iconic studio that shaped modern design.
1954 founders of the Push Pin Studio in New York. Their work combined a fascination with the graphic simplicity and directness of comic books with a sophisticated understanding of modern art, especially of Surrealism and Cubism. The Push Pin artists’ unabashedly eclectic interest in art and design history
By the mid 1960s, Push Pin Studios had established itself as a disruptor in the design and advertising industries. Its eclectic graphic style and rejection of modern minimalism set the group apart from other agencies, cementing its place in design history.
Over the past 60 years, nearly 100 designers, illustrators, artists, and support staff have passed through the studio, many legends in their own right.
A revolutionary force in the field of graphic design, the celebrated partnership began when the foursome met as students at the Cooper Union in New York City. What followed was twenty years of collaborative graphic expression, as Push Pin redefined and expanded the imprimatur of the designer, illustrator, and visual culture at large.
Milton Glaser founded the graphic design firm Pushpin Studio in New York with Seymour Chwast, Reynolds Ruffins, and Edward Sorel in 1954. At this time photography and television were radically altering the visual-communications industry, and naturalistic illustration was declining from its position as the dominant mass-media imaging technique. Later Myrna Davis, Paul Davis, and Jim McMullan joined
Glaser founded the graphic design firm Pushpin Studio in New York with Seymour Chwast, Reynold Ruffins, and Edward Sorel in 1954. At this time photography and television were radically altering the visual-communications industry, and naturalistic illustration was declining from its position as the dominant mass-media imaging technique. Glaser and the Pushpin artists drew upon their childhood love of comic books, an understanding of modern art gleaned from their student days, and the art of non-Western cultures to forge an innovative conceptual approach to graphic design. Eschewing traditional narrative techniques, these artists’ work expressed ideas about the subject through simplified images that functioned as signs and symbols.
By 1960 Glaser and Chwast had become increasingly involved in typography and the total design of visual communications. Their approach—in which one designer creates the concept, overall page design, type or lettering, and image for a project—recalled the working method of Art Nouveau-era poster artists such as Jules Chéret and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. An example of such an overall design was Glaser’s insert poster (1967) for a record album by Bob Dylan. In this work, which became a cultural icon, he used contoured lines and flat colour to create an emblematic image. One of Glaser’s own typeface designs, Babyteeth, spells out Dylan’s name in the image.
developed the Push Pin Almanack. The monthly promotional mailer was designed to drum up freelance business, and its success allowed the fledgling studio to grow quickly. Glaser rejoined after returning from Italy on a Fulbright scholarship, and in 1957, the Push Pin Monthly Graphic made its debut. Inaugurated as a freeform publication sent to friends and clients (much like its predecessor), the Push Pin Graphic provided an ongoing outlet for the studio’s expanding membership, including designers Paul Davis, Jim McMullan, and John Alcorn, among many others. Their work, which rejected tradition in favor of reinvigorated interpretations of historical styles (Victorian, art nouveau, art deco), provided a fresh counterpoint to both the numbing rigidity of modernism, and the rote sentimental realism of commercial illustration. As readership grew, the Push Pin Graphic, and Push Pin Studios, attracted advertisers, clients, and acclaim.
The Push Pin Graphic ceased publication in 1980, due to rising production costs, ending its widely successful run of 23 years and 86 issues.
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