This is the first post in a series showcasing famous graphic designers. Graphic and web designers are often in a league of their own when it comes to the art scene, so I thought it would be good to highlight their creative work contributions.
Milton Glaser is the first of the famous graphic designers I will profile. He’s responsible for the I Love NY logo, has worked in the field for over 50 years, and has exhibited his work at places like the Louvre, the Pompidou, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
So What Font is Used in the I Love NY Logo?
The font used in the logo is American Typewriter, a rounded slab serif typeface that Joel Kaden and Tony Stan created in 1974 based on typewriter letter styles. Milton Glaser is the man behind the work, and get this–Glaser designed the I Love NY logo pro bono. In 1977, this small project was part of a marketing campaign for the state of New York and didn’t seem to have much potential. So Glaser did it for free, and the logo is now recognized world-wide.
A Bit About the Man Behind the Masterpiece
This post will not be able to cover all the work Glaser has done, but suffice it to say that he has quite a legacy in the industry. Born during the Great Depression and having grown up in the Bronx, Glaser went to art school, won a Fullbright, and studied etching under Giorgio Morandi in Bologna. With classmates, he formed Push Pin Studios in the 50s. Push Pin was a leader in graphic design for many years, even exhibiting at the Louvre in Paris.
Glaser had a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1975. His work has been showcased worldwide, from the Pompidou to museums throughout the Middle East. He uses his medium of graphic design as a social and political commentary, which he discusses in this great YouTube video. Glaser also talks about his work, art, and the role of the designer. It’s well done and inspiring, and it shows the true nature of the artist.
Glaser is truly an inspiration to us all.
Here’s a great interview and background information on Glaser’s life, philosophy, and relationship with New York from Believer Mag.
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Comments
10.16.09
… I also find myself torn between the coffee shop and my dual monitor setup
11.04.09
May I suggest ABR Viewer as an alternative to loading and trying each brush in Photoshop? It’s free, and I use it regularly. You may find this a great time-saving alternative!
http://abrviewer.sourceforge.net/
Hope it helps!
11.04.09
Thanks for the referral, Cyndi! I’ll have to spend some time tonight trying it out.
02.11.10
I love you to pieces man!!
10.14.10
I wished and wished for a Mac, then was given one at work.
So I moved all my files over.
I HATE it. I’m a designer. I have about 50 folders for 50 different projects. I name the banner psd “banner.psd” for all of them. Try and search for them all, yeah the Mac finds them but then you have to do “get info” for each one (or change some such setting and still click on each to see where the dang thing is located. On windows. I glanced at the path to the folder and voila. Yeah changing permissions on Vista is a headache but it’s far better than the constant problems I have on the Mac. Photoshop is twitchy at best, the thing crashes, although my Roku, PS3, Wii, personal laptop all do fine with my wirless, the mac drops it all the time. I use multiple monitors. Oh my god what idiot thought of leaving the application menu on one screen when the application is on another? You can only choose one little sprout because Steve Jobs knows better than you how you should work.
can’t wait to ditch it.
sorry tirade over.
ps tons of free windows applications out there.
11.26.10
Um… how about not naming all of your files the same name? Sounds more like an organizational issue than an operating system issue, either way.
I might recommend using an identifier and THEN _banner.psd? I assume it’d be difficult to find photos as well if every picture on a drive had its own folder and was named “photo.jpg”.
Examples:
Projectname_size_banner.psd
Clientname_size_banner.psd
etc…
04.17.11
Ok, so… I’m a total newbie to photoshop. I have CS5 and a brickton of brushes. I have tried renaming them, but they do NOT show up in the list like I want them to. I’ve played around with it for like a half hour. Can anyone please help?