He has taught at various art schools, written books, and worked as a printer, as a magazine editor and as a print-production manager.

[2] Back in the UK, he designed the quarterly journal Modern Poetry in Translation, became the art editor of the weekly magazine New Society and later created John Berger's Ways of Seeing.

A Concise History in 2001,[7] and Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style, 1920–1965 in 2006.

[8] Hollis's body of work consistently suggests a strong connection between graphic design and the cultural and social conditions that inspire it.

[citation needed] Hollis's book Henry van de Velde: The Artist as Designer (2019) was the first major study of van de Velde's work in English in 30 years; it was supported by the Flemish government and published by Occasional Papers.