James Gardner (designer)

James "Leslie" Gardner OBE RDI (1907–1995) was a British museum and exhibition designer. Although most widely known for his exhibition work, Gardner also undertook illustration and ship design work. His archive is located at the The University of Brighton Design Archives.

Educated at Westminster School of Art, Gardner's career began as an apprentice for Cartier jewellers in 1923. After a period of international travel in the 1930s, Gardner returned to London and began working for the commercial design consultancy, Carlton Studios. His early commissions included advertising work for a number of clients, including Shell. Commissioned by their art director Jack Beddington, Gardner undertook poster and exhibition work for them.

Drafted into the Camouflage Training School at Farnham during World War Two, Gardner designed a series of inflatable deception projects which included dummy tanks and landing craft. Gardner was also employed by The Ministry of Information an illustrator at this time.

In the 1940s, Gardner designed three non-fiction children's books for Puffin Picture Books.

Following the war, the Council of Industrial Design commissioned Gardner to oversee various exhibition projects; the most significant of these was the Britain Can Make It exhibition of industrial and product design in 1946. So began Gardner's career which included contributions to the Enterprise Scotland exhibition in 1947, and the Festival of Britain in 1951, where he designed displays for the 'People of Britain' and part of the South Bank exhibition. He was also Chief Designer of the Battersea Park pleasure gardens.

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