John Hendrickson Berg (January 12, 1932 – October 11, 2015) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

art director best known for his works at

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. Throughout his career, he won four

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s out of twenty-six nominations.

Biography

Berg was born in Brooklyn and grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood, where he attended

Erasmus Hall High School Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Ac ...

. While in high school, Berg drew cartoons for the school newspaper. Upon graduation, he took classes at the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

. After earning his degree, he worked for

Doyle Dane Bernbach DDB Worldwide Communications Group LLC, known internationally as DDB, is a worldwide marketing communications network. It is owned by Omnicom Group, one of the world's largest advertising holding companies. The international advertising networks ...

and ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

''. Berg was hired by Columbia Records in 1961 and retired from the label with the title of vice president in 1985. In two and a half decades with Columbia, Berg designed five

-winning

album covers An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-r ...

: ''

The Barbra Streisand Album ''The Barbra Streisand Album'' is the debut album by Barbra Streisand, released February 25, 1963, on Columbia Records, catalogue CL 2007 in mono and CS 8807 in stereo. It peaked at #8 on the Billboard pop albums chart, and has been certified a g ...

'' in 1964, ''

Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits ''Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits'' is a 1967 compilation album of songs by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Released on March 27, 1967, by Columbia Records, it was a stopgap between Dylan's studio albums '' Blonde on Blonde'' and ''John Wesley H ...

'' in 1968, ''

Underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

'' in 1969, ''

Chicago X ''Chicago X'' is the eighth studio album, and tenth album overall, by the American band Chicago. It was recorded at Caribou Ranch and it was released by Columbia Records on June 14, 1976. The album made it to number three on the ''Billboard'' ...

'' in 1977, and '' Love Notes'' in 1978. He died of pneumonia in

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stret ...

on October 11, 2015, aged 83.

References

External links

* * 1932 births 2015 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in New York (state) People from Flatbush, Brooklyn Erasmus Hall High School alumni Cooper Union alumni American art directors Columbia Records Esquire (magazine) Grammy Award winners {{US-artdirector-stub