Glaser, Milton

Glaser, Milton, 1929–2020, widely considered America's preeminent graphic designer of the last half of the 20th cent., b. New York City. After graduating (1951) from New York's Cooper Union Art School, he studied in Italy. In 1954 Glaser and three partners founded a groundbreaking New York design firm, the Push Pin Studio. From that point on, Glaser's ever-changing design work, which drew widely on art history, had enormous international influence. He left Push Pin in 1974, opened his own design firm, and later (1984) became a partner in another New York studio. He was art director of New York magazine (1968–76) and the Village Voice newspaper (1975–77) and was responsible for the design of many other publications. Over the course of his long career, his creations tended to change from hard-edged Pop and psychedelic designs to a softer, more expressionistic or naturalistic style. Glaser's work includes the creation of many posters, notably the iconic Bob Dylan black silhouette (1966) with wavy psychedelic hair; book and record covers; book illustrations; type; corporate logos; interiors; and architectural projects. One of his most famous designs is the 1976 “I New York” logo.

See The Milton Glaser Poster Book (1977), Milton Glaser: Graphic Design (rev. ed. 1998), Art Is Work: Graphic Design, Interiors, Objects, and Illustrations (2000), Milton Glaser Posters: 427 Examples from 1965 to 2017 (2018), and Sketch and Finish: The Journey from Here to There (2020); M. Glaser and J. Thurman, Drawing Is Thinking (2008) and M. and S. Glaser (his wife), If Apples Had Teeth (2017); S. Bass, Six Chapters in Design (1997) and P. B. Meggs, A History of Graphic Design (1997); Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight (documentary, 2008).

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