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The art of being appropriate, simple and memorable

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Identify

Basic Principles of Identity Design in the Iconic

Trademarks of

Chermayeff & Geismar

Tom Geismar

Print Publishing: 253 pp., $45

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“Identity design is not about what one likes or dislikes,” explains Tom Geismar in his new book about design. “It’s about what works.”

Geismar, who’s a principal in the New York graphics firm of Chermayeff & Geismar, not only tells readers “what works,” he also shows why and how with examples of logos and wordmarks culled from his company’s extensive, impressive portfolio.

Ivan Chermayeff, Geismar and Sagi Haviv, the firm’s creative heads, have had their hands in creating some of the more iconic corporate and institutional logos of the last 50 years. They are responsible for the sturdy square-inside-an-octagon of Chase bank, the “everyone” icon for the Public Broadcasting Service, the “T” identifiers for Boston’s public transportation system, National Geographic’s “yellow box,” the playful geometry of Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art logo -- to just scratch the surface of the range and scope of their work.

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Though the logos themselves are hard to outshine, Geismar’s text is just as engaging, full of insight and instruction about how each design evolved and arrived. How, for example, does a discount clothier known as Barney’s completely change its character to become a status symbol of upscale consumerism known as Barneys New York? Thanks go to the smart graphic guys whom the company hired to upgrade its image.

Or, consider the case of Chase Manhattan Bank. Chermayeff & Geismar’s idea in the late ‘50s of a completely abstract symbol to represent the staid financial institution was considered radical when it was proposed. But arts patron David Rockefeller became president of the bank and ultimately approved the design in 1960.

More than 50 years later, the Chase logo is part of the cultural landscape and serves to illustrate how tastes and attitudes can change. Geismar writes: “This experience has become an important touchstone for us: people can transfer their positive associations with a company onto even the most simple and abstract of designs, even if it’s utterly foreign at first.”

But are the associations we relate to these icons always positive? That could be a point of contention. At a time when corporations have come to be thought of and treated as individuals in some quarters and reviled as agents of corruption and greed in others, their signs and symbols can be interpreted in many ways.

Still, Geismar’s company has left some of the more lingering impressions on contemporary graphic design. When working with clients such as Xerox, Mobil, Pan Am, E.W. Scripps, Time Warner, NBC and Univision, Geismar boils down the creative process to this test: “Is it appropriate? Is it simple? Is it memorable?”

Those questions could just as readily apply to this book. The answers are: yes, yes and yes.

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wesley.bausmith@latimes.com

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