Kit Hinrichs

In 2008, Hinrichs mounted a retrospective exhibit at California State University, Sacramento entitled "The Storyteller's Art" which traveled to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California in 2009.

Hinrichs has won hundreds of design awards, including the AIGA Medal in 2004 and an honorary Doctorate of Letters by Art Center College of Design in 2009. He is represented in several permanent collections including: the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City; the Library of Congress in Washington, DC; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). He has been a featured speaker at national design conferences including the HOW Design Live Conference, Adobe MAX, the Stanford Design Conference, the AIGA National Conferences, as well as at regional AIGA chapters and at universities and design schools across the country.

In or about 1986, Kit Hinrichs and writer Delphine Hirasuna conceived of a magazine to bridge "designers and corporate clients, addressing the ever-present perception that neither party clearly understands what each other contributes to their intended collaboration." In 1994, Potlatch papers agreed to underwrite the project, and in 1995 the Corporate Design Foundation became involved as the official publisher of @Issue: The Journal of Business and Design. @Issue is focused on the "effective use of design in business," and includes case studies, interviews, and articles about client-designer collaborations. @Issue "was immediately embraced by the design and business communities because it was the only publication that really addressed how design directly impacts businesses and their brands." In 2006, @Issue's circulation (available only by subscription) reached 100,000, and a spinoff conference was started. In 2009, @Issue transformed from a printed publication to a digital platform.

Hinrichs studied graphic design at Art Center College of Design (then in Los Angeles, California), where he earned a Bachelor of Professional Arts in 1963.

After graduating from Art Center in 1963, Hinrichs served in the Marine Corps. Hinrichs then moved to New York and, after a few years, partnered with Anthony Russell to form Russell and Hinrichs, an independent design consultancy. Seven years later, Hinrichs and his wife, Linda Hinrichs, established Hinrichs Design Associates which "focused on reinterpreting the annual report with a concentration on the character of particular companies." They moved to San Francisco in 1976 and formed a bi-coastal partnership with Vance Jonson, B. Martin Pedersen, and Neil Shakery called Jonson, Pedersen, Hinrichs & Shakery. In 1986 the San Francisco office merged with Pentagram and Hinrichs became a partner at Pentagram. Hinrichs was a partner at Pentagram's San Francisco office from 1986 to 2009. In 2009, Hinrichs founded Studio Hinrichs, an independent design firm in San Francisco, California.

Kit Hinrichs (born November 15, 1941, in Torrance, California) is an American graphic designer, author, collector, and design educator.