So after I did the first installment I realized from the comments that not many people know who Milton Glaser is. So i decided to take this opportunity to put together a selection of work of his (you’ll know all of it once you see it.) and some of the info from wikipedia and other References.

First, about Milton Glaser:

Milton Glaser is a graphic designer, best known for his “Bob Dylan” poster, the I Love New York logo, and the “DC bullet” logo used by DC Comics from 1977 to 2005. He also founded New York Magazine with Clay Felker in 1968.

In 1954 Glaser was a founder, and president, of the Push Pin Studios formed with several of his Cooper Union classmates. Glaser’s work is characterized by directness, simplicity and originality. He uses any medium or style to solve the problem at hand. His style ranges wildly from primitive to avant garde in his countless book jackets, album covers, advertisements and direct mail pieces and magazine illustrations. He started his own studio, Milton Glaser, Inc, in 1974. This led to his involvement with an increasingly wide diversity of projects, ranging from the design of New York Magazine, of which he was a co-founder, to a 600 foot mural for the Federal Office Building in Indianapolis.

Basically… you have seen his work. He is a quality dude… He is also very politically active. He has been very active in campaigns for Darfur. He was a major player in getting the First Things First Manifesto reprinted and distributed in 2000. Now he lectures more then designs… but i think he proved his worth… so its fine.

Next… some work by Milton Glaser:

the “i love new york” logo

Bob Dylan Poster

Glaser Stencil (crass kind of took this and ran)

Baby Teeth (every “indie” band in the mid 2000’s took this and ran with it)

DC Comics.

And Now… Today’s Lesson.

2.) STYLE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED.

I think this idea first occurred to me when I was looking at a marvellous etching of a bull by Picasso. It was an illustration for a story by Balzac called The Hidden Masterpiece. I am sure that you all know it. It is a bull that is expressed in 12 different styles going from very naturalistic version of a bull to an absolutely reductive single line abstraction and everything else along the way. What is clear just from looking at this single print is that style is irrelevant. In every one of these cases, from extreme abstraction to acute naturalism they are extraordinary regardless of the style. It’s absurd to be loyal to a style. It does not deserve your loyalty. I must say that for old design professionals it is a problem because the field is driven by economic consideration more than anything else. Style change is usually linked to economic factors, as all of you know who have read Marx. Also fatigue occurs when people see too much of the same thing too often. So every ten years or so there is a stylistic shift and things are made to look different. Typefaces go in and out of style and the visual system shifts a little bit. If you are around for a long time as a designer, you have an essential problem of what to do. I mean, after all, you have developed a vocabulary, a form that is your own. It is one of the ways that you distinguish yourself from your peers, and establish your identity in the field. How you maintain your own belief system and preferences becomes a real balancing act. The question of whether you pursue change or whether you maintain your own distinct form becomes difficult. We have all seen the work of illustrious practitioners that suddenly look old-fashioned or, more precisely, belonging to another moment in time. And there are sad stories such as the one about Cassandre, arguably the greatest graphic designer of the twentieth century, who couldn’t make a living at the end of his life and committed suicide.

But the point is that anybody who is in this for the long haul has to decide how to respond to change in the zeitgeist. What is it that people now expect that they formerly didn’t want? And how to respond to that desire in a way that doesn’t change your sense of integrity and purpose.