Chermayeff Ivan - Identify. ; Basic Principles of Identity Design in the Iconic Trademarks of Chermayeff and Geismar

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Identify. Copyright 2011 by Ivan Chermayeff, Tom Geismar, and Sagi Haviv. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved.
No other part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Published by Print Publishing
an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.
38 East 29th Street, New York, NY 10016. (212) 447-1400.
First edition.

For more excellent design information and resources, visit www.printmag.com.

ISBN-13 (978-1-4403-1032-4)

15 14 13 12 11 5 4 3 2 1

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Edited by:
Aaron Kenedi

Designed by:
Chermayeff & Geismar

Some things in life come and go, but the Chermayeff & Geismar logos are eternal.

As a little boy, I was as much affected and reassured by the Chase Manhattan logo and the Mobil Oil sign as I was by the good parenting I received. And like parenting, the deeply felt presence of these iconic symbols was at times as disquieting as it was reassuring. Those iconic symbols were always in the background. They were omnipresent and dominant. Sometimes unnoticed, they were felt. In almost the exact same way as our parents, those monolithic, humorous, homogeneous logos raised us into the country we are, for good or bad.

The social implications of these logos are as varied as the products they represent. Airlines. TV studios. Oil companies. Banks. Arts associations. These are the shaping influences of our lives as Americans, and without those logos our world would have no physical identity. You can say they stand for the strongest part of our country, the pulling to the middle of all classes, all races, religions, and peoples. Large, simple shapes in standard clear-cut colors. Plain, honest images that would instill confidence in anyone. Order and strength. Leadership. Principles that reflect corporate culture, only after the fact of Chermayeff & Geismar. They taught Corporate America how to think.

Its the same thought as Life Imitating Art. First you have someone with a vision then you have history. Chermayeff & Geismar began designing clean iconic logos before the idea of what we refer to today as branding. These symbols gave America something to live up to. Like a stunning psychic vision they knew the future and created it in advance. It is impossible to divorce emotionseven a touch of resentmentfrom these icons of Corporate America. Regardless of the social implications, they made the world a better-looking place with their presence. You could argue that they made us modern. The simplicity and wit of these symbols are the very definition of the word. They lived with us and represented us through Americas most confident time and will live on into our uncertain future as symbols of our past glory.

Chermayeff & Geismar have given us a past and a future. All the things we get from our parents. And in the same way we look at our parents, the same way we love them, so we scrutinize and love these grand symbols of authoritywith the gimlet eye of conditioned love.

Isaac Mizrahi

Chermayeff & Geismar is one of Americas most prolific graphic, interactive, and exhibition design firms. The two names on the marquee belong to the founders Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar, who have defined American postwar modernism. When read together in one rhythmic cadence, the title also signifies an impressive selection and collection of individual designers who have comprised the firm and have impacted the history of communication design.

Chermayeff & Geismar has touched so many businesses and institutions with their signature brand of modernism and eclecticismtheir precisionist designs and smart conceptionsthat American business and culture would not be the same without the firm. It is impossible to walk down a midtown Manhattan sidewalk without seeing a wide array of their logos, posters, shopping bags, and other commercial and cultural artifacts, like the Chase Bank and Mobil Oil trademarks. Along with hundreds of other familiar graphic marks and identities, their contributions are indelible signpostssome are even iconic.

Yet to the public even the most routinely recognized graphic design is largely anonymous, with designers rarely acknowledged outside of a small professional circle. While many laymen and designers can quickly identify trademarks for the Public Broadcasting System, NBC, Showtime, and Barneys New York, or have seen the exhibition at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, or will perhaps have snapshots taken next to the huge red nine in front of 9 West 57th Street, few people comprehend the authorship of these significant works.

Nonetheless it is necessary to acknowledge how Ivan Chermayeff, Tom Geismar, and their partners and associates have writtenand along with partner Sagi Haviv continue to writesignificant chapters in the graphic design legacy, from the 20th-century analog age through to the 21st-century digital age. Their collective influence on Americas graphic design language cannot be overstated. This book is a record but also a testament. They have indeed made their mark with many marks. And they continue to do so.

Steven Heller

Our first major trademark, the blue octagon we designed to identify Chase Manhattan Bank in 1960, was a simple bold form that could be carved into the sides of buildings, reproduced in small size on business cards, and printed in black-and-white newspaper ads around the country. In contrast, the trademarks we are working on today will more often be seen on mobile devices, in animation, and as website browser icons.

In recent years, the graphic design profession has been transformed by innovation. Advances in computer software offer near infinite possibilities for exceptionally precise rendering and speedy execution. Not only have our design tools evolved, but the entire media landscape has also radically changed. With todays incredibly fast access to communication of all sorts, people are constantly surrounded by ephemeral imagery. In this supersaturated visual environment, the essential characteristic of effective trademark designto endure over time and thus fix an identity in the mind of the publicis even more meaningful for a company or institution.