Exceptional American Typographers
Exceptional American Typographers
Foreword This book is dedicated to the five most influential graphic designers. Each of them has their own way of working and experimenting with design and typography that sets them apart from others. Their story and work have inspired many designers to explore different things.
Michael Bierut
22-33
Paula Scher 10-21
David Carson 46-57
Paul Rand
34-45
Saul Bass
60-69
5
Exceptional American Typographers
Paula Scher b. 1948 USA
“Find out what the next thing is that you can push, that you can invent, that you can be ignorant about, that you can be arrogant about, that you can fail with, and you can be a fool with. Because in the end, that’s how you grow”
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Paula Scher is a contemporary American artist and graphic designer best known for her posters, logo designs, and album covers. In her paintings, Scher portrays large-scale maps filled with intricate lettering that indicate political and societal connections between countries and regional borders. “The job of the designer is to make things understandable, usable, accessible, enjoyable, and important to a public, that involves the public,” she has explained.
Born on October 6, 1948 in Washington, D.C., she went on to study at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia before moving to New York, where she worked as a layout artist for Random House. Paula Scher is one of the most influential graphic designers in the world. Described as the “master conjurer of the instantly familiar,” Scher straddles the line between pop culture and fine art in her work. Iconic, smart, and accessible, her images have entered into the American vernacular.
Scher has been a partner in the New York office of Pentagram since 1991. She began her career as an art director in the 1970s and early 80s, when her eclectic approach to typography became highly influential. In the mid1990s her landmark identity for The Public Theater fused high and low into a wholly new symbology for cultural institutions, and her recent architectural collaborations have re-imagined the urban landscape as a dynamic environment of dimensional graphic design. Her graphic identities for Citibank and Tiffany & Co. have become case studies for the contemporary regeneration of American brands.
Scher has developed identity and branding systems, promotional materials, environmental graphics, packaging and publication designs for a broad range of clients that includes, among others, Bloomberg, Microsoft, Adobe, Bausch + Lomb, Coca-Cola, Shake Shack, Perry Ellis, the Walt Disney Company, the Museum of Modern Art, the Sundance Institute, the High Line, the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the New 42nd Street, the New York Botanical Garden, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Robin Hood Foundation, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. In 1996 Scher’s widely imitated identity for The Public Theater won the coveted Beacon Award for integrated corporate design strategy. She has served on the board of directors of The Public Theater, and is a frequent design contributor to The New York Times, GQ and other publications. She served on the Public Design Commission of the City of New York from 2006 to 2015.
Paula Scher |11
Awards
Pentagram’s Paula Scher has been named the 2019 Society for Experiential Graphic Design Fellow, awarded for promoting the highest values in environmental graphic design and significantly contributing to the direction and growth of the field.
Paula Scher with Clive Roux, SEGD; Mike McCarthy, DCL; and Bryan Meszaros, OpenEye Global.
5 Exceptional American Typographers
The Public Theater won the coveted Beacon Award for integrated corporate design strategy.
1998 2000 2001 2006 2012 2013 2019 2021
Was named to the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame. Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design. Was awarded the profession’s highest honor, the AIGA Medal. Type Directors Club Medal, the first woman to receive the prize. Was honored with the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Design Collab Award. Received the National Design Award for Communication Design, presented by the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Was named a SEGD Fellow. Was honored with the title Royal Designer for Industry (RDI).
Rockaway Beach, New York, 2015. SEGD Honor Award. Bloomberg L.P. corporate headquarters, New York, 2005. SEGD Honor Award. Paula Scher |13
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Area Codes and Time Zones, 2015
Since 1994, Pentagram has been involved with the graphic identity of the Public Theater, a program that would eventually influence much of the graphic design created for theatrical promotion and for cultural institutions in general. The identity responded to The Public’s mission to provide accessible and innovative performances, creating a graphic language that reflects street typography in its extremely active, unconventional and almost graffiti like juxtaposition.
The new system is more refined as it retains the active nature of the original but provides more structure, while the change from a vertical to horizontal organization has the effect of making the logo more architectural.
5 Exceptional American Typographers
The Public Theater
Paula Scher |17
Shakespeare In The Park 2016 5 Exceptional American Typographers
A poster for Joe's Pub previews the look for the Public's fall season
UN Stamps A series of vibrant postage stamps commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations in 2020. Paula Scher |19
2DADS Brand identity for a new brewing company based in British Columbia, Canada.
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Camu C Brand identity and packaging design for Thailand’s coolest health drink.
Michael Bierut b. 1948 USA
“Not everything is design. But design is about everything. So do yourself a favor: be ready for anything.”
5 Exceptional American Typographers
MIcHAEL
BIERUT
IS
oNE
oF
THe
LEAdING
AMERIcAN GRAphIC dESIGNeRS, dEsIGN cRITIc ANd EdUCAToR. AT VIGNElLI ASSocIATES, HE WAs THe VIcE pRESIdENT oF GRApHIc dESIGN. HE ALSo sERVEd AS a sENIor cRITIc AT THe YAle ScHOol Of ART. HE HEd cLOSe ASSocIATIoN WITh THe AMeRIcAN INsTITuTE oF GRAPHIc ARTS ANd AS WELl. PENTAGRaM,
Born in 1957, Michael Bierut grew up in Cleveland Ohio. Graphic design was not as popular in those times that it would be promoted to young adults. His love of fine art, drawing and music helped him find only two books in the library on the subject. He finally decided to study graphic designing at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. He interned for another AIGA medalist, Chris Pullman, at a Boston public television station, WGBH. Upon graduation in 1980, he on to work for Vignelli Associates and in the span of a decade he became its Vice President. He had serious industry clout there but it also helped him form the key principle of his career.
Bierut is visionary who understands the company’s readership and audience. Working at Vignelli Associates he acknowledged the fact that the annual reports and corporate brochures created by designers are not read keenly. When Beirut began to work for the company, he had to do most of the work manually because the technological advancement had not yet arrived. He credits the first four years working for Vignelli Associates for empowering him to achieve what he has today. He used to design invitations for his friends’ parties, freebies for non-profits, unique birthday cards and packaging for mix tapes. In 1990, Bierut became a partner with the New York office of Pentagram.
There he served clients such as Alliance for Downtown New York, Motorola, Alfred A. Knopf, the Walt Disney Company, the Toy Industry Association, Yale School of Architecture, Princeton University and New York University. Exhibition on the psychedelic era for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was one of the projects that Bierut managed. Moreover, he offered his services as a design consultant to United Airlines. Dwell sought his assistances on design book recommendations, while Fast Company required his valuable opinion on corporate branding. Morgan Library Museum recently sought his expertise on the development of a new signage and identity as it expanded. The New York Times building and Phillip Johnson’s Glass House hired him to create the environmental graphics for them. Besides redesigning The Atlantic magazine, he developed marketing strategies for William Jefferson Clinton Foundation.
Michael Bierut |23
Awards
SVA President David Rhodes presents Bierut with the Masters Series Award.
5 Exceptional American Typographers
1989 2003 2006 2008
Was elected to the Alliance Graphique Internationale.
2015 2016
Was awarded Masters Series Award by the School of Visual Arts.
The Art Directors Club Hall of Fame. Was awarded the profession’s highest honor, the AIGA Medal. He was winner in the Design Mind category, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards. Henry Wolf Resident in Graphic Design at the American Academy in Rome.
Article
By Ann Binlot •Oct. 6, 2015 in THE NEW YORK TIMES STYLEMAGAZINE The Man Who Designed Manhattan Iconic designs by the graphic designer Michael Bierut include, clockwise from top left: shopping bags for Saks Fifth Avenue; the sign at The New York Times building; packaging for nuts.com; maps for WalkNYC.
Michael Bierut |25
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Posters for the Yale School of Architecture follow simple design parameters: one size, one color, all type.
Michael Bierut |27
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Michael Bierut |29
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Brand identity for Poetry Fountation
Michael Bierut |31
Nicollet Brand Identity, Signage & Environmental Graphics
5 Exceptional American Typographers
International Center of Photography Brand identity for the world’s leading institution dedicated to photography and visual culture.
Michael Bierut |33
Paul Rand 1914 - 1996 USA
“Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.”
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Paul Rand was an eminent twentieth century American graphic designer, art director and one of first American commercial artists to embrace and practice the Swiss Style of graphic design. He was the pioneer of iconic corporate logo designs for major firms, including IBM, ABC, Morningstar, Inc., NeXT Computer, Yale University and Enron. He was an avid practitioner of Swiss Style of graphic designing in American advertising industry.
On August 15, 1914, in Brooklyn, New York, Rand was born as Peretz Rosenbaum. Since a very early age, he had a keen interest in painting and designing which reflected through his painting signs for his father’s grocery store and for his school events. So he enrolled him at Manhattan’s Harren High School. While studying there, Paul also attended night classes at the Pratt Institute. He attended several art schools in succession such as The New School for Design, the Art Students League and Yale University in Connecticut. Notwithstanding his rich academic career in arts, Rand developed his graphic sense through self-education largely, as he voraciously read the European magazines, discovering the works of Cassandre.
Subsequently, Rand began his career as a part-time stock image creator for a syndicate. His work was highly influenced by Sachplakat, the German advertising style and Gustav Jensen’s works. One of his notable designs was featured on the cover of Direction magazine, which he created free of charge in honor of artistic freedom. Despite the fact that Rand earned his ultimate success by designing corporate logos, however, the source of his reputation is based on his initial work on page design. In mid 1930s he was requested by Apparel Arts magazine to develop the page layout for their anniversary issue. Later he was offered a job at another prestigious magazine, Esquire-Coronet, as an art director.
After first refusal, he accepted the offer, managing the fashion pages for Esquire. During 1950s and 1960s, Paul Rand became a brand name for logo designing in corporate industry. Many of the above mentioned firms owe their graphic designing heritage to him. In 1956, IBM became one of the companies that truly defined his corporate identity. He revised the IBM logo design in 1960 and yet again in 1972 with the famous stripes pattern. Steve Jobs admired Rand’s graphic creativity and called him “the greatest living graphic designer.” Besides art direction, he taught at Yale University, as a Professor of Graphic Design. Additionally, he wrote several crucial works on design such as Design, Form and Chaos, Thoughts on Design and Design and the Play Instinct.
Paul Rand |35
Awards 1972
Was inducted in the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame.
Article
By Saul Blumenthal •Nov. 15, 1996 in THE TECH Graphics Pioneer Rand Talks About Art and Design The talk, entitled “The Language of Art” was sponsored by the Aesthetics and Computation Group of the Media Lab. It was moderated by Assistant Professor of Media Art and Science John Maeda, who heads up the group. 5 Exceptional American Typographers
Paul Rand |37
ABC Logo, 1962
Columbus Visitors Centre, 1973
Yale Logo, 1985
UCLA Extension Winter Quarter, 1990
Interfaith Day, 1951
Columbus Visitors Centre, 1973
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Rand’s defining corporate identity was his IBM logo in 1956, which as Mark Favermann notes “was not just an identity but a basic design philosophy which permeated corporate consciousness and public awareness.” The logo was modified by Rand in 1960. The striped logo was created in 1972.
In 1981 Paul Rand was asked by IBM to design a poster to support its new “THINK” motto. His response is the now iconic Eye-Bee-M rebus where images of an eye and bee stand in for the I and B, with the 13-bar M clearly linking it back to the company and logotype. This continues to be used today in modified versions for use in black and white and at different scales.
IBM Paul Rand |39
No Way Out No Way Out, 1950 Movie Poster Direction Magazine vol 3, 1940
5 Exceptional American Typographers
The Dada Painters and Poets, 1951
Jazzways magazine Volume 1 with cover design by Paul Rand, 1946
Aiga, 1968
Paul Rand |41
Interfaith Day, 1951
Fair- Reproduced in Rand’s book Sparkle and Spin, 1957
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Second Interfaith Day, 1953
With the sense of sight, the idea communicates the emotion
Subway Posters Score. 24 Hours a Day They Never Miss, 1947
Paul Rand |43
El Producto Cigars. For Dad with Love and Kisses, 1953
El Producto. Every Cigar Says “Merry Christmas,” t 1953
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El Producto. The Way to a Man’s Heart, 1953
El Producto, Smoking at its Recognized Best, 1953
Paul Rand |45
David Carson b. 1955 USA
“Never mistake legibility for communication.”
5 Exceptional American Typographers
David Carson is a prominent contemporary graphic designer and art director. His unconventional and experimental graphic style revolutionized the graphic designing scene in America during 1990s. He was the art director of the magazine Ray Gun, in which he introduced the innovative typographies and distinct layouts. He is claimed to be the godfather of ‘grunge typography’ which he employed perpetually in his magazine issues.
On September 8, 1954, Carson was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. He went on to study Sociology from San Diego State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He touched upon graphic designing briefly while attending a two-week commercial designing class at the University of Arizona, in 1980. Subsequently, he attended the Oregon College of Commercial Art to study graphic designing and a three-week workshop in Switzerland as a part of his degree. Besides, his many talents include professional surfing and he was ranked 9th best surfer in the world, in 1989.
David Carson embarked on his passion for graphic designing in his later life. In the beginning he worked as a designer for a magazine, Self and Musician, covering surfers’ interests. His early experiences also include working for Transworld Skateboarding magazine which paved way for his experimental designing. He became the art director for the magazine in 1984 and revised its style and layout until his tenure ended. During his time at Transworld Skateboarding, he developed a signature style with the use of unconventional ‘dirty’ type photographic techniques. In 1987, he also lent his expertise to the extension of the magazine, Transworld Snowboarding.
In 1989 Carson became art director at the magazine Beach Culture. Although he produced only six issues before the journal folded. By that time, Carson’s work had caught the eye of Marvin Scott Jarrett, publisher of the alternativemusic magazine Ray Gun, and he hired Carson as art director in 1992. Over the next three years, with the help of Carson’s radical design vision, Ray Gun’s circulation tripled. Because Carson’s work clearly appealed to a youthful readership, corporations such as Nike and Levi Strauss & Co. commissioned him to design print ads, and he also began directing television commercials. After leaving Ray Gun in 1995, Carson established David Carson Design. The firm was instantly successful and attracted well-known, wealthy corporate clients. In 1995 Carson produced The End of Print: The Graphic Design of David Carson (revised edition issued in 2000 as The End of Print: The Grafik Design of David Carson), the first comprehensive collection of his distinctive graphic imagery. This was followed by the boldly experimental books 2nd Sight (1997), Fotografiks (1999), and Trek (2003). David Carson |47
Awards
David Carson was recognized for breaking the rules, nearly untethering legibility from communication and inspiring a generation of young designers with his bold understanding of cultural style.
2014
Was awarded an AIGA Medal in New York City.
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Article
By Matthew G. Kirschenbaum The Other End of Print: David Carson Graphic Design, and the Aesthetics of Media.
David Carson |49
26/41. “Rules of Graffic Design” series
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30/41. “Rules of Graffic Design” series
Street poster for spain REC festival 2019
David Carson |51
Right- John coltrane ‘63. 5 album boxed set. 2018 Left- Cover for The Drum magazine, march 2017
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Book cover design for nucollage
nu cover design for april 2019 issue of marketing tribune, nl
nu collage poster April 2019
David Carson |53
SURFportugal august 2012
2017 line from Starboard 5 Exceptional American Typographers
SURFportugal august 2012
The Macallan Unveils its Third Bold Concept Release Macallan
David Carson |55
cover for dutch magazine, volkskrant magazine. april 2018
Ray-Gun spread
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Cover of “little white lies“ magzine, 2011
Pepsi, 1996
David Carson |57
Saul Bass 1920 - 1996 USA
“Sometimes when an idea flashes, you distrust it because it seems too easy. You qualify it with all kinds of evasive phrases because you’re timid about it. But often, this turns out to be the best idea of all.”
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Saul Bass was a prominent American graphic designer of the twentieth-century. He largely designed motion picture title sequences, corporate logos and movie posters. He was a pioneer of the modern title sequence designing. He enjoyed four decades of successful career in his lifetime, winning Academy Award for his exquisite graphic designing. His iconic title sequences appeared in the popular films, such as, The Man with the Golden Arm, Psycho and North by Northwest.
On May 8, 1920, in Bronx, New York, Saul Bass was born. He attended the James Monroe High School from where he earned his graduation. In 1936, he received a fellowship to the Art Students League in Manhattan. He then went on to study at Brooklyn College, attending night classes with a famous Hungarianborn designer, György Kepes. Upon completion of his studies, he worked as a freelancer for several advertising companies and agencies. He moved to Los Angeles, where he pursued graphic designing as a commercial artist. During 1940’s he took up some Hollywood projects, which involved the print work for promotional purposes. Later established his private firm as Saul Bass & Associates.
In 1954, Bass finally had his big break as he was offered a job by the filmmaker Otto Preminger to design a poster for Carmen Jones. His work left a remarkable impression on Preminger. Bass realized the potential of title sequence if incorporated with the right audio and visual sequence can help set the mood and theme at the opening of a film. After his debut work in the Hollywood, he worked for several reputable production houses. In 1955, he produced title sequence for The Seven Year Itch. As to underline the intensity of then tabooed subject, he featured an animated paper cut-out arm in the film title which had a sensational effect on the audience.
Bass developed iconic, influential and noteworthy title sequences employing distinguished kinetic typography for motion pictures, including North by Northwest (1959), Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960). He was the first to introduce this technique in Hollywood films which previously employed static titles. Bass regarded title sequence designing as an art with its unique purposes. His creation was based on the philosophy of enlightening the audience about the subject of the film and invoking their emotions accordingly. Another one of his philosophies stresses on rendering the ordinary, extraordinary, by acquainting the audience with familiar objects in an unfamiliar way. His graphic work in Walk on the Wild Side (1962) and Nine Hours to Rama (1963) are the epitome of this philosophy. The former features an ordinary cat as a dangerous predatory creature and the latter represents the internal mechanism of a clockembodying a large landscape. Some of his other popular title sequence creations include Spartacus, The Age of Innocence, The Shining and Casino. Saul Bass |59
Awards
He is renowned for his title sequences in film and his minimalist approach to stripped down visuals. In his 40-year career Bass created many famous corporate logos and commercial brands.
1996 Won an for directing a documentary film ‘Why Man
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Oscar short called
Saul Bass |61
West Side Story movie poster, 1961
One, Two, Three movie poster, 1961
Anatomy of a Murder movie poster, 1959
Next Page Right- Saint Joan movie poster,1957 Left- The Magnificent Seven movie poster, 1960 5 Exceptional American Typographers
Saul Bass |63
Advice & Consent movie poster, 1962
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Grand Prix movie poster, 1966
Exodus movie poster, 1960
The Cardinal movie poster, 1963
Bunny Lake is Missing movie poster, 1965
The Human Factor movie poster, 1979
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5 Exceptional American Typographers
The Shining movie poster, 1980
The Man With the Golden Arm movie poster, 1980
Vertigo movie poster, 1958
Page 68 Advice and Consent movie poster, 1962 Saul Bass |67
Spartacus movie poster, 1960
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Champion movie poster, 1949
The Two of Us movie poster, 1967
Edge of The City movie poster, 1957
BONJOUR TRISTESSE, 1958
ONE, TWO, THREE, 1961 Note: This poster was rejected after CocaCola threatened to sue for copyright infringement.
Saul Bass |69
“
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Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form. -Robert Bringhurst
5 Exceptional American Typographers
Paula Scher Content & Photographs https://www.pentagram.com/about/paula-scher http://www.artnet.com/artists/paula-scher/biography
David Carson Content & Photographs https://www.hulamediagroup.com/books/nu-collage001.html https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/david-carson
Michael Bierut Content and photographs https://www.pentagram.com/about/michael-bierut “Articles https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/t-magazine/ logo-maps-designer-nyc-michael-bierut.html#:~:text=Just%20after%20the%20architect%20Renzo,signage%20that%20overlooks%208th%20Avenue.
Paul Rand Content https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Rand https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paul-rand-the-father-of-g_b_6962342 Photographs https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/paul-rand https://www.paulrand.design/
Saul Bass Content & Photographs https://befrontmag.com/2016/10/31/the-minimalistfilm-posters-of-saul-bass/ https://ascmag.com/articles/modern-approach-tofilm-titling https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/saul-bass
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