Don Birrell

Don Birrell was born December 6, 1922, in Corona, California. He grew up in Sacramento, California, and attended Sacramento City College.^[9]

Birrell served as the director of the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento from 1951 to 1953.^[10] In 1951, he organized an exhibition of the work of artist Martín Ramírez at the Crocker Art Museum.^[11] In 1952, the drawing "Madonna in Landscape with Cars" by Ramírez was received by Charles Eames and Ray Eames in a letter from Don Birrell.^{[12][13][14][15]}

In 1953,^[16] Birrell became design director for the Nut Tree restaurant in Vacaville, where he remained until his retirement in 1990. The Nut Tree had its own design department headed by him.^[17] In 1960, Birrell mounted an exhibition of paintings by Wayne Thiebaud that were inspired by Thiebaud's travels to Mexico.^[18]

Birrell's graphic design style can be characterized as minimalist, colorful, and highly abstracted. He is credited with creating the Nut Tree's "look", from graphic design to food presentations to menu design.^[19][20][21]

Birrell was admired and was influenced by a number of artists and designers, notably: Charles and Ray Eames, Maynard Dixon, Rockwell Kent, Grant Wood, Saul Bass, Herbert Bayer, Alexander Calder, Cassandre, William Moore, Piet Mondrian, Alexander Girard, László Moholy-Nagy, Thomas Moran, George Nelson, Paul Rand, and Charles Sheeler.

The Vacaville Museum exhibited a retrospective of Birrell's work, Don Birrell by Design in 2003.^[22]

Birrell died on June 30, 2006.^[2] Following his death, the July 5, 2006, meeting of the Solano County Board of Supervisors adjourned in his memory.^[23]