Carin Goldberg (June 12, 1953 – January 19, 2023) was an American

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

, publication designer and brand consultant. She was known for her cover designs for record albums and books, with her work appearing in and on the covers of the '' New York Times Book Review'', the '' New York Times Magazine'', ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'', ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', and ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

''. Her use of visual historical references generated controversy within the graphic design community.

Early life and education

Carin Goldberg was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on June 12, 1953, and grew up in Long Island and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. She graduated from the Cooper Union in 1975 with a BFA in painting.

Career

After graduating from Cooper Union and encouraged by the school's director of alumni relations, Marilyn Hoffner, Goldberg met with alumni Lou Dorfsman at

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

and worked up a series of logos for him. Dorfsman hired her as a junior designer where she began her career in the corporate design department of CBS Television in 1977. There she gained an appreciation of finely tuned typography. She moved on to Columbia Records in 1979 and worked with former classmate

Gene Greif Gene Greif (September 11, 1954 – November 27, 2004) was a graphic designer who specialized in creating album cover art. Greif attended LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Cooper Union where he first majored in architecture before g ...

, as well as

Paula Scher Paula Scher (born October 6, 1948, Washington, D.C.) is an American graphic designer, painter and art educator in design. She also served as the first female principal at Pentagram, which she joined in 1991.Scher, Paula." (n.d.): Oxford University ...

Henrietta Condak Henrietta Condak is an American graphic designer and design educator. She is noted for the use of historic references in her design work for CBS Records. Early life Condak was born in New York City. After graduating from Cooper Union, Condak b ...

, and John Berg. There, along with Scher and others, she found inspiration in early 20th-century graphics and began to incorporate historical references into her work. In 1982, Goldberg started her own firm, Carin Goldberg Design. She continued to work for record label clients, but also sought out book design assignments. Her projects included the design for Madonna's 1983 self-titled debut album. Her work on the cover for the 1986 Vintage Books edition of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's '' Ulysses'' placed her in the midst of the 1980s fight over appropriation. The tilted lettering and large initial caps in Goldberg's design for the ''Ulysses'' cover bore strong similarities to a 1928 poster by

Paul Renner Paul Friedrich August Renner (9 August 1878 – 25 April 1956) was a German typeface designer, author, and founder of the Master School for Germany's Printers in Munich. In 1927, he designed the Futura typeface, which became one of the most ...

Philip Meggs Philip Baxter Meggs (30 May 1942 – 24 November 2002) was an American graphic designer, professor, historian and author of books on graphic design. His book ''History of Graphic Design'' is a definitive, standard read for the study of graphic ...

praised her in his 1989 essay "The Women Who Saved New York!" for using historical styles in contemporary design, while

Tibor Kalman Tibor George Kalman (July 6, 1949 – May 2, 1999) was an American graphic designer of Hungarian origin, well known for his work as editor-in-chief of ''Colors'' magazine. Early life Kalman was born on July 6, 1949, in Budapest, to parents Ma ...

vilified her for practicing "jive modernism" in his 1991 '' Print'' essay "Good History/Bad History." In 1983, Goldberg began teaching graphic design at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

. She was made a member of the

Alliance Graphique Internationale Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) is a club of the world's leading graphic artists and designers. There are 527 members from 43 countries. Its members have been collectively responsible for the identity design of most of the world's top co ...

in 1998. She was named a Graphis Master by Graphis Inc. From 2006 to 2008, she served as president of the

American Institute of Graphic Arts The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity ...

(AIGA) New York Chapter. In 2008, she was honored by the

Art Directors Club The Art Directors Club of New York is an organization for art directors in New York City. It was founded in 1920, and has grown as an industry group, promoting art directors' work through exhibitions and awards, including the annual DESI award for ...

for her work in education. In 2009, she received the

AIGA Medal Following is a list of AIGA medalists who have been awarded the American Institute of Graphic Arts medal. On its website, AIGA says "The medal of the AIGA, the most distinguished in the field, is awarded to individuals in recognition of their ex ...

for her contributions to the field of graphic design. Her alma mater bestowed her with the Augustus Saint-Gaudens Award in 2012. Goldberg won the Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Rome Prize for Design in 2014. Goldberg's designs have been included in museum exhibits, including ''Graphic Design in America'' at the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, to ...

(1989) and ''Mixing Messages'' at the

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile (New York City), Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the ...

(1996). She contributed the artist's book ''Think. Look. Listen. Ask question. Have fun. Assume nothing.'' to the Hall of Femmes project in 2009.

Personal life

Goldberg died in her home in Stanfordville, New York, of a glioblastoma brain tumor, according to her husband.

Awards

* 2008

Art Directors Club of New York The Art Directors Club of New York is an organization for art directors in New York City. It was founded in 1920, and has grown as an industry group, promoting art directors' work through exhibitions and awards, including the annual DESI award for ...

Grandmasters Award for Excellence in Education * 2009

* 2012 Cooper Union Augustus Saint-Gaudens Award *2014 Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Rome Prize for Design * 2015

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects, ...

fellow in Design"People: ROME PRIZE FELLOWS,"
American Academy in Rome website. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2023.

Exhibitions

* 1989

, "Graphic Design in America" * 1996

, "Mixing Messages"

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldberg, Carin 1953 births 2023 deaths American graphic designers American marketing people Cooper Union alumni School of Visual Arts faculty AIGA medalists Album-cover and concert-poster artists Book designers Women graphic designers 20th-century American artists 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American artists 21st-century American women artists Artists from New York City