William Golden (graphic designer)
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William Golden (March 31, 1911 – October 23, 1959) 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, ...
. He is best known for his work at
Columbia Broadcasting System 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 Entertainmen ...
, starting in the
CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
promotion department (before broadcast television existed) and culminating in his tenure as creative director of
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
and sales promotion for CBS Television Network. Golden gained a reputation for always striving for a perfect, simple solution to the problem at hand, producing an original and distinguished design to convey the message.


Biography

William Golden was born in lower
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
on March 31, 1911, the youngest of twelve children. His only formal schooling was at the Vocational School for Boys, where he learned
photoengraving Photoengraving is a process that uses a light-sensitive photoresist applied to the surface to be engraved to create a mask that protects some areas during a subsequent operation which etches, dissolves, or otherwise removes some or all of the mate ...
and the basics of commercial
design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
. Upon his graduation from school in 1928, the seventeen-year-old Golden left home and moved to
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
to work for a photoengraving and
lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
firm, and while in Los Angeles he also worked in the art department of the ''
Examiner Examiner or The Examiner may refer to: Occupations * Bank examiner, a kind of auditor * Examiner (Roman Catholicism), a type of office in the Roman Catholic Church * Examinership, a concept in Irish law * Medical examiner * Patent examiner * Tr ...
''. Golden returned to New York in the early 1930s, where he worked first as a promotional designer for Hearst's '' Journal American'' before joining the staff of '' House & Garden'' magazine, a production of
Condé Nast Publications Condé is a French place name and personal name. It is ultimately derived from a Celtic word, "Condate", meaning "confluence" (of two rivers) - from which was derived the Romanised form "Condatum", in use during the Roman period, and thence to t ...
. While at Condé Nast, Golden met his wife, the graphic designer
Cipe Pineles Cipe Pineles (June 23, 1908 – January 3, 1991) was an Austrian-born graphic designer and art director who made her career in New York City, New York at such magazines as ''Seventeen (American magazine), Seventeen'', ''Charm (magazine), Charm'', G ...
, and came to serve as an apprentice to Dr. Mehemed Fehmy Agha, art director of Condé Nast Publications. In 1937, Golden left Condé Nast and joined the promotion department 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 ...
, where he worked for three years before being promoted to
art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
. Golden's design program went beyond the promotion of CBS as a
radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio ( duplex communication) type ...
, producing
advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
that helped to define radio as a news medium. His ads emphasized the ability of radio to bring historic events to its audience in a way no other medium could at that time. Golden took a leave of absence in 1941 to join the
Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
In 1943, he entered the U.S. Army as a private, and served in Europe as art director of army training manuals. He was discharged from the military in 1945 with the rank of captain. Golden returned to CBS as
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
was growing to become the dominant medium of communication in America. The time was ripe to define a visual style that would identify CBS to its viewers, and William Golden was the chief architect of the CBS identity. His efforts led CBS to a level of visual elegance that reflected the extraordinary taste and intelligence of the corporate leadership and, ultimately, the viewers of CBS. Toward this end, Golden employed the Didot typeface to use as the main type style for CBS promotional materials. Since the typeface was not extensively available in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
at that time, CBS staff designers
George Lois George Lois (June 26, 1931 – November 18, 2022) was an American art director, designer, and author. Lois was perhaps best known for over 92 covers he designed for ''Esquire'' magazine from 1962 to 1973. Background Lois was born in New Yor ...
and Kurt Weihs were assigned the task of "Americanizing" the font, redrawing every character in the font from an enlargement that Golden provided to them. He died on October 23, 1959.


Accomplishments


The CBS logo

In conjunction with the Didot typeface, Golden developed the famous CBS Eye logo. Kurt Weihs recalled that the eye was inspired by an article in
Alexey Brodovitch Alexey Vyacheslavovich Brodovitch (also Brodovich; be, Аляксей Брадовіч, russian: Алексе́й Вячесла́вович Бродо́вич; 1898 – April 15, 1971) was a Russian-born American photographer, designer ...
's ''Portfolio'' about the subject of Shaker design. The Eye soon came to be used in all aspects of
station identification Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, ...
for
CBS Television 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 Entertainmen ...
. Golden observed:


Visual form

Early in his career at CBS, Golden's work drew the attention of Frank Stanton, who was then the newly named head of the Research Department, and who eventually became the president of CBS. John Cowden, vice president of the CBS Television Network, recalled that Stanton and Golden "shared a common philosophy about their work and in particular about
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
. They were both perfectionists... animated by the conviction that the only possible way for advertising to command attention and be remembered was to present each message so distinctively that it would stand out in relief from all others" (Golden, Weihs, and Strunsky, 130). The two men built a friendship on their shared belief in the effectiveness of good visual form and their ambition for excellence. Because of their respect for one another, Stanton and Golden had a very productive relationship. Stanton gave Golden authority over the image of CBS, believing that design was a high priority within CBS and trusting Golden's sense of visual form. Golden was named
creative director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...
of advertising and sales promotion for CBS Television Network in 1951. Because of his friendship with Stanton, Golden was able to set the direction for CBS's promotion and image. Although he frequently submitted designs to Stanton, it was understood that they were not for Stanton to approve or reject, but rather to keep him informed as to what Golden had decided to do.


Design and corporate decisions

Golden helped to shape corporate decisions, constantly pushing the executives to spend more on advertising the shows that demonstrated CBS's respect for good theater, good music, and good news analysis — programs that highlighted CBS's reputation as a responsible company. Although he was offered the position of
vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
in charge of advertising and sales promotion at CBS, Golden chose to remain the creative director of advertising and sales promotion, preferring to keep firm control of the creative aspects of the CBS image rather than moving into a more administrative role. However, despite his love for creativity, Golden was keenly aware of the difference between the fine artist and the designer. Asked to define the difference between the two, Golden responded: So, rather than trying to make advertising into fine art, the way to attract the public's attention to the message was to be subtle, original, and distinguished, by maintaining a clarity of vision to make a simple solution out of many design elements. Golden's work ethic set an entirely new standard for American
design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
, as he developed, directed, and sustained the visual program at CBS. During his tenure as creative director for advertising and sales promotion, all of the ads, promotional materials, and other corporate design projects were of a consistently high aesthetic quality, despite Golden's own belief that the business and marketing objectives were always of highest importance, and aesthetic quality was secondary to these objectives. At the height of his career, Golden's life ended abruptly at the age of 48; he died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
on October 23, 1959.


Impact


The CBS Eye

The
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 ...
Eye is now a world-famous
logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...
seen by millions every day. Golden's design helped to highlight the reputation of CBS as a major outlet of world news, and symbolized CBS "looking at the world." Its simplicity and versatility made it ideal for use in a variety of formats, to help build the corporate association between the Eye and CBS. Golden designed the eye to be balanced, and used good proportions between the outer circle, the inner circle, and the white space around the "pupil" of the eye. In many advertisements, the white space in the design functioned as
negative space Negative space, in art, is the empty space around and between the subject(s) of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape, and su ...
while the outer and inner circles were overlaid with a photograph or still-frame from a television program. This is one way in which the simple Eye design could be used over and over to imprint the Eye into the American consciousness as a symbol of CBS, and to tie the CBS corporate identity to the programs that aired on CBS.


''See?''

This photo montage ran as a full-page ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' ad on April 13, 1959. In this ad, Golden selected a wide array of different images from
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
broadcasts to show the range of topics that CBS had reported on, while simultaneously announcing that CBS had won the
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
for Public Service for the third year in a row. This ad also demonstrates the use of the Didot Bodoni typeface and the Eye logo together, showing the maturity of the CBS identity. The layout principles that Golden applied to this ad were uncomplicated but subtle. He did not try to do anything fancy with the images, such as tilting or variations in size to add interest; rather, he laid them out in neat orderly columns in an "office-building windows" style, and let the images speak for themselves. By placing the copy in the midst of the images, the viewer's eye is drawn to the white space and wording, and then to the surrounding images. The headline "SEE?" ties in perfectly with the CBS Eye logo, a reminder of the idea that CBS is looking at the world and bringing world news to its audience.


''Which Way In?'' and ''Target''

These two advertisements ran in ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' in 1954 and 1955. ''Which Way In?'' was CBS's answer to which medium was the best format to deliver news to the public. As radio had grown in the preceding 30 years to compete with newspapers and print media, the debate arose as to whether news was more effective in visual format (the printed page) or in audio format (the radio broadcast). CBS's answer was that clearly television was better than both, since it was able to bring you the sound and emotion of the human voice, while simultaneously providing you images (still photos or video clips) that showed you the actual location of the news event. ''Target'' was an announcement of CBS's achievement of the goal to deliver their programs to the largest audience at the lowest cost. The CBS network had been the highest-rated network for many years and had been gaining a reputation as the most effective network for advertisers to reach the largest audience. This ad was a reinforcement of that fact. Both designs demonstrate Golden's love for the simple solution. These designs allow a large image to dominate and use a short and simple headline to attract the reader's attention and interest. Although ''Which Way In?'' utilizes neither the CBS Eye nor the Didot Bodoni font, the photograph of the eye still serves as a reminder of the CBS Eye logo. The ''Target'' ad cleverly superimposes a smaller Eye inside the larger one, creating a bull's-eye effect to tie into the statement that CBS had hit its target. William Golden's drive for excellence and perfectionism led him to become a pioneer of American graphic design. Through the use of good visual form, his designs brought great
aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
to the advertisements and promotional materials he produced, while still meeting the primary objective of conveying the message in a clear, elegant, and interesting way that would draw the attention of the reader.


References


Bibliography

*Golden, Cipe Pineles, Kurt Weihs, and Robert Strunsky, eds. ''The visual craft of William Golden''. New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1962. *Remington, R. Roger, and Barbara J. Hodik. ''Nine Pioneers in American Graphic Design''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1989. .


External links


American Institute for Graphic Arts tribute

CBS site with several versions of the Eye logo.

Art Directors Club biography, portrait and images of work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden, William 1911 births 1959 deaths AIGA medalists American graphic designers CBS executives People of the United States Office of War Information