The History of Graphic Design: 1890-1959

Rom Amazon.

History is a complex business. Fortunes boom and bust, empires wax and wane, and change whether social, political, or technological has its winners, its losers, its advocates, and its enemies. 

Through all the turbulent passage of time, graphic design with its vivid, neat synthesis of image and idea has distilled the spirit of each age.

The story behind Twitter's logo rebrand

From Mother Jones.

The new logo on the left and Monotype font on the right.

Yesterday, Twitter launched its logo rebrand, turning its famous bird logo into an “X.”

Since 2022, Elon Musk has said he hopes to make Twitter into a “super app” called X. 

In theory, this would mean the social network would become a catch-all for connecting us in a state of “unlimited interactivity—centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking,” as CEO Linda Yaccarino buzzworded. 

But when the new logo went live, users on Twitter (or X, whatever) noted an interesting facet of the new logo: It looks like shit.

“The Endless Imagination of Bob Staake”

From the Cape Cod Museum of Art.

Internationally known for his iconic New Yorker covers, best selling children's picture books, award winning illustrations and eclectic art, Bob Staake has always worn a variety of creative hats.

"Milton Glaser: Pop"

From It's Nice That.

A new book shows Milton Glaser’s impact in the 60s and 70s, from psychedelia and beyond.

Hundreds of Glaser’s works, unseen since their original publication, feature in print once more to show the legendary designer’s portfolio before and after I ❤ NY.

New look for the Doug Wright Awards

From the Facebook page of Conan Tobias.

Starting today, you’ll see a new look for the Doug Wright Awards, which we’ll slowly be rolling out over the next 12 months, across everything we do. 

The base element of the new design is a red button (mainly for use with social media and the like). 

The button is the centrepiece of our new day-to-day logo, and of a more formal shield (which will mainly be seen at the annual DWA ceremony). 

Our new logo features a vintage Doug Wright illustration of Nipper, and the whole thing was designed by John Montgomery, an award-winning, multi-faceted art director specializing in publishing and branding.

"Poster Man: 50 Years of Iconic Graphic Design"

From Schifferbooks.

This collection of over 140 curated posters by the revolutionary graphic artist Seymour Chwast provides context and insight into not only his five-decade career, but the poster genre itself. 

Since founding Push Pin Studios alongside Milton Glaser and Edward Sorel in the 1950s, Chwast’s posters have been widely celebrated for their combination of subversive style and strong political satire. 

Marshall Arisman 1938-2022

From Wikipedia.

Photo by Dan Wagner

Born in Jamestown, New York, on October 14, 1938, illustrator, painter, storyteller, and educator Marshall Arisman passed away on April 22.

He studied advertising art at the Pratt Institute and received an Ida Gaskell Grant to travel and study in Europe after graduating in 1960. 

The New York Times is Retiring the term "Op-Ed"

 From The Daily Heller.

A surprising announcement published in The New York Times on April 27 was the crowning blow in a life saga that I call “the end of the world as I've known it.” 

Underground cartoonist and production designer Ron Cobb dies at 83

 From The Hollywood Reporter.

Ron Cobb, the underground cartoonist turned production designer who influenced the making of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and helped shape the worlds of Conan the Barbarian, Alien and Back to the Future, has died. He was 83.

Cobb died Monday — his birthday — of Lewy body dementia in Sydney, his wife of 48 years, Robin Love, reported.

Milton Glaser (1929-2020)

Christopher Bonanos in New York Magazine.

Milton Glaser, co-Founder of New York Magazine and Creator of ‘I❤NY,’ is dead at 91.

The story behind "Not The New York Times"

From The New York Times.

In 1978, a mischievous band of writers that included George Plimpton and Nora Ephron teamed up to create a spoof of The New York Times. Turns out, Times journalists were among them.

Canadian Energy Centre's logo comes under fire a second time

From The Calgary Sun.

For the second time this month, the Canadian Energy Centre war room’s choice of a corporate logo has run into possible flak.

A California-based software company said Friday it’s considering legal action over the CEC’s use of a logo it deems similar to its own.

Trump Grotesk

Steven Heller in Print.

Trump infects the body politic’s mind to such a degree that now we even have a typeface in his image.

Snyder/Studio designer Mattias Mackler created Trump Grotesk to remind us of some of the truly grotesque things he’s said, done and will do. 

A new logo for the AAEC

From the AAEC website.

The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists launches a new icon, updating its venerable ink bottle for the digital age

Print magazine 1940-2017

From Wikipedia.

Print, A Quarterly Journal of the Graphic Arts was a limited edition quarterly periodical begun in 1940 and continued under different names through the end of 2017 as Print, a bimonthly magazine about visual culture and design.

Graphic designer Ivan Chermayeff dies at 85

From The Architects Newspaper.

A range of logos produced by Ivan Chermayeff’s agency, Chermayeff & Geismar
(Courtesy History of Graphic Design)

Ivan Chermayeff, one of the founders of the modern profession of graphic design, passed away on December 3 at age 85. 

Born in London to design royalty, his father Serge was a Russian-born industrial designer, author, and architect of the De La Warr Pavilion (with Erich Mendelsohn).

Milton Glaser Discusses "The Design of Dissent"

From Eventbrite.

Milton Glaser, the renowned artist and designer, returns to his alma mater for a free, public discussion on "The Design of Dissent."

Following the conversation with designer Steven Heller, there will be a book signing of the 2017 updated version of Glaser's The Design of Dissent (co-authored with Mirko Ilic), newly subtitled, "Greed, Nationalism, Alternative Facts and the Resistance."

Seth on Virtual Memories podcast

From Chimera Obscura.

In the episode 220 of Virtual Memories, cartoonist Seth talks about Palookaville, making a living, his changing relationship to comics and cartoonists, his retrospection on the ’90s cohort he came up with, the creative sanctity of the studio and the creation of art no one will see, finishing his Clyde Fans serial after 20 years (and what he wants to work on next), being the subject of a documentary, seeing his work animated, doing collaborative work, taking up photography, a key lesson he learned about marriage, the disadvantages of being a people pleaser, why Kickstarter may be like an IQ test, and more!

Milton Glaser's Dylan Poster Turns 50

From Gothamist.

Arguably the most famous image of Bob Dylan is not a photograph or painting, but a drawing: a suggestion of the man rather than a precise, dead-ringer likeness. And that's fitting. After all, what better way to celebrate Dylan's kaleidoscopic sensibility than with a fanciful, yet recognizable, portrait? 

Kickstarter Campaign for "Design Canada"

From Fast Code Design.

Greg Durrell was working as part of the design team for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics when he first noticed a dearth of Canadian graphic design history.