SVA Archives

July 02, 2014

C&G for Masterpiece Theatre

Masterpiece Theatre was the principal portal into British television for American audiences in the seventies; Mobil, the sponsor, drafted their longtime designers Chermayeff & Geismar to make posters for various features.

June 28, 2014

Robert Weaver at SVA

Pioneering illustrator Robert Weaver was a major figure at SVA beginning in 1950s.

June 26, 2014

Sunday hats

Tony Palladino created this indelible image for an SVA poster in 1989.

June 23, 2014

In the balance

In the 1970s and 1980s Heinz Edelmann designed many posters for the West German public broadcasting station Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).

June 19, 2014

Seymour Chwast for Topps

Seymour Chwast takes on Bazooka Joe.

June 15, 2014

Go West

James McMullan did stunning work for the short-lived West magazine.

June 08, 2014

Don’t it drag on

Milton Glaser teamed with celebrated photographer Duane Michals in 1972 to create this metaphysical album cover for bluesy folkie Chris Smither.

June 06, 2014

Crowd control

Tony Palladino, along with Chermayeff & Geismar, was enlisted by Mobil to design the poster for Cotton Bowl advertisements in the late-80s and 90s. We don’t actually have this poster in our collection, though we have two others (which will follow shortly); only this slide of it. The others also make use of the visual appearance of a crowd as a way to play with perception of figure and ground. This slide didn’t go through properly the first time so I don’t have a good image of it, but if you click through I’ve included a smaller picture for reference.

June 05, 2014

Chwast’s irrational fears

Seymour Chwast’s series of irrational fears for Strathmore Paper.

June 03, 2014

On the same wavelength

The BFA Fine Arts department has long shown film or video art in the SVA Amphitheatre. These rough posters, spanning three decades, announce screenings of milestone works.

June 01, 2014

Six ways of looking at a piano

Ivan Chermayeff uses collage and collections to create texture and dimensionality, continually exploring modernist ideas about bringing process to the forefront.

May 31, 2014

The Elementary Doctor Watson

Milton Glaser created this album cover in 1972 for legendary guitarist and folk singer Doc Watson.

May 27, 2014

Dirty talks

Panel discussions and talks sponsored by the Fine Arts Department in the heady conceptual late-70s and early-80s often adopted a DIY or punk aesthetic in their announcements.

May 23, 2014

Don’t make ’em like this anymore

I especially like identity systems when they are applied to things that might seem outside of the purview of corporate promotions. So with this SVA check designed by George Tscherny, circa 1956.

May 17, 2014

First Look: Gail Anderson

Next on deck in our Design and Illustration Study Collection is the work of designer and art director Gail Anderson.

May 16, 2014

Tony Palladino, 1930-2014

A tribute to the singular artist and designer.

May 10, 2014

The many trademarks of Chermayeff and Geismar

Chermayeff and Geismar published a spiral-bound portfolio of their trademarks in 1979, a precursor to the 2000 volume TM, published by Princeton Architectural Press.

May 09, 2014

Cross-hatch

Milton Glaser explored an undersea terrain for Sports Illustrated in 1961.

May 06, 2014

Richard Serra in Rome, 1966

A brochure for Richard Serra’s first solo show, from 1966, surfaced recently in the archives. Though often excised from his oeuvre, Serra, then on a Fullbright in affiliation with Academie Belles Artes in Florence, showed live and stuffed animals along with sculptural collages or Rauschenbergian “combines” at Gallery La Salita in Rome.

May 06, 2014

Talent show

SVA’s subway posters established the school’s graphic presence by using abstract concepts to convey a deeply pragmatic message.

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