Rich Godfrey, President and Director of the corporate identity practice at FUSE, Inc., was named a “revolutionary” graphic designer in a new book by Laurel Harper, “Radical Graphics, Graphic Radicals” (Chronicle Books, 1999). Former Managing Editor of “HOW” magazine, Harper spotlighted 40 individuals and firms in her study of the contemporary graphic design. “These individuals and firms have influenced the look of everything from alternative rock packaging to the ad campaigns of large clients like Levi Strauss and Harley-Davidson,” said Harper.

Godfrey has been in the design and corporate identity sphere for 18 professional years. For the last 10, he has concentrated on renewing and reinvigorating the identity process for clients. While at Copeland Hirthler, Godfrey helped the City of Atlanta with its bid for the 1996 Olympics. He has also taught branding and identity at Georgia State University as a part time instructor. At FUSE, Godfrey led the charge to redesign the 1998 CD ROM package by IBM and WorldBook Encyclopedia. More recently, he re-branded the Executive Education area at Goizueta Business School and CityCares.

In her book, Harper asserts that Godrey’s contributions are infused with his acute understanding of fine arts. “His fine arts sentience explains why Godfrey’s work, though often tinged by the Radical – whether it is injected using a startling image, unexpected font selection, or layered compositions – always manages to project an aura of elegance.”

The images pictured above are examples of Godfrey’s work entitled, “Violence and the Crucifixion of Innocence.” Of the piece, Harper writes, “When Godfrey was asked to design the seventh issue of Pique (a portfolio of cutting edge artists), he wanted to create an image that would ‘stop people in their tracks,’ he says. ‘I had not previously seen a dead body in a collateral design piece, and thought it would make the strong statement the piece needed.’”