Tom Geismar

Last updated
Tom Geismar
Born
Thomas H. Geismar

(1931-07-15) July 15, 1931 (age 93)
Glen Ridge, New Jersey
Education Rhode Island School of Design
Yale School of Art and Architecture
OccupationFounding Partner at Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv
Known forGraphic design

Thomas H. Geismar (born July 15, 1931) [1] is an American graphic designer.

Contents

Biography

Thomas H. Geismar was born on July 15, 1931, in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. [2]

Geismar studied concurrently at the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. He received a master's degree in graphic design from Yale University, School of Art and Architecture. [3] After school, he joined the army for two years. [4]

Geismar met Ivan Chermayeff in Yale and in 1957, they founded the firm Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar (now Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv) along with Robert Brownjohn. Geismar has designed more than a hundred corporate identity programs and established abstract corporate symbols. The unifying element in his work is the repetition of symbols which gives new life to the form. [2] [5] In 1960, he proposed a radical mark for Chase Manhattan Bank which was the repetition of four shapes around a square to form an octagon. It was met with resistance but stood out from competition, leading other corporations to create abstracted corporate logos. [6]

His designs for Xerox, Chase Manhattan Bank, Best Products, Gemini Consulting, PBS, Univision, Rockefeller Center and, most notably, Mobil (1964) have received worldwide acclaim. Geismar has also had major responsibility for many of the firm's exhibition designs and world's fair pavilions. His projects include such major tourist attractions as the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, the Statue of Liberty Museum, the Truman Presidential Library, and the redesigned Star-Spangled Banner exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. He has received major awards in the field, including one of the first Presidential Design Awards for helping to establish a national system of standardized transportation symbols. [2]

Geismar was awarded the AIGA medal in 1979. [5] In 1998, he was inducted into the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame. [7] In 2014, he was awarded the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement along with Chermayeff and the School of Visual Arts’ 26th Masters Series Award recipient. [8] [9]

Books

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logo</span> Graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition

A logo is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or to include the text of the name that it represents as in a wordmark.

Alan Gerard Fletcher was a British graphic designer. In his obituary, he was described by The Daily Telegraph as "the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation, and probably one of the most prolific".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serge Chermayeff</span> Russian-British architect (1900–1996)

Serge Ivan Chermayeff was a Russian-born British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Chantry</span> American graphic designer

Arthur Samuel Wilbur Chantry II is a graphic designer often associated with the posters and album covers he has done for bands from the Pacific Northwest, such as Mudhoney, Mono Men, Soundgarden, and The Sonics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliot Noyes</span> American architect

Eliot Fette Noyes was an American architect and industrial designer, who worked on projects for IBM, most notably the IBM Selectric typewriter and the IBM Aerospace Research Center in Los Angeles, California. Noyes was also a pioneer in development of comprehensive corporate-wide design programs that integrated design strategy and business strategy. Noyes worked on corporate imagery for IBM, Mobil Oil, Cummins Engine and Westinghouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Institute of Graphic Arts</span> Professional organization for design

The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity. The organization's aim is to be the standard bearer for professional ethics and practices for the design profession. There are currently over 25,000 members and 72 chapters, and more than 200 student groups around the United States. In 2005, AIGA changed its name to “AIGA, the professional association for design,” dropping the "American Institute of Graphic Arts" to welcome all design disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Bierut</span> American graphic designer (born 1957)

Michael Bierut is a graphic designer, design critic and educator, who has been a partner at design firm Pentagram since 1990. He designed the logo for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Brownjohn</span> American graphic designer

Robert Brownjohn was an American graphic designer known for blending formal graphic design concepts with wit and 1960s pop culture. He is best known for his motion picture title sequences, especially From Russia with Love and Goldfinger.

Michael Vanderbyl is a multidisciplinary designer and design educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the principal of Vanderbyl Design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv</span> American branding consulting firm

Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv is a New York–based branding and graphic design firm. It is currently led by partners Tom Geismar and Sagi Haviv.

Jennifer Morla is an American graphic designer and professor based in San Francisco. She received the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Award in Communication Design in 2017.

Alvin Lustig was an American book designer, graphic designer and typeface designer. Lustig has been honored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame for his significant contributions to American design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Chermayeff</span>

Peter Chermayeff LLC is a Massachusetts-based architectural firm which specializes in aquarium architecture and exhibit design, from conceptual planning to the details of final realization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sagi Haviv</span>

Sagi Haviv is an Israeli-American graphic designer and a partner in the design firm Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv. Called a "logo prodigy" by The New Yorker, and a "wunderkind" by Out magazine, he is best known for having designed the trademarks and visual identities for brands and institutions such as Discovery, Inc.'s online streaming service Discovery+, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum, the US Open tennis tournament, Conservation International, Harvard University Press, and L.A. Reid's Hitco Entertainment, and tech and electric car company Togg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lella Vignelli</span> Italian architect and designer (1934–2016)

Lella Vignelli was an Italian architect, designer, and businesswomen. She collaborated closely throughout much of her life with her husband Massimo Vignelli, with whom she founded Vignelli Associates in 1971.

Ruth Ansel is an American graphic designer. She became a co-art director of Harper's Bazaar in the 1960s alongside Bea Feitler. In the 1970s she was art director of The New York Times Magazine and in the 1980s House & Garden, Vanity Fair, and Vogue. She was the first female to hold these positions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mackey Saturday</span> American graphic designer

Mackey Saturday is an American designer and typographer whose work includes logos for Instagram, Oculus and Luxe. He runs his own design firm and was formerly a principal at New York City design firm Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv.

Alexandra Lange is an American architecture and design critic and author based in New York. The author of a series of critically acclaimed books, Lange is the architecture critic for Curbed. She has bylines published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Metropolis, Architect magazine, Architectural Digest; Architectural Record, The Architect's Newspaper, Cite; Domus; Domino; Dwell; GOOD; Icon, The Nation, New York magazine, Places Journal, Print and Slate. Lange is a Loeb Fellow, and her work has been recognized through a number of awards, including the 2019 Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary.

Vignelli Associates was a design firm co-founded and run by Massimo and Lella Vignelli in New York City, from 1971 to 2014. They worked firmly within the modernist tradition, stressing simplicity by using basic geometric shapes and a limited range of typefaces. Their design work, encompassing graphic design, branding and corporate identity, architecture and interiors, and industrial design is considered among the most influential of the 20th century.

References

  1. ↑ Marquis Who's Who on the Web
  2. 1 2 3 "Thomas Geismar | Graphic Design Archive | RIT Libraries | RIT". library.rit.edu. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  3. ↑ "Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv". www.cghnyc.com. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  4. ↑ Dunne, Carey (2014-08-28). "6 Questions For Tom Geismar, Illustrious Designer Of PBS, Xerox, And Mobil Logos". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  5. 1 2 "1979 AIGA Medalist: Ivan Chermayeff and Thomas Geismar". AIGA | the professional association for design. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  6. ↑ Clifford, John (2014). Graphic Icons: Visionaries who Shaped Modern Graphic Design. Pearson Education. ISBN   9780321887207.
  7. ↑ "Tom Geismar". ADC • Global Awards & Club. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  8. ↑ "Tom Geismar on The National Design Awards Gallery". ndagallery.cooperhewitt.org. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  9. ↑ Mazzoleni, Melissa (2014-09-18). "SVA Masters Recipient: Tom Geismar". Print Magazine. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
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.