Barbara Torode, 80, died unexpectedly on Jan. 3 in her Mt. Airy home. She was a retired graphic designer. Born in New York City, she came to Philadelphia to attend the Philadelphia College of Art, now the University of the Arts, graduating in 1959. She worked as an art director for several advertising agencies, notably N. W . Ayer & Sons in Philadelphia and Benton & Bowles in London. Later, she opened her own agency in Philadelphia, Torode Design Associates, creating advertising, audio-visual and printed material for such clients as Merck and Mellon Bank and designing books ranging from medical texts to elementary school workbooks. Through the years, she also taught classes at her alma mater, Moore College of Art and Princeton University. In 1976, she designed a Bicentennial Year birth certificate for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, issued to all babies born in the state that year. She also wrote poetry, which she often read at poets’ gatherings. Torode is survived by her husband, James Smart, a former Philadelphia Bulletin columnist, step-children Stephen Smart and Leslie Zavodnick, three step-grand-children, two step-great-grandsons, two brothers and her former husband, Peter Paone. Funeral arrangements are private. A memorial gathering will be announced later.
