Push Pin Studios is a graphic design and illustration studio founded by the influential graphic designers

Milton Glaser Milton Glaser (June 26, 1929June 26, 2020) was an American graphic designer. His most notable designs include the I Love New York logo, a 1966 poster for Bob Dylan, and the logos for DC Comics, Stony Brook University and Brooklyn Brewery. In 1954 ...

and

Seymour Chwast Seymour Chwast (born August 18, 1931) is an American graphic designer, illustrator, and type designer. Biography Chwast was born in the Bronx, New York City and in 1949 graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn where he was intro ...

in New York City in 1954. The firm's work, and distinctive illustration style, featuring "bulgy" three-dimensional "interpretations of historical styles (Victorian, art nouveau, art deco),"made their mark by departing from what the firm refers to as the "numbing rigidity of modernism, and the rote sentimental realism of commercial illustration." ''Eye'' magazine contextualized the results in a 1995 article for their "Reputations" column:

In an era dominated by Swiss rationalism, the Push Pin style celebrated the eclectic and eccentric design of the passé past while it introduced a distinctly contemporary design vocabulary, with a wide range of work that included record sleeves, books, posters, corporate logotypes, font design and magazine formats.

History

After graduating from

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 ...

, Sorel and Chwast worked for a short time at ''

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 ...

'' magazine, both being fired on the same day. Joining forces to form an art studio, they called it "Push Pin" after a mailing piece, ''The Push Pin Almanack'', which they self-published during their time at ''Esquire''. Sorel and Chwast used their unemployment checks to rent a cold-water flat on East 17th Street in Manhattan. A few months later, Glaser returned from a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

year in Italy and joined the studio. Blechman, R.O.br>"Edward Sorel," Hall of Fame biography

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 ...

(2002). Sorel left Push Pin in 1956, the same day the studio moved into a much nicer space on East 57th Street. For twenty years Glaser and Chwast directed Push Pin, along with graphic designers and illustrators such as John Alcorn (in the late 1950s), Paul Davis (1959–1963),

Barry Zaid Barry Zaid (born June 8, 1938) is a graphic artist and designer. Zaid has contributed covers and drawings to numerous magazines and newspapers including Canadian publications ''The Globe and Mail'', the ''Star Weekly'', ''Chatelaine'', ''Toront ...

(1969–1975),

Paul Degen Paul Degen (24 March 1941 – 30 May 2007) was a Swiss illustrator, caricaturist, painter and sculptor. He is mostly known for the cartoons he did for ''The New York Times'' and his 34 title illustrations for ''The New Yorker'' magazine in the 197 ...

(1970s) among others. Today, Chwast is principal of The Pushpin Group, Inc.Pushpin Group website
accessed June 6, 2008. Over the last six decades, the firm's work, and that of the founding designers, along with

Reynold Ruffins Reynold Dash Ruffins (August 5, 1930– July 11, 2021) was an American painter, illustrator, and graphic designer. With Milton Glaser, Edward Sorel, and Seymour Chwast, Ruffins founded Push Pin Studios in 1954. An illustrator of more than twenty ...

Edward Sorel Edward Sorel (born Edward Schwartz, 26 March 1929) is an American illustrator, caricaturist, cartoonist, graphic designer and author. His work is known for its storytelling, its left-liberal social commentary, its criticism of reactionary right-w ...

and several other designers who have been associated with it, has led to several books, as well as publication in ''The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic,'' and ''Print (magazine)'' and traveling exhibitions, such as "The Push Pin Style," which traveled to the Museum of

Decorative Arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, as well as numerous cities in Europe,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in 1970–72.

Related publications

The firm's in-house publications included ''The Push Pin Almanack and The Push Pin Graphic''. Out of house, the founding team served as art directors of ''Audience'' magazine, a high-end, subscription-only bimonthly arts and literature periodical, for whom Glaser and Chwast "used photographs, drawings, big pictures and lavish colors to accompany articles by Donald Barthelme, Herbert Gold, Martin Mayer, Thomas Whiteside and Frank Capra, among others." Founded in 1971, under Glaser and Chwast's direction, it won the top award of the Society of Publication Designers in 1972. In 1973, however, it folded due to lack of funding.'

Gallery

(Selection was limited by availability.) File:Milton glaser at studio.jpg, A 1987 photo of Milton Glaser in his studio. File:Zabriskie Point (1970 Milton Glaser poster).jpg, A 1970 movie poster by Milton Glaser. File:Baby Teeth.svg, Milton Glaser's typeface "Baby Teeth." File:Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (1968) - Pauline Kael (retouch).png, Book Jacket design by Seymour Chwast in 1968.

Bibliography

*Chwast, Seymour. ''Push Pin Graphic: A Quarter Century of Innovative Design and Illustration.'' Chronicle Books, 2004.

Exhibitions

* 1970 ''"The Push Pin Style"'' — Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris (March 18 – May 18, 1970); later traveled to

and

* 2021 ''"The Push Pin Legacy"'' —

Poster House Poster House is the first museum in the United States dedicated exclusively to posters. The museum is located in Chelsea, New York City, on 23rd Street between and Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. The museum opened to the public on June 20, 20 ...

(September 2, 2021–February 6, 2022)The Push Pin Legacy page

website. Retrieved March 10, 2022.

References

External links

*
Advertisement for Audience magazine
{{design-stub Graphic design studios 1954 establishments in New York City Design companies established in 1954 American companies established in 1954