Early life

Birdsall was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1934 and attended The King's School, Pontefract

The King's School, Pontefract

The King's School Specialising in Mathematics and Computing in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England is one of the four oldest schools in Yorkshire. It dates from 1139 and was refounded by King Edward VI in 1548.-History:...

, Wakefield College of Art

Wakefield College

Wakefield College is a Further Education College in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It has provided education within the city since 1868 .-History:...

 and Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. "At Central, Birdsall came under the influence of Anthony Froshaug

Anthony Froshaug

Anthony Froshaug was an English typographer and teacher, born in London to a Norwegian father and English mother.Froshaug attended Charterhouse School and studied book production and wood engraving at the Central School of Arts & Crafts from 1937 to 1939.On leaving the Central in 1939 he began to...

, who – alongside 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 ....

 and Edward Wright – taught his students the difference between beautiful lettering and typography

Typography

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...

 proper, with its pre-eminent concerns of clarity, directness and, above all, textual legibility."http://designmuseum.org/design/derek-birdsall Birdsall failed to earn a diploma, however, and began his career in design in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Career

Birdsall's career and fame were built on a variety of designs and commissions. During his long career—among much other work—Birdsall designed Penguin

Penguin Books

Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...

 book covers and Pirelli

Pirelli

Pirelli & C. SpA is a diverse multinational company based in Milan, Italy. The company, the world’s fifth largest tyre manufacturer, is present in over 160 countries, has 20 manufacturing sites around the world and a network of around 10,000 distributors and retailers.Founded in Milan in 1872,...

 calendars; he art-directed several magazines (including Nova

Nova (UK magazine)

Nova, published from March 1965 to October 1975, was a British magazine. It has been described as "a politically radical, beautifully designed, intellectual women's magazine"....

and Mobil Oil's Pegasus; and he designed books for the Yale Center for British Art

Yale Center for British Art

The Yale Center for British Art is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University which houses the most comprehensive collection of British Art outside the United Kingdom...

, the Tate

Tate

-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...

, the V&A and the British Council

British Council

The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...

 and redesigned the Book of Common Prayer

Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...

 in 2000.

Alongside his practice in design, Birdsall also taught design at the Royal College of Art

Royal College of Art

The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...

 beginning in 1987. Birdsall was the author of Notes On Book Design, published by Yale University Press

Yale University Press

Yale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....

 in 2004.

Personal life

He married in 1954 and has four sons and one daughter, including actor Jesse Birdsall

Jesse Birdsall

Jesse Birdsall is a British actor, known in the UK for his starring roles in several high-profile, popular television programmes, particularly in Bugs as Nick Beckett and later in The Bill as a character named Ron Gregory, a convicted paedophile.As a child, he attended the Anna Scher children's...

.

Books and articles on Birdsall

• Myerson, Jeremy, White space, black hat, Eye 9
  Eye (magazine)
  Eye Magazine, The International Review of Graphic Design is a quarterly print magazine on graphic design and visual culture.- History :...
  
  , Wordsearch Ltd, 1993.
• Thompson, Philip, Derek Birdsall – Typographer, Baseline 28, Bradbourne Publishing, 1999.
• Birdsall, Derek, Notes on Book Design, Yale University Press
  Yale University Press
  Yale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
  
  , 2004. ISBN 978-0300103472.