TEHRAN — Iranian graphic designer Majid Baloch was honored at a gathering of members of the Iranian Graphic Designers Society at the Iranian Artists’ Forum (IAF), where speakers highlighted his contribution to Iranian visual culture and the development and preservation of the country’s graphic-design heritage.
The ceremony, held at the IAF’s Ostad Shahrzad Hall, brought together artists, cultural officials and members of Iran’s graphic-design community to pay tribute to Baloch and reflect on the development of graphic design in the country.
Aydin Mahdizadeh, director general of the Visual Arts Office at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, emphasized the role of successive generations of artists in shaping society’s visual memory.
He said that the visual tastes of later generations are formed in part through the forms, images and graphic languages created by earlier artists and preserved in the collective memory.
Mahdizadeh called for renewed attention to the visual legacy of Iran’s graphic-design pioneers, saying Baloch’s graphic elements and visual vocabulary represent a distinctive expression of Iranian identity.
The gathering also examined the institutional history of graphic design in Iran. Veteran graphic designer Amrollah Farhadi recalled the role of the late designer Morteza Momayez in establishing the Iran Graphic Design Museum.
Farhadi said that from the early years of the Iranian Graphic Designers Society, Momayez had committed himself to creating a museum dedicated to the history and achievements of Iranian graphic design. The project was pursued through sustained efforts to collect, preserve and present the country’s graphic heritage.
Farhadi described the pioneers of Iranian graphic design as an important source of knowledge and experience for younger generations. He emphasized their direct engagement with emerging designers and their role in shaping the development of the profession.
Jebrael Nokandeh, the first director of the National Museum of Iran, focused on another aspect of Baloch’s work: the relationship between graphic design and everyday life.
Nokandeh said museums have a responsibility to make specialized and complex subjects accessible to wider audiences. He argued that Baloch’s work in applied graphic design similarly helped move the discipline beyond specialist and academic circles and into everyday Iranian life.
He added that culture and artistic traditions remain vibrant when society actively participates in them. In his view, Baloch’s work helped establish graphic design as part of the broader visual environment of Iranian society.
Bahram Kalhornia, chairman of the board of the Iranian Graphic Designers Society, said the gathering was intended to celebrate Baloch’s intellectual and cultural legacy as well as that of other pioneers of Iranian graphic design.
Kalhornia also stressed the importance of protecting the Iran Graphic Design Museum, describing it as a national cultural asset whose preservation requires collective support.
He expressed the hope that the museum would one day carry the name of Majid Baloch, saying that honoring the pioneers of Iranian graphic design is inseparable from preserving the identity and heritage of the discipline.
Majid Baloch is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern Iranian graphic design. His career has encompassed advertising, visual identity, packaging and book design, while his longstanding engagement with the history and preservation of Iranian graphic design has also been connected with efforts to establish and develop the Iran Graphic Design Museum.