Colin Forbes is a British graphic designer. He is notable as a former head of the graphic design program at London's Central School of Arts and Crafts

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. The school has an outstanding international reputation, and is considered one of the world's leading art and design institutions...

 and as one of the founders of the Pentagram design studio.

Forbes was born in London in 1928. He studied at London's Central School of Arts and Crafts

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. The school has an outstanding international reputation, and is considered one of the world's leading art and design institutions...

 and worked briefly under graphic designer and journalist Herbert Spencer

Herbert Spencer (graphic designer)

Herbert Spencer was a British designer, editor, writer, photographer and teacher, born in London on June 22, 1924, and died March 11, 2002 ....

. After graduating, Forbes returned to become Head of Graphic Design at the Central School at the age of 28. By 1960 Forbes had left teaching for private practice and in 1962 formed Fletcher/Forbes/Gill with Alan Fletcher

Alan Fletcher (graphic designer)

Alan Gerard Fletcher was a British graphic designer. In his obituary, he was described by The Daily Telegraph as "the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation, and probably one of the most prolific"....

 and Bob Gill

Bob Gill (artist)

Bob Gill , American illustrator and graphic designer. He played the piano at summer resorts in the Catskill Mountains, New York, to pay his school tuition. He attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Art , Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts , City College of New York...

. (Gill left the partnership in 1965 and was replaced by Theo Crosby

Theo Crosby

Theo Crosby was an architect, editor, writer and sculptor, engaged with major developments in design across four decades. He was also an early vocal critic of modern urbanism. He is best remembered as a founding partner of the international design partnership Pentagram, and as architect for the...

 and the firm became Crosby/Fletcher/Forbes). In 1972 Forbes and Fletcher were two of the five founders of Pentagram

Pentagram (design studio)

Pentagram is a design studio that was founded in 1972 by Alan Fletcher, Theo Crosby, Colin Forbes, Kenneth Grange and Mervyn Kurlansky in Needham Road, West London, UK...

 design studio, a leading studio in the world of design.

With his partners at Fletcher/Forbes/Gill and with partners at Pentagram, Forbes is the co-author of several books on design. He has also written under his sole name.

Forbes was a 1991 recipient of the AIGA medal.

Books by Forbes

• Graphic Design: Visual Comparisons (with Alan Fletcher and Bob Gill), Reinhold Publishing, 1964.
• Pentagram: The Work of Five Designers (with Pentagram partners), Lund Humphries, 1972.
• Living by Design (with Pentagram partners), Lund Humphries, 1978.
• Seeing is Believing: Identity Design in the 20th Century, Booth-Clibborn Editions, 1995. (ISBN 978-1873968239)
• Better Documents: Pentagram's Guide to Choosing Typefaces and Creating Better Correspondance and Documents, Graphis Press, 2000. (ISBN 978-1888001945)