Romek Marber Various Projects

Cunic Partition System

In 1958, and following success in work with various contractor clients together with the design of London’s Design Centre, the brothers Roger and Robert Nicholson embarked on a project to create a modern, de-mountable office partition system. The funds for development and collaboration came from Holland, Hannen & Cubitts, then a very large and prestigious construction company responsible for many iconic buildings, including the Royal Festival Hall (1951). The Cunic brand name was clearly derived from a conflation of the two partner organisations’ titles and Romek was hired to create the Brand Architecture and sales material.

The principal item in the kit of parts developed for the construction of discreet offices in large blocks, was a multi purpose ‘post’ which acted as conduit for telephone supply and power cable as well as a structural element in the erection of the walls of the offices. In short it was to become the key to the creative motivation of sales through design function.

Romek created a memorable symbol for the product by using the unique profile of the ‘post’. In doing so he highlighted the chief innovation and unique selling point of the new, versatile partition system. The Cunic sales literature he created was some of the first to use explicit 3D projections to show the simplicity of the design and function of the product. It was rare at the time to make industrial literature come alive beyond simply photographing the product and adding colour. This solution created an heroic position for an everyday product of industrial design with a very thoughtful set of ideas.

David Pocknell
Designer and friend

Bruce Brown writes in ‘Romek Marber Graphics’: In 1958 Romek Marber received a break-through commission to produce designs for a new industrial product known as Cunic. This innovative system for creating office partitions had been designed by Robert Nicholson, the brother of Marber’s ex-tutor, Roger Nicholson. Read more