Susan Skarsgard (born 1954) is an American graphic designer, calligrapher and writer known internationally for her calligraphy as well as her work as a designer and founder of the GM Design Archive & Special Collections at General Motors. In 2019, she authored Where Today Meets Tomorrow, Eero Saarinen and the General Motors Technical Center, published by Princeton Architectural Press.
Susan Skarsgard was born in Detroit Michigan. Her early studies in Renaissance and Baroque music inspired an interest in calligraphy which, initially, she taught herself. She went on to study calligraphy in Austria under Friedrich Neugebauer. Skarsgard holds an MFA from the University of Michigan School of Art and Design. [1] [2]
Before joining General Motors in 1995, Skarsgard worked in the Detroit design studio founded by Jerry Campbell and Dick Isbell. [1] At General Motors, Skarsgard applied her knowledge of letterforms to emblems and nameplates for cars and trucks. In 2006, she designed a one-of-a-kind book commemorating the 50th anniversary of the General Motors Technical Center. This project lead to the creation of a new department called the GM Design Archive & Special Collections which is the official repository for the history of design at General Motors. [3] In 2019, Skarsgard authored Where Today Meets Tomorrow, an historical account of the design and construction of the iconic General Motors Technical Center designed by mid-century architect Eero Saarinen. The book was included on the annual Michigan Notable Books list. [3] [4] [5]
In addition to her career at General Motors, Skarsgard has maintained an active practice as a calligrapher, working in both traditional and digital media. In 2009, she published Twenty-six of 26, an exploration of letterforms as art. According to Paul Shaw, "Skarsgard’s alphabets are not simply collections of 26 letters but compositions that explore shape, negative space, rhythm, pattern, colour, texture and perception," and are "light years removed from what is popularly thought of as calligraphy." [1] [6] Her work has been featured in several exhibitions including those held at the Grolier Club and the San Francisco Library. Her Pop-up Alphabet book can be found in the rare book collections of the Library of Congress and the University of Michigan Library. [6]
Hermann Zapf was a German type designer and calligrapher who lived in Darmstadt, Germany. He was married to the calligrapher and typeface designer Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse. Typefaces he designed include Palatino, Optima, and Zapfino. He is considered one of the greatest type designers of all time.
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer who created a wide array of innovative designs for buildings and monuments, including General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan; the passenger terminal at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.; the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport; and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. He was the son of Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen.
The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of Cranbrook Schools, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook Institute of Science, and Cranbrook House and Gardens. The founders also built Christ Church Cranbrook as a focal point in order to serve the educational complex. However, the church is a separate entity under the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. The sprawling 319-acre (1,290,000 m2) campus began as a 174-acre (700,000 m2) farm, purchased in 1904. The organization takes its name from Cranbrook, England, the birthplace of the founder's father.
Western calligraphy is the art of writing and penmanship as practiced in the Western world, especially using the Latin alphabet.
Florence Marguerite Knoll Bassett was an American architect, interior designer, furniture designer, and entrepreneur who has been credited with revolutionizing office design and bringing modernist design to office interiors. Knoll and her husband, Hans Knoll, built Knoll Associates into a leader in the fields of furniture and interior design. She worked to professionalize the field of interior design, fighting against gendered stereotypes of the decorator. She is known for her open office designs, populated with modernist furniture and organized rationally for the needs of office workers. Her modernist aesthetic was known for clean lines and clear geometries that were humanized with textures, organic shapes, and colour.
Balthazar Korab was a Hungarian-American photographer based in Detroit, Michigan, specializing in architectural, art and landscape photography.
Gunnar Birkerts was a Latvian American architect who, for most of his career, was based in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan.
The GM Technical Center was inaugurated in 1956 as General Motors's primary design and engineering center, located in Warren, Michigan.
Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse was a German book-binder, calligrapher and typographer.
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Aline Bernstein Saarinen was an American art and architecture critic, author and television journalist.
Lilian Louisa Swann Saarinen was an American sculptor, artist, and writer. She was the first wife of Finnish-American architect and industrial designer Eero Saarinen, with whom she sometimes collaborated.
Susan Loy is a North American artist, calligrapher, and author best known for her "Literary Calligraphy" watercolor paintings of the Language of Flowers and the White House Easter Egg Roll. These paintings combine hand-lettered classic quotations from William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Biblical sources, etc. with finely-rendered illustration done with steel pens and brushes.
Marianne Strengell was an influential Finnish-American Modernist textile designer in the twentieth century. Strengell was a professor at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1937 to 1942, and she served as department head from 1942 to 1962. She was able to translate hand-woven patterns for mechanized production, and pioneered the use of synthetic fibers.
Letterform Archive is a non-profit museum and special collections library in San Francisco, California dedicated to collecting materials on the history of lettering, typography, printing, and graphic design. It is curated by graphic designer Rob Saunders, who founded the museum with his private collection of "books, periodicals, maquettes, posters, and other ephemera" in 2014. The museum opened in February 2015 with 15,000 items. It moved to a larger space in 2020. Guests can visit the gallery exhibition during regular open hours, or schedule tours or research visits by appointment.
Ruth Adler Schnee was a German-born American textile designer and interior designer based in Michigan. Schnee was best known for her modern prints and abstract-patterns of organic and geometric forms. She opened the Ruth Adler-Schnee Design Studio with her spouse Edward Schnee in Detroit, which operated until 1960. The studio produced textiles and later branched off into Adler-Schnee Associates home decor, interiors, and furniture.
Patricia Lovett is a British scribe, calligrapher and illuminator from Kent. She is the author of several books and teaches calligraphy, illumination and manuscript skills in the UK and worldwide. She was chair of the Heritage Crafts Association between 2017 and 2022, having been vice-chair for several years previously and in 2013 was awarded an MBE for services to calligraphy and the protection of heritage crafts.
Eva-Lisa "Pipsan" Saarinen Swanson (March 31, 1905 – October 23, 1979) was a Finnish-American industrial, interior, and textile designer based in Michigan. She was known for her contemporary furniture, textile, and product designs.
The Cadillac Celestiq is an electric car made by the Cadillac division of General Motors. Production is expected to commence for the 2024 model year.
Robert F. Hastings (1914–1973) was an American architect in practice in Detroit. He spent his entire career with Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, now SmithGroup, and was its president from 1960 to 1971 and chair from 1971 to 1973. He was president of the American Institute of Architects for the year 1971.