials and towards the end of this decade, he created a new corporate identity for Wellcome to include pharmaceutical packaging, stationery and vehicle liveries.