Imré Molnar (1951-2012) was an inspiring designer and devoted educator and mentor. He was respected for his passion for knowledge and development of the next generation of creative minds.

After migrating from Hungary to Australia in 1957, Imré attended secondary school in Canberra followed by Industrial Design studies at the National Art School in Sydney (1970-1973). Later Imré completed his masters in fine arts, illustration at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California (1990-1993).

Professionally Imré’s career started at Whirlpool in Australia and the New South Wales (NSW) Public Works Department as a designer on a range of consumer and industrial products in addition to freelance work in exhibition and graphic design. He was a founding partner of Folio Design in Sydney (1980-1985) with a client base that included IBM, Honeywell and government authorities.

Imré spent over six years as field officer and NSW state director for the Industrial Design Council of Australia where his impact was profound. Internationally and his last commercial role, Imré was Director of Design at Patagonia Inc, the distinguished American outdoor clothing, apparel and gear company located in Ventura, California.

Imré’s academic work started as assistant professor in Industrial Design at Canberra College of Advanced Education (now University of Canberra). Between 1989-1997 he was the full-time faculty and Director of Education at Art Center (Europe) College of Design spending time at the Vevey, Switzerland campus and in Pasadena, California.

From 2001 until his passing, Imré was the academic head at the renowned design school – the College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit. He was pivotal in the expansion of the School’s transportation design program informed by former consultancy roles for Ford, BMW, and General Motors Corporation, among others. Imré was most proudly the father of his beloved daughters Isabelle Sarah Molnar and Kristen Bricknell Rhodes, and son, Maxim Antoine Molnar.

As Design Director at Patagonia, Imre was responsible for the overall supervision of the company’s design personnel and the art direction of the product line.

There were four seasonal collections created annually and Imre would commence each season with all designers engaged in a charrette conducted at a relevant but remote sight where they would determine the season’s overarching themes, color story and design direction.

The design sketches shown here are Imre’s from two such retreats–Bozeman and Ojai.

One of Imre’s demo sketches for his students at Art Center

Imre’s figure drawing illustrations and sketches.

Additional sketches and illustrations by Imre for his students at Art Center.

Ideation for a car interior project done while at Hauser, Inc.