Marion Sampler

Last updated
Marion Sampler
Born1920
Anniston, Alabama
Died1998
CitizenshipAmerican
OccupationDesigner

Marion Sampler was an American designer. Sampler was most known for being one of the first Black graphic designers to work in commercial design firms. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Sampler was born in 1920 in Anniston, Alabama. [2] His father was a painter, and Sampler himself began education in art early in his life in Cincinnati. Sampler then moved to California, enrolling in Jepson Art Institute in 1953, and afterward at California Institute of the Arts. Sampler transferred to the University of Southern California, and graduated from there in 1955. [2]

Career

After his graduation at University of Southern California, Sampler started teaching art at Fremont High School in Los Angeles. Although he would subsequently move on to work at commercial firms, Sampler continued to teach at Fremont High School.

In 1956, Sampler joined a design mentoring group created by Saul Bass, Norm Gollin, Louis Danziger, and Milton Zolotow. The program aimed to help people of color find employment and training in graphic design. [2] Sampler was one of the first designers to benefit from the group. He joined Los Angeles County Museum of Art's design and typography program in the same year. In 1957, [3] Sampler was employed by architecture firm Victor Gruen and Associates; becoming one of the first Black graphic designer to work in major architectural, or design firms in the Los Angeles. In 1963, Sampler became the head of the graphic design department, where he would remain working for 20 years. [3]

In 1973, Gruen & Associates was contracted to design and build South Coast Plaza, a shopping center located in Orange County, California. The firm suggested a dome-like structure where skylight can shine in be built as a part of the mall. Marion Sampler designed the dome, choosing to use stained glass to create a glass dome on the ceiling. Sampler continued to design for the retail company. He was commissioned to create identity design for the mall such as environmental graphics, logos, and tile walls. [4]

In the mid-1980s, Sampler left Gruen & Associates and partnered with Anita Berry to start his own design firm, Anita Berry and Marion Sampler Design. He subsequently started producing paintings along with commissioned design work. [4]

Style

Sampler was known for his usage of geometry and shapes. His signature style featured brightly colored geometric shapes tightly packed into grid-like layouts. Sampler favored triangles and triangular forms, visible in many of his commercial designs as well as in his paintings. Pattern played a central part in Sampler's image making process, as this is a reoccurring theme in his designs. Sampler was influenced by Black quilt makers in Southern America, especially referencing their birds of flight form in his triangular patterns. [3]

Legacy

Sampler's work was largely forgotten after his death. [5] Although recognized during his lifetime, and known well among designer circles in Los Angeles and New York, Sampler has had little acknowledgment after death. [1] Sampler was listed in a few dictionaries of Black artists. His work was also included in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's exhibition "California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way". Four of Sampler's work are held in the collection of the California African American Museum. [2] One of his paintings is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Aside from other minor exhibitions, his body of work is largely obscured, with New York Times and Design Observer describing him as "forgotten". [1] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Comfort Tiffany</span> American stained glass and jewelry designer (1848–1933)

Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements. He was affiliated with a prestigious collaborative of designers known as the Associated Artists, which included Lockwood de Forest, Candace Wheeler, and Samuel Colman. Tiffany designed stained glass windows and lamps, glass mosaics, blown glass, ceramics, jewellery, enamels, and metalwork. He was the first design director at his family company, Tiffany & Co., founded by his father Charles Lewis Tiffany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Gruen</span> Austrian architect

Victor David Gruen, born Viktor David Grünbaum, was an Austrian-American architect best known as a pioneer in the design of shopping malls in the United States. He is also noted for his urban revitalization proposals, described in his writings and applied in master plans such as for Fort Worth, Texas (1955), Kalamazoo, Michigan (1958) and Fresno, California (1965). An advocate of prioritizing pedestrians over cars in urban cores, he was also the designer of the first outdoor pedestrian mall in the United States, the Kalamazoo Mall.

<i>Emigre</i> (magazine) American graphic design magazine (1984–2005)

Emigre was a (mostly) quarterly magazine published from 1984 until 2005 in Berkeley, California, dedicated to visual communication, graphic design, typography, and design criticism. Produced by Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko, Emigre was known for creating some of the very first digital layouts and typeface designs. Exposure to Licko's typefaces through the magazine lead to the creation of Emigre Fonts in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Cultural Center</span> Landmark building in Chicago, United States

The Chicago Cultural Center, opened in 1897, is a Chicago Landmark building operated by Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The Cultural Center houses the city's official reception venue, where the Mayor of Chicago has welcomed presidents, royalty, diplomats, and community leaders. It is located in the Loop, across Michigan Avenue from Millennium Park.

The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, were London-based English glassmakers, leadlighters and stained-glass window manufacturers. As Whitefriars Glass, the company existed from the 17th century, but became well known as a result of the 19th-century Gothic Revival and the demand for stained glass windows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucile Lloyd</span> American muralist, decorative painter, illustrator

Lucile Lloyd, also known as Lucile Lloyd Brown, Lucila Lloyd Nulty was an American muralist, illustrator, and decorative painter. In 1937, Lloyd worked with the Works Progress Administration's Federal Arts Project to paint three murals in the assembly room in the state building in Los Angeles, California.

Edwin Wallace Neff was an architect based in Southern California and was largely responsible for developing the region's distinct architectural style referred to as "California" style. Neff was a student of architect Ralph Adams Cram and drew heavily from the architectural styles of both Spain and the Mediterranean as a whole, gaining extensive recognition from the number of celebrity commissions, notably Pickfair, the mansion belonging originally to Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park Plaza Hotel (Los Angeles)</span> Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

The Elks Lodge No. 99 / Park Plaza Hotel, now The MacArthur, is located at 607 Park View Street just off Wilshire Boulevard near downtown Los Angeles, California. Completed in 1926, it was designed by architect Claud Beelman, later to become renowned an Art Deco designer, when he was practicing as Curlett + Beelman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judson Studios</span> Stained glass studio in Los Angeles, California

Judson Studios is a fine arts studio specializing in stained glass located in the Highland Park section of northeast Los Angeles. The stained glass studio was founded in the Mott Alley section of downtown Los Angeles in the mid-1890s by English-born artist William Lees Judson and his three sons. It moved to its current location in 1920 and remains in operation as a family-run business. The Judson Studios building was named a Historic-Cultural Landmark by the City of Los Angeles in 1969 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

Donald MacDonald (1841–1916) was a leading stained glass artisan and designer in 19th century Boston. Born Donald McDonald, he altered the spelling of his surname to "MacDonald" around 1877.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Anderson (designer)</span> American architect

Gary Dean Anderson is an American graphic designer and architect. He is most well known as the designer of the recycling symbol, one of the most readily recognizable logos in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathaniel Westlake</span> British artist specialising in stained glass

Nathaniel Hubert John WestlakeFSA (1833–1921) was a 19th-century British artist specialising in stained glass.

Enclos Corp, referred to as Enclos, is a specialty glazing and exterior facade contractor in the United States. The firm provides design, engineering, fabrication and assembly services for custom curtainwall systems and structural glass facades. Enclos is headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota, and is a subsidiary of CH Holdings USA, Inc.

Gere Kavanaugh is an American textile, industrial, and interior designer. She is the principal of Gere Kavanaugh Designs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Casado</span> American logo designer and photographer

John Charles Casado is an American graphic designer, artist and photographer, best known for designing logos for the first Macintosh computer, Esprit, and New Line Cinema, as well as numerous album covers for the Doobie Brothers, Carole King, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Neilson Armstrong</span> American book cover designer, illustrator, and author.

Margaret Neilson Armstrong (1867–1944) was a 19th and early 20th-century American book cover designer, illustrator, and author. She is best known for her book covers influenced by Art Nouveau. She also wrote and illustrated the first comprehensive guide to wildflowers of the American west, Field Book of Western Wild Flowers (1915). In later life, she wrote two popular biographies and three mystery novels.

Davi Cheng is artist and graphic designer from Hong Kong who combines traditional methods of drawing and painting with advanced digital design techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Wilson (artist)</span> British stained glass artist (1858–1932)

Frederick Wilson was a British stained glass artist best known for his work with Tiffany Studios. He was a prominent designer of ecclesiastical windows in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Clive Piercy was a British-American designer, author, and design educator, active for four decades in London and Los Angeles. He was noted for his use of typography, his color sense, his visual wit, and for bringing a British sensibility to the California aesthetic.

Archie Boston Jr. is an American graphic artist and retired professor.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Shining a Light on Forgotten Designers". The New York Times. 2021-10-28. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Jewel Court Dome". Henry T. Segerstrom. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  3. 1 2 3 "Marion Sampler | Untitled". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  4. 1 2 R, Daniel (2020-07-09). "Stained Glass Domed ceiling by Marion Sampler, 1973". Legacy of Orange Cou. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  5. 1 2 "The straightforward logic of "A Handbook of California Design" makes it the first step in discovering (or rediscovering) two generations of makers". Design Observer. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.