The Eveleigh-Dair Studio – 2182 St.Catherine West, Montreal, c1950

This photo of the Montreal studio of illustrator Henry Eveleigh and designer Carl Dair shows a studio that reflects the modernist leanings of its occupants. The kidney shaped wooden coffee table was very avant garde and Dair used variations of that shape on a number of projects, most notably in the ad for their studio that appeared in the First Toronto Art Directors Annual in April 1949. The bookshelves contain a number of books that typographers still refer to today, notably the two volumes of Printing Types by D. B. Updike. There are various design magazines including many copies of Graphis. There is also a large collection of paper samples, although at that time all printers and designers would have had large collections of paper samples.

In 1951, having just lost an account with an advertising agency, Eveleigh and Dair decided to expand and refocus the studio. In a 1996 interview, Eveleigh recalled it had taken years for designers to break away from working for sales-driven advertising agencies, where the contribution of the ‘creatives’ was largely obscured. By selling their services directly to advertisers, they no doubt intended to gain name recognition for their design and illustration work, cut out the middleman, and increase both their control and compensation. They brought in a third partner named Cossman and changed the name of the studio to CED. But a week before they were due to move into their new building, Dair abruptly left for Toronto, taking with him the studio’s largest account, the E. B. Eddy paper company. Although any business or creative partnership inevitably has its frictions, Eveleigh was stunned by this abrupt turn. He would later say that he never really knew why Dair left. – Brian Donnelly