Michael Johnson

johnson banks was set up by Michael Johnson. He trained in Marketing and Design and set up johnson banks in 1992 after spending his twenties working in London, Sydney, Melbourne and Tokyo. Johnson and his company have won many (including eight “pencils” from D&AD, 13 Design Week awards and four NYADC “cubes”, amongst many others, and has dozens of designs in the V&A’s permanent collection).He has been cited as one of the most notable British Designers by the Guardian and The Independent, has three times featured in Design Week’s “Hot 50” list of prominent figures in design and edits the influential Thought for the week design blog. In October 2002 Phaidon Press published Johnson’s first book, called “Problem Solved: a primer in design and communication”, now in its 5th reprint, and he is working on two further titles. He contributed to and co-curated the Rewind exhibition and book at the V&A in 2003. Johnson lectures on design and branding across the world, and for several years has run a highly subscribed branding workshop for D&AD for both individuals and client groups. The company’s work has been exhibited globally, most notably in a solo exhibition at the Creation Gallery in Ginza in 2004.