Larry Klein and his wife Nancy were our next door neighbors in Evanston, IL, in 1976, when I was appointed to the ID Institute of Design in Chicago, IL. My wife and I moved into a carriage house that originally was originally connected to the Klein house. The long hall or covered walkway had been removed and both houses stood in independent gardens. Our house was surrounded by a tall cedar picket fence. Our portion, originally housed an Islamic library for a former Northwestern University faculty. The space was generous and so was the light. Having lived before in Massachusetts, surrounded by many acres of forests, we felt very comfortable there. It was never as like living in the congestion of a large city.

I had met Larry at several conferences. We both shared some appointments at the National Endowment for the Arts, reviewing the design work of various design teams from different government agencies. He, together with Wilburn Bonnell, designer at Container Corporation in Chicago, enticed me to apply for the ID directorship. Through Larry, we found that amazing living environment in the city.

Larry Klein

At that time, Larry Klein worked for the Field Museum, and , gave several lectures to students at the ID. The Klein’s were great hosts. Whenever they planned a get-together with their friends, we were invited, and got to became acquainted with many of the Chicago stellar Chicago designers, photographers, and product designers. Many had studied at the ID with Moholy-Nagy or with Ray Pearson or held positions at the University of Illinois at Chicago or Champaign. Larry was not only a strong graphic designer; he also. He  had an amazing sense for wood sculpture. His home was filled with the sculptures of exotic animals in precious wood. The Klein’s also had an amazing collection of ancient masks from North and South American tribes. The depth of the collection was phenomenal.

Nancy Klein

During that time, Nancy Klein studied with Edward T. Hall. She collaborated, as did Len Singer, in the research, which was spawned earlier at Northwestern. She followed, when both moved to the West.

Larry Klein Obituary 

by Stephanie Banchero, Chicago Tribune staff writer

Larry Klein, 69, an internationally prominent designer and co-founder of one of the world’s premiere design firms, died June 22 in Mexico.

A leader of the modernist design movement in Chicago, Mr. Klein was a founder of Unimark International, a design and marketing firm based in Chicago. The company developed corporate identity programs for many clients, including American Airlines, Ford, J.C. Penney and Amoco.

In the 1970s, Mr. Klein left Unimark and created his own design firm in Evanston. In the 1980s, he served as chairman of the exhibition department of the Field Museum. In 1984, he left Chicago to serve as the design coordinator for the Los Angeles Olympics.

Friends remember Mr. Klein as an imaginative designer, a rational and orderly thinker who had an eye for what the public would appreciate.

“Most important, he was talented,” said Dean Alexander, who worked with Mr. Klein in the 1970s. “But he also was a real midwestern kind of a guy. He had a beautiful command of the language, yet he was very approachable and very charismatic.”