Seymour Chwast (born August 18, 1931) is 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, ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

, and

type designer Type design is the art and process of designing typefaces. This involves drawing each letterform using a consistent style. The basic concepts and design variables are described below. A typeface differs from other modes of graphic production su ...

Biography

Chwast was born in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and in 1949 graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

where he was introduced to graphic design by

Leon Friend Leon Friend (February 22, 1902 – June 11, 1969) was a graphic design educator. Biography Leon Friend was born in Warsaw, Poland on February 22, 1902, later immigrating to Schenectady, New York in 1905. He married Ann Bickel and together had ...

. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

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 ...

in 1951. With

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 ...

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

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 t ...

, he founded

Push Pin Studios Push Pin Studios is a graphic design and illustration studio founded by the influential graphic designers Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast in New York City in 1954. The firm's work, and distinctive illustration style, featuring "bulgy" three-dimen ...

in 1954. The bi-monthly publication ''The Push Pin Graphic'' was a product of their collaboration.Seymour Chwast & PushPin
accessed June 6, 2008. Chwast is famous for his commercial artwork, which includes

posters A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. ...

, food

packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a co ...

, magazine covers, and publicity art. Often referred to as "the left-handed designer," Chwast's unique graphic design melded social commentary and a distinctive style of illustration. Today, he continues to work and is principal at Pushpin Group, Inc. in New York City. In 1985, he 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 ...

. In 2006, he was hired by

Roblox ''Roblox'' () is an online game platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation that allows users to program games and play games created by other users. Created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released in 20 ...

to design the faces for their characters. He is the font designer of Chwast Buffalo, Fofucha, Loose Caboose NF, and Weedy Beasties NF. He is a member of Alliance Graphique International (AGI). Chwast married designer

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 ...

in 1973 and divorced five years later. They remarried in 1989.

Fonts DesignedChwast, Seymour, The Push Pin Graphic, A Quarter Century of Innovative Design and Illustration,'' Chronicle Books, San Francisco, California, 2004, p. 249-50.

* Artone (1964,

Photo Lettering Inc. A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

) *

Blimp A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hydr ...

(1970,

) * Buffalo (1978, Mergenthaler) * Filmsense (1970,

) *

Monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

(1972,

) *

Myopic Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...

(1971,

)

Awards

*1972 – Augustus Saint Gaudens Award, The Cooper Union School of Art *1983 – Art Directors Hall of Fame *1985 –

American Institute of Graphic Arts Medal 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 ...

*1989 –

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.Parson's School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

*1997 – Masters Series,

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 ...

*2011 –

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual c ...

Inkpot Award
/ref>

Books

*''Docteur Dolittle'' (Sztajn Lili, Seymour Chwast, Lili Sztajn, Philippe Bretelle), Helium livres illustrés (French Edition), 2018 *''At War with War: 5000 Years of Conquests, Invasions, and Terrorist Attacks, An Illustrated Timeline'' (by Seymour Chwast, Victor Navasky),

Seven Stories Press Seven Stories Press is an independent American publishing company. Based in New York City, the company was founded by Dan Simon in 1995, after establishing Four Walls Eight Windows in 1984 as an imprint at Writers and Readers, and then incorpora ...

, 2017 *''The Pancake King'' (By Phyllis La Farge, Illustrated by Seymour Chwast, Ate by Seth Swerine),

Princeton Architectural Press Princeton Architectural Press is a small press publisher, specializing in books on architecture, design, photography, landscape, and visual culture, with over 1,000 titles on its backlist. In 2013, it added a line of stationery products, including ...

, 2016 () *''About Diabetes: Your Guide to Good Health'' (by Learning About Diabetes Inc., Seymour Chwast), Learning About Diabetes Inc., 2016 *''Dr. Dolittle'' (by Seymour Chwast), Creative Editions, 2015 *Still Another Number Book: A Colorful Counting Book (by Seymour Chwast, Martin Moskof),

Dover Publications Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are out of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books ...

, 2014 *''Still Another Alphabet Book: A Colorful Puzzle & Game Book'' (by Seymour Chwast, Martin Moskof), Dover Publications, 2014 *''Tall City, Wide Country'' (by Seymour Chwast), Creative Editions, 2013 *''Get Dressed!'' (by Seymour Chwast), Harry N. Abrams, 2012 *''Bobo's Smile'' (by Seymour Chwast), Creative Editions, 2012 *''The Odyssey'' (by Seymour Chwast),

Bloomsbury USA Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a ...

, 2012 *''Graphic Style: From Victorian to New Century'' (by Steven Heller, Seymour Chwast), Harry N Abrams Inc, 2011 *''The Canterbury Tales'' (by Seymour Chwast), Bloomsbury USA, 2011 *''Dante's Divine Comedy: A Graphic Adaptation'' (by Seymour Chwast),

Bloomsbury Publishing plc Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a ...

, 2010 *''Seymour: The Obsessive Images of Seymour Chwast'' (by Seymour Chwast, Steven Heller, Paula Scher), Chronicle Books, 2009 *''Had Gadya: A Passover Song'' (by Seymour Chwast, Michael Strassfeld),

Square Fish In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length ad ...

, 2009 *''Illustration: A Visual History'' (by Steven Heller, Seymour Chwast), Harry N Abrams, 2008 *''She Sells Sea Shells: World Class Tongue Twisters'' (by Seymour Chwast), Applesauce Press, 2008 *''The Push Pin Graphic: A Quarter Century of Innovative Design and Illustration'' (by Seymour Chwast, introduction by Martin Venezky),

Chronicle Books Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children. The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. ...

, 2004 *''Graphic Style: From Victorian to Digital'' (by Steven Heller, Seymour Chwast), Harry N Abrams, 2001 *''Traffic Jam'' (by Seymour Chwast),

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Financial Dist ...

, 1999 *''The Twelve Circus Rings (by Seymour Chwast),'' Harcourt Childrens Books, 1996 *''Goodbye, Hello : Everything You Need to Help Your Child When Your Family Moves, Parenting Packs'' (by Seymour Chwast) Harry N Abrams Inc, 1997 *''Mr. Merlin and the Turtle'' (by Seymour Chwast),

Greenwillow ''Greenwillow'' is a musical with a book by Lesser Samuels and Frank Loesser and music and lyrics by Loesser. The musical is set in the magical town of Greenwillow. It ran on Broadway in 1960. Overview Based on the novel by B. J. Chute, the ...

, 1996 *''Jackets Required'' (by Steven Heller, Seymour Chwast), Chronicle Books, 1995 *''Bra Fashions By Stephanie'' (by Seymour Chwast),

Warner Books Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Warner Communications acquired the Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publishing business to Hachett ...

, 1994 *''The Alphabet Parade'' (by Seymour Chwast),

Voyager Books HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Publishing#Book publishing, Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette (publisher), Hachette, and Macmillan Publishers, Macmillan. The com ...

, 1994 *''Graphic Style: From Victorian to Post-Modern'' (by Steven Heller, Seymour Chwast), Harry N Abrams, 1994 *''Just Enough Is Plenty: A Hanukkah Tale'' (by Barbara Diamond Goldin and Seymour Chwast), Viking Kestrel, 1988 *''Art Against War: Four Hundred Years of Protest in Art'' (by D. J. R. Bruckner, Seymour Chwast, Steven Heller), Abbeville Press, 1984 *''Paper Pets: Make Your Own 3 Dogs, 2 Cats, 1 Parrot, 1 Rabbit, 1 Monkey'' (by Seymour Chwast), Harry N Abrams Inc 1993 *''Trylon and Perisphere: 1939 New York World's Fair'' (by Barbara Cohen, Steven Heller, Seymour Chwast), Harry N Abrams Inc, 1989 *''Italian Futurism & Art Deco (Design & Style, No. 4)'' (by Steven Heller, Seymour Chwast), Mohawk Paper Mills/The Pushpin Group, 1988 *''Sam's Bar'' (by Seymour Chwast), Doubleday, 1987 *''New York Observed: Artists and Writers Look at the City, 1650 to the Present'' (by Barbara Cohen (ed.), Seymour Chwast (ed.), Steven Heller(ed.)), Harry N Abrams Inc, 1987 *''Happy birthday, Bach'' (by Peter Schickele, Seymour Chwast), Doubleday, 1985 *''The Left-Handed Designer'' (by Steven Heller, Seymour Chwast), Harry N Abrams, 1985 *''The Art of New York'' (by Seymour Chwast, Steven Heller), Harry N. Abrams, 1983 *''Amazing Magical Jell-O Desserts (''by Seymour Chwast, Arnold Rosenberg),

General Foods Corporation General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate ...

, 1977 *''Esquire Party Book'' (by Scotty & Ronnie; Esquire Editors Welch), ''Esquire''/Harper & Row, 1965

References

External links

Seymour Chwast/PushPinAIGA Medalists: Seymour ChwastArt Directors Club biography, portrait and images of work
* ttp://www.myfonts.com/browse/person/chwast/seymour/ Fonts by Seymour Chwastbr>Font Designer - Seymour ChwastSeymour Chwast - Colorado State University Libraries Poster CollectionKarl Fugelso, "Dante as Sam Spade: Seymour Chwast’s Adaptation of the ''Commedia''," ''The Year's Work inMedievalism'' 27 (2012). Essay on Chwast's 2010 graphic novel, ''Divine Comedy''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chwast, Seymour 1931 births AIGA medalists American graphic designers American magazine illustrators American typographers and type designers Artists from the Bronx Cooper Union alumni Inkpot Award winners Living people People from the Bronx