alvin lustig

10
ALVIN LUSTI G 1915-1955 BY SARA VAI L

Upload: somebuddyperson

Post on 09-Aug-2015

271 views

Category:

Technology


2 download

TRANSCRIPT

ALVIN

LUSTI

G

1915-1955

BY

SA

RA

VA

I L

BIOGRAPHY

Alvin Lustig was born in Denver, Colorado in 1915.

He did not have a huge interest in designing until he

reached high school. One of his teachers opened his eyes to

the world of art and he became inspired to create things

himself from then on. His formal art training consisted of

attending the Art Centre School of Design as well as

studying under Frank Lloyd Wright in Taliesin East for 3

months. He gained success early on in his career.

BIOGRAPHY

At age 21 he worked in a

drug store’s back room doing

freelance jobs as a typographer

and printer. It was then when he

started to create his geometric

abstract styles in design. He would

use plain colors and simple shapes.

After a year of that he decided that

designing was what he really

wanted to do more of and quit that

job. He designed books for New

Directions in LA and Noonday Press

as well as joined The Society for

Contemporary Designers group.

Instead of making book jackets

that tried summarizing the book,

he would read it and gain a sense

of what the writer was trying to

portray and put that in an image.

BIOGRAPHY

There was not enough work in California at that time

though, so in 1944 he moved to New York. From 1944 to 1946

Lustig was the Director of Visual Research for look Magazine.

He moved back to LA for 5 years and did furniture,

architectural, fabric, book and other designs in an office he

ran. He even taught workshops and design courses at Yale,

University of Georgia, Art Center, and Black Mountain College

in North Carolina. Lustig developed a theory that Israel could

impact society with good design and moved there in 1950.

BIOGRAPHY

He was never able to test this theory though

because his diabetes caused erosion in his vision and by

1954 he was virtually blind. Through his blindness he still

continued to work. In one instance, he was hired to design

signs for Seagram’s building and managed to direct his wife

and assistants on how to create every single detail. Alvin

Lustig died at the age of 40 on December 4th, 1955. His

collection was donated in 1986 to RIT by Elaine Lustig

Cohen, his wife of seven years.

BOOK DESIGNSHe made several book jackets such as:

• Lorca: 3 Tragedies• Wisdom of the Heart• Ghost in the Underblows• Exiles• Amerika

MORE DESIGNSHe created a whole variety of designs for other things as

well, including:

-Invitations -Office Spaces

-Advertisements -A Helicopter

-Magazines -Coordination Signage

-Commercial Catalogs -Print Materials for Girl Scouts of America

-Textiles -The opening sequence for Mr. Magoo cartoon

-Annual Reports http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8GTHXTEvIc

LEGACY

In 1986, Lustig received a spot in the Art Directors Hall of Fame and in 1993 was the recipient of an AIGA Medal by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. This past May, New Directions decided to start selling postcards and other stationary of his. His artwork was revolutionary in graphic design and his style of art can be seen trending in modern designs now.

PERSONAL REFLECTION

I believe Alvin Lustig was a very revolutionary and

talented graphic designer. I enjoy his geometric abstract

style of artwork a lot because it is close to how I like to

design the things I make. I find his art really appealing,

modern and unique. I am surprised I have never heard of

him before considering how much influence he has had on

graphic design.

http://library.rit.edu/gda/designer/alvin-lustig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8GTHXTEvIc

http://www.designishistory.com/1940/alvin-lustig/

http://www.alvinlustig.com/aa_intro.php

http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/017_03/6334

www.aiga.org

www.observatory.designobserver.com

www.amodernist.blogspot.com

www.alvinlustig.com

www.collection.cooperhewii.org

REFERENCES