Richard Coyne

Who is Richard Coyne?

Richard S. Coyne was the co-founder, editor and designer of Communication Arts magazine, the largest international trade journal of visual communications.

Born in Seattle, Washington, in 1926, Coyne studied engineering at the University of Colorado. He served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. After World War II, he studied commercial art at the Cornish School and marketing at the University of Washington.

He held positions as agency art director, copywriter and corporate advertising/art director before opening his own design/advertising firm, Coyne & Blanchard, Inc., in Palo Alto, California in 1953. Communication Arts was conceived and developed in that firm and the first issue was published in 1959.

During his tenure as editor and designer of Communication Arts, Coyne received medals and distinctive merits from the art directors clubs of Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, and also AIGA, STA and Society of Typographic Designers for his art direction and for his contributions to the industry. He also served on the U.S. Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee.

Prior to his death in 1990, Coyne co-founded the Richard and Jean Coyne Family Foundation, to increase diversity in the field of visual communications. The foundation currently funds seventeen programs managed by educational institutions and non-profit trade organizations that help economically disadvantaged high-school students develop portfolios to qualify for admission to art school and/or provide college scholarships for economically disadvantaged students to study graphic design, advertising, photography and illustration.